Vitamin K connected to a lower risk of dying from cancer and other causes

Vitamin K connected to a lower risk of dying from cancer and other causes

     A study looking at Vitamin K intake and mortality over an almost 5 year average  period shows a strong protective effect. It included 7,216 participants in the PREDIMED study, which was designed to evaluate the protective effect of a Mediterranean diet on the risk of cardiovascular disease in older men and women. Annual dietary questionnaire responses completed by the participants were analyzed for the intake of phylloquinone (vitamin K1) and menaquinone (vitamin K2). Over a 4.8 year median, there were 323 deaths, including 81 deaths from cardiovascular disease and 130 cancer deaths.

Adjusted analysis disclosed a 36% lower risk of dying from any cause and a 46% lower risk of dying from cancer among those whose vitamin K1 intake was among the top 25% of participants in comparison with the lowest 25%. For those who actually increased their intake of vitamin K1, the risk of death was 43% lower and for vitamin K2, the risk was 45% lower than for subjects whose intake remained the same or was reduced. Improvement of vitamin K1 intake was also associated with a 36% lower risk of dying from cancer and improvement in K2 intake led to a 59% lower risk of dying from cancer during the follow-up period.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the specific association of both active forms of vitamin K (vitamins K-1 and K-2), and their changes during the follow-up, with cancer mortality, cardiovascular mortality, or all-cause mortality in a prospective longitudinal study of Mediterranean individuals at high cardiovascular disease risk and using repeated measurements of dietary intake," the authors announce. "The results of the present study show, for the first time, an inverse association between an increased intake of both dietary phylloquinone and menaquinone, and cancer mortality or all-cause mortality." The study results are published online ahead of print March 19, 2014 in the Journal of Nutrition.