Medscape (2/1, Tucker, Subscription Publication) reports, “Oral vitamin D supplementation nearly halved the rates of suicide and intentional self-harm in a study of US veterans, with an even stronger effect among Black veterans,” investigators concluded in findings published online Feb. 1 in PLOS ONE. Additionally, “the retrospective cohort study,” which involved “about 490,885 veterans who received vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and 169,241 veterans who received vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol)” who “were compared one-on-one with veterans of similar demographics and medical histories who didn’t receive supplementation,” revealed that “higher daily vitamin D supplement dosages appeared to offer greater protection against suicide and self-harm risk than lower doses, that the effect was greater among those with baseline vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency, and that both” ergocalciferol and cholecalciferol “supplements were effective.”
Related Links:
— Medscape (requires login and subscription)