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Vitamin D, Cardiovascular Disease
& Death
Reported February 07, 2010
There is mounting evidence that Vitamin D plays a much
more complex role in maintaining health beyond its primary function in
regulating calcium absorption. Increasingly, research data suggests that
this hormone-like vitamin may also play important roles in the prevention of
cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well. (A comprehensive update on
Vitamin D’s cancer prevention properties will appear in my forthcoming book,
“A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race.”)
The vast majority of published research studies in disease prevention have
relied upon low-level research methods, including surveys of patient
volunteers and retrospective medical chart reviews. More recently, however,
high-quality prospective, randomized cardiovascular disease prevention and
cancer prevention clinical research trials have been performed. These
high-level studies have the potential to significantly improve
lifestyle-based approaches to preventing the diseases that, together, cause
the majority of all premature deaths.
A newly published prospective clinical research study, from the Chianti
region of Italy, enrolled more than 1,000 adults, aged 65 years and older.
All patient volunteers were tested for the level of Vitamin D in their blood
when they joined this study, and all of these older adults were then
carefully followed for an average of nearly 7 years. During the course of
this study, 228 study participants died. The researchers then compared the
levels of Vitamin D in the blood of the participants who died during the
study with those of the volunteers who survived. (This study is published in
the current issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.)
The findings of this prospective clinical study were
striking. The patient volunteers with the lowest levels of Vitamin D in
their blood were more than 2 times as likely to die, from any cause, when
compared with the patients who had the highest levels of Vitamin D in their
blood. The patients with the lowest Vitamin D levels were also nearly 3
times as likely to die from heart attacks, and other complications related
to cardiovascular disease, when compared to the patients with high levels of
Vitamin D in their blood. These dramatic findings held up even after the
researchers made statistical adjustments for differences in the age, gender,
education level, exercise habits, and other health-related factors among
these two groups of study participants.
As we age, our bodies become less efficient in converting sunlight into
Vitamin D, and multiple research studies have shown that the majority of
older adults are deficient in Vitamin D. A growing number of high-level
clinical research studies, such as this Italian study, continue to suggest
that Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of
cardiovascular disease, cancer, osteoporosis, bone fractures, and decreased
muscle strength in older men and women. Therefore, the importance of this
vitamin-hormone in maintaining optimal health is becoming increasingly
apparent.
Source : MensNewsDaily.com |
