NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who take vitamin D supplements lower their risk of death from heart disease by one-third, a team of researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) told attendees of an American Heart Association meeting Tuesday.

But the investigators hastened to add that the findings are preliminary and cautioned the public against beginning taking supplements based on the study results.

Low levels of vitamin D in the blood have previously been correlated with higher risk of heart disease and heart attacks, Dr. Paul D. Varosy told attendees of the 42nd annual conference on Cardiovascular Disease and Epidemiology Prevention in Honolulu, Hawaii. The researchers set out to determine if taking vitamin D supplements decreases this risk.

Varosy's team analyzed data from nearly 10,000 women over the age of 65 who were enrolled in a study of how often osteoporosis causes broken bones. Of these, more than 4,200 women reported that they took vitamin D supplements at the time of the study, and another 733 reported a prior history of supplement use.

After following the women for an average of nearly 11 years, Varosy and colleagues found that the risk of heart disease death was 31% lower in those women who were taking vitamin D at the time of the study.

The researchers note that calcium supplements, education, self-reported health status or health-related behaviors had no effect on the protection afforded by vitamin D.

Varosy told Reuters Health, however, that many of the women in the study were taking multivitamins, which may contain other nutrients that affect the risk of heart disease.

"The most important thing I can tell people is that this is a potentially exciting but very preliminary finding," Varosy said. "The American Heart Association does not advocate the use of supplements. They recommend getting adequate nutrients from food sources. I still think that is the best way to go. Don't go out and start taking supplements. People should talk to their doctors first. The findings are exciting but I'm still skeptical."

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