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STUDY COMING ON VITAMIN D AND BLACKS: Nearly all African Americans are deficient.
Since nearly all African-Americans are deficient in vitamin D, the federal study will also assess whether supplements narrow the gap between disease rates in blacks and other racial groups.
African-Americans die at significantly higher rates from common diseases than white Americans with the same condition. The death rate for heart disease in African-Americans is one-third higher than for white Americans, for example, while blacks' death rate for stroke is 50 percent greater and diabetes deaths twice as high.
"These low-cost supplements have the potential of tremendously reducing the burden of chronic disease," said Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who is coleading the trial. The $20 million study is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
"We're excited about the potential of vitamin D to reduce this health gap," Manson added. "But it is important to get answers from clinical trials before recommending megadoses of this supplement."
Three out of four American adolescents and adults are deficient in vitamin D, and the statistics worsen for those with darker skin that blocks the UVB rays that create vitamin D. According to a study in the March 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, 90 percent of Mexican-Americans and 97 percent of African-Americans are deficient in vitamin D.
Moreover, because many people stay inside much of the day and wear sunscreen when they do go out, vitamin D deficiency is increasing.
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