Vitamin D supplements are often recommended for bone health, but recent studies on its role in fracture prevention confirm that too much emphasis has been given to their usefulness in the past.
Among these, the most recent is an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The study, he explained Nicola Magrinigeneral director of Aifa (Italian drug agency) “appeared in one of the most authoritative journals and the largest ever. He evaluated the effectiveness of vitamin D taken for 5 years in preventing fractures and it emerged that it is devoid of useful effects “.
The research also analyzed the alleged effectiveness of vitamin D in preventing cardiovascular, oncological and cognitive problems, “but it shows that there are no positive effects”, Magrini specified.
This conclusion confirms the governance action of pharmaceutical expenditure undertaken by Aifa and “will have an impact, in the short term, on a probable revision of note 96, which had already determined a more targeted use of the prescription of this drug with imaginative properties against Covid. and used prophylactically to prevent infections and other conditions. “
The work conducted by the Italian Medicines Agency for a more targeted prescription of vitamin D “has had a very positive effect, saving several tens of millions a year”. But “there is regional variability, with some regions more virtuous in adopting it and others less so. So we think of an awareness campaign and work with the regions to further incentivize their prescriptive appropriateness”. Magrini explained this during the presentation of the OsMed 2021 Report.