Taking vitamin D and fish oil daily supplements may help protect older adults from developing autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, thyroid disease, and polymyalgia rheumatica, an inflammatory disease that causes muscle pain and stiffness in the shoulders and hips.
People aged 50 and older who took 2,000 IUs (international units) of vitamin D3 for more than five years had a 22% lower relative rate of confirmed autoimmune diagnoses, says study author Dr. Karen Kostenbader, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in the department. rheumatology, inflammation and immunity and director of the lupus treatment program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
This dose is two to three times the recommended daily intake of vitamin D for adults, which is 600 IU for people under 69 and 800 IU for people 70 and older, according to the National Institutes of Health.
After people took vitamin D for at least two years, the rate of autoimmune disease prevention increased by up to 39%, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal BMJ.
The study also identified a possible link between taking 1,000 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) and a reduction in autoimmune disease.
A study found that supplementation with vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, compared with placebo alone, reduced autoimmune disease by about 30%.