Vitamin D May Prevent Heart Attack and Stroke
Low vitamin D levels in the body may be deadly, according to a new study hinting that adults with lower, versus higher, blood levels of vitamin D may be more likely to die from heart disease or stroke.
Vitamin D is an essential vitamin mostly obtained from direct sunlight exposure, but also found in foods and multivitamins.
Dr. Annamari Kilkkinen, at the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, Finland, and colleagues compared blood levels of vitamin D and deaths from heart disease or stroke over time in 2,817 men and 3,402 women in Finland.
During follow-up of about 27 years on average, 640 of the participants (358 men) died from heart disease and another 293 (122 men) died from stroke.
Allowing for age, gender, and other demographic factors, plus alcohol intake, smoking, physical activity, and season in which vitamin D levels were obtained did not significantly alter these associations.
In this study, vitamin D levels were “substantially lower” than levels thought to be sufficient, and “somewhat lower” than those reported in previous studies in other European and American populations.
However, there is no “absolute consensus” as to what the optimal range of vitamin D should be, the investigators note. Also, it’s not known whether low vitamin D actually causes increased risk for heart disease or stroke. Clearly, further study is needed, they conclude.
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, October 15, 2009 The pH Miracle Revisited, by Dr. Robert and Shelley Young to be released July 1, 2010. http://www.phmiracleliving.com/p-404-ph-d3.aspx
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