Low vitamin D linked to heart disease, death

In people with low blood levels of vitamin D, boosting them with supplements additional than halved a person's risk of dying from any cause compare to someone who remained deficient, in a large new study.Analyzing data on additional than 10,000 patients, University of Kansas researchers found that 70% were deficient in vitamin D and they were at significantly higher risk for a variety of heart diseases.

D-deficiency also nearly doubled a person's likelihood of dying, whereas correct the deficiency with supplements lower their risk of death by 60%."We expected to see that there was a relationship among heart disease and vitamin D deficiency; we were surprised at how well-built it was," Dr. James L. Vacek, a professor of cardiology at the University of Kansas Hospital and Medical Center, told Reuters Health."It was so much additional profound than we expected."

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a variety of illnesses, but few studies have demonstrated the reverse -- that supplements could prevent those outcomes.Vacek and his team review data from 10,899 adults whose vitamin D serum levels had been hardened at the University of Kansas Hospital, and found that additional than 70% of the patients were below 30 nanograms per milliliter, the level many experts consider enough for good health.