Calcium/vitamin D supplementation and coronary artery calcification in the Women's Health Initiative.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Coronary artery calcified plaque is a marker for atheromatous plaque burden and predicts future risk of cardiovascular events.

The relationship between calcium plus vitamin D (calcium/D) supplementation and coronary artery calcium (CAC) has not been previously assessed in a randomized trial setting.

The researchers compared CAC scores after trial completion between women randomized to calcium/vitamin D supplementation and women randomized to placebo.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 754 women were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are middle-aged adults, women only.

CAC scores were measured by a central reading center with masking to randomization assignments.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

The women were allocated by chance, so the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Blinding on both sides kept the women and researchers unaware of who received Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc could be set against what happens without it.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Bone Density Conservation Agents, Calcinosis, Calcium Carbonate, Cholecalciferol, Coronary Angiography, Coronary Artery Disease and Postmenopause.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 754 women.

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 6 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2010 (Menopause (New York, N.Y.)), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.