Data from previous trials suggest a protective role of vitamin D in cardiovascular disease. A recent meta-analysis of trials with at least 5 years of follow-up of vitamin D supplementation concluded that intake of vitamin D supplements may decrease total mortality, but that the relationship between baseline vitamin D status, dose of vitamin D supplements, and total mortality rates remains to be investigated. An even more recent analysis of vitamin D concentrations found that participants with vitamin D deficiency and hypertension were about twice as likely as people without hypertension and vitamin D deficiency to have a cardiovascular event during the study.