Vitamin D is extremely vital to our body. Bearing the topic in mind, study experts at the Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center claim that Vitamin D apparently adds to a strong and healthy heart and that insufficient levels of the vitamin may considerably boost a person’s danger of stroke, heart disease, and death, even among individuals who’ve never had a heart disease.
The Intermountain Medical Center research team trailed 27,686 patients who were supposedly 50 years of age or older with no previous record of cardiovascular disease. They were followed for over a year. The subjects got their blood Vitamin D levels examined during regular clinical care. The patients were split into three sets based on their Vitamin D levels. They are normal i.e. over 30 nanograms per milliliter, low i.e. 15-30 ng/ml, or extremely low i.e. less than 15 ng/ml. The patients were supposedly observed to see if they contracted some type of heart disease.
Scientists discovered that people with extremely low levels of Vitamin D had 77 percent more chances to die, the odds to suffer from artery disease were 45 percent, and 78 percent apparently had more chances to have a stroke as compared to patients with normal levels. People with extremely low levels of Vitamin D were also believed to be twice as expected to develop heart failure as opposed to those with standard Vitamin D levels.
Brent Muhlestein, MD, director of cardiovascular research of the Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center and one of the authors of the new study, commented, “This was a unique study because the association between Vitamin D deficiency and cardiovascular disease has not been well-established. Its conclusions about how we can prevent disease and provide treatment may ultimately help us save more lives.”
Several studies have demonstrated that Vitamin D is caught up in the body’s regulation of calcium, which apparently toughens bones and thus, its deficiency is supposedly linked to musculoskeletal disorders. Lately, studies have also connected Vitamin D to the regulation of various other bodily roles counting blood pressure, glucose control, and inflammation, all of which are claimed to be significant risk factors connected to heart disease. From these outcomes, scientists have assumed that Vitamin D deficiency may also be related to heart disease itself.
Dr. Muhlestein remarked, “Utah’s population gave us a unique pool of patients whose health histories are different than patients in previous studies. For example, because of Utah’s low use of tobacco and alcohol, we were able to narrow the focus of the study to the effects of Vitamin D on the cardiovascular system.”
The outcomes were thought to be relatively astonishing and extremely significant as per Heidi May, PhD, MS, an epidemiologist with the Intermountain Medical Center research team and one of the study authors.
Heidi remarked, “We concluded that among patients 50 years of age or older, even a moderate deficiency of Vitamin D levels was associated with developing coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, and death. This is important because Vitamin D deficiency is easily treated. If increasing levels of Vitamin D can decrease some risk associated with these cardiovascular diseases, it could have a significant public health impact. When you consider that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in America, you understand how this research can help improve the length and quality of people’s lives.”
Dr. Muhlestein is of the opinion that since the study was only observational, definitive relations between lack of Vitamin D and heart disease could not be found but the outcome of the study apparently generated a drive for additional study.
Findings from the study were presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Conference.