Vitamin D Linked to Better Heart Health

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Vitamin D Linked to Better Heart Health

 

.... Again Low levels of " sunshine and seafood " vitamin correlate with

risk of heart attack, hypertension, heart failure, and stroke by Craig

Weatherby

-------------

During the last decade, researchers have made a number of startling

discoveries about vitamin D.

These include evidence that increasing dietary intake of the " sunshine

and seafood " vitamin above average American levels may help prevent high

blood pressure, fibromyalgia, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis and

common cancers.

Low levels of vitamin D correlate with greater calcification of coronary

arteries (Watson KE et al. 1997) and increased risk of high blood

pressure (Forman JP et al. 2007).

And when it came to protecting cholesterol from oxidation - a key goal

of preventive heart health - vitamin D was found more effective than

vitamin E in an animal experiment (Sardar S et al. 1997).

As we reported last month, researchers who examined diet and blood

sample data collected from 15,088 Americans found that those with the

lowest blood vitamin D levels had dramatically higher rates of four key

heart-risk factors (Martins D et al. 2007; see " Vitamin D Linked to

Lower Rates of Diabetes, Obesity, Heart Risks, and Death [

http://newsletter.vitalchoice.com/e_article000985361.cfm?x=b7dqKWJ,b1pTrCB7,w

" ).

Correlations between low levels of vitamin D and increased heart risks

appear again in a new analysis of data from participants in the

Framingham Offspring Study: an offshoot of the landmark Framingham Heart

Study.

Results link low vitamin D levels to higher heart risks The new analysis

was conducted by a team of doctors and statisticians from Massachusetts

General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston University, and the

USDA Aging Research Center at Tufts University (Wang TJ et al. 2008).

The volunteers' average age was 59, a little more than half of the 1,739

participants were women, and all were Caucasians. None of the volunteers

had any heart problems at the start of the five-year study and the

researchers used blood samples to measure blood levels of vitamin D.

Average adult vitamin D blood levels in America range from 20-56 ng/mL,

but levels above 30 ng/mL are considered the minimum for bone health,

and experts recommend a target of 80 ng/mL to ensure optimal health.

Only 10 percent of the participants in the Framingham Offspring Study

had vitamin D blood levels above 30 ng/mL, while 28 percent had levels

lower than 15 ng/mL.

Over the five year course of the study, 120 participants suffered an

adverse cardiovascular event (heart attack, stroke, etc.), and

participants with vitamin D levels below 15 ng/mL were 62 percent more

likely to experience these life-threatening events, compared with people

with vitamin D levels above 15 ng/mL.

And people with low vitamin D levels and high blood pressure

(hypertension) were 113 percent more likely to suffer an adverse heart

event than those with normal blood pressure and higher vitamin D levels.

As lead author Thomas Wang M.D., noted, " Vitamin D receptors have a

broad tissue distribution that includes vascular smooth muscle and

endothelium, the inner lining of the body's vessels. Our data raise the

possibility that treating vitamin D deficiency, via supplementation or

lifestyle measures, could reduce cardiovascular risk. "

Dr. Wang went on to make an important point: " What hasn't been proven

yet is that vitamin D deficiency actually causes increased risk of

cardiovascular disease. This would require a large randomized trial to

show whether correcting the vitamin D deficiency would result in a

reduction in cardiovascular risk. "

However, his team's report noted several compelling correlations found

in previous investigations (Wang TJ et al. 2008):

- " Administration of dietary vitamin D or UV-B treatment has been shown

to lower blood pressure, restore insulin sensitivity and lower

cholesterol. "

- " Research suggests that low levels of vitamin D may contribute to or

be a cause of syndrome X with associated hypertension, obesity, diabetes

and heart disease. Vitamin D regulates vitamin-D-binding proteins and

some calcium-binding proteins, which are responsible for carrying

calcium to the 'right location' and protecting cells from damage by free

calcium. Thus, high dietary levels of calcium, when D is insufficient,

may contribute to calcification of the arteries, joints, kidney and

perhaps even the brain. "

- " Many researchers have postulated that vitamin D deficiency leads to

the deposition of calcium in the arteries and hence atherosclerosis,

noting that northern countries have higher levels of cardiovascular

disease and that more heart attacks occur in winter months. "

- [Vitamin D is required for metabolism of calcium.] " Scottish

researchers found that calcium levels in the hair inversely correlated

with arterial calcium-the more calcium or plaque in the arteries, the

less calcium in the hair. Ninety percent of men experiencing myocardial

infarction [heart attack] had low hair calcium. When vitamin D was

administered, the amount of calcium in the beard went up and this rise

continued as long as vitamin D was consumed. Almost immediately after

stopping supplementation, however, beard calcium fell to pre-supplement

levels. "

Vitamin D insufficiency is the norm in northern regions Researchers have

been pressing the Institute of Medicine to raise the recommended daily

allowance (RDA) for vitamin D based on fast-growing evidence that higher

intakes could protect against osteoporosis and certain cancers.

Wintertime sunshine levels in northern regions are so weak that the body

makes no vitamin D at all, leading to estimates that more than half of

the population in northerly temperate zones - as in the states above the

Mason-Dixon line - have chronically deficient levels of the vitamin.

In addition, more and more people have indoor jobs and get little sun

exposure even during warmer months.

Having darker skin also reduces the amount of UVB radiation that

penetrates skin to trigger manufacture of vitamin D, and darker skinned

people are more at risk of vitamin D deficiencies.

The researchers' conclusions seem like the proverbial no-brainer: " The

findings [of the new study] may have potentially broad public health

implications, given the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in

developed countries, the contribution of lifestyle and geography to

vitamin D status, and the ease, safety, and low cost of treating vitamin

D deficiency. "

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