Effects of vitamin D, omega-3 and a simple strength exercise programme in cardiovascular disease prevention: The DO-HEALTH randomized controlled trial

• Published in: The Journal of nutrition, health & aging Vol. 28; no. 2; p. 100037
• Main Authors: Gaengler, Stephanie, Sadlon, Angélique, De Godoi Rezende Costa Molino, Caroline, Willett, Walter C, Manson, JoAnn E, Vellas, Bruno, Steinhagen-Thiessen, Elisabeth, Von Eckardstein, Arnold, Ruschitzka, Frank, Rizzoli, René, da Silva, José A P, Kressig, Reto W, Kanis, John, Orav, E John, Egli, Andreas, Bischoff-Ferrari, Heike A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: France Elsevier 01-02-2024
• Subjects: Aged; Biomarkers; Cardiovascular Diseases - prevention & control; Cholecalciferol - pharmacology; Cholesterol; Dietary Supplements; Double-Blind Method; Exercise Therapy; Fatty Acids, Omega-3 - therapeutic use; Female; Humans; Hypertension; Lipids; Male; Non-pharmaceutical interventions; Prevention; Vitamin D; Vitamins - pharmacology; Hypertension; Prevention; Biomarkers; Lipids; Non-pharmaceutical interventions
• ISSN: 1279-7707; 1760-4788
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jnha.2024.100037

The effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in older adults remains unclear. Therefore, the aim was to investigate the effect of 2000 IU/day of vitamin D
, omega-3 fatty acids (1 g/day), and a simple home strength exercise program (SHEP) (3×/week) on lipid and CVD biomarkers plasma changes over 3 years, incident hypertension and major cardiovascular events (MACE).
The risk of MACE (coronary heart event or intervention, heart failure, stroke) was an exploratory endpoint of DO-HEALTH, incident hypertension and change in biomarkers were secondary endpoints. DO-HEALTH is a completed multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled, 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design trial enrolling 2157 Europeans aged ≥70 years.
Participants' median age was 74 [72, 77] years, 61.7% were women, 82.5% were at least moderately physically active, and 40.7% had 25(OH)D < 20 ng/mL at baseline. Compared to their controls, omega-3 increased HDL-cholesterol (difference in change over 3 years: 0.08 mmol/L, 95% CI 0.05-0.10), decreased triglycerides (-0.08 mmol/L, (95%CI -0.12 to -0.03), but increased total- (0.15 mmol/L, 95%CI 0.09; 0.2), LDL- (0.11 mmol/L, 0.06; 0.16), and non-HDL-cholesterol (0.07 mmol/L, 95%CI 0.02; 0.12). However, neither omega-3 (adjustedHR 1.00, 95%CI 0.64-1.56), nor vitamin D
(aHR 1.37, 95%CI 0.88-2.14), nor SHEP (aHR 1.18, 95%CI 0.76-1.84) reduced risk of MACE or incident hypertension compared to control.
Among generally healthy, active, and largely vitamin D replete, older adults, treatment with omega-3, vitamin D
, and/or SHEP had no benefit on MACE prevention. Only omega-3 supplementation changed lipid biomarkers, but with mixed effects. TRIAL REGISTRATION CLINICALTRIALS.
NCT01745263.