Posted Nov 23, 2009
U.S. researchers have linked inadequate levels of vitamin D to increased risk of heart attack or stroke.
Patients with very low levels of vitamin D were 77 percent more likely to die, 45 percent more likely to develop coronary artery disease and 78 percent were more likely to have a stroke than patients with normal levels. Patients with very low levels of vitamin D were also twice as likely to develop heart failure than those with normal vitamin D levels.
“This was a unique study because the association between vitamin D deficiency and cardiovascular disease has not been well-established,” one of the study authors Dr. Brent Muhlestein of the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah, said in a statement.
The Intermountain researchers tracked 27,686 patients age 50 and older with no prior history of cardiovascular disease for one year. Blood vitamin D levels were tested during routine clinical care.
Date: Nov 18, 2009 URL: www.upi.com