Vitamin D reduces risk of heart disease

Many studies suggest that vitamin D may play a significant role in many aspects of heart and vascular health. 

In one study published in January 2008 in Circulation, researchers followed 1739 participants for the development of heart disease.

The study analyzed data on 1739 men and women (average age, 59) without cardiovascular disease. About 40% had high blood pressure.

In a five year period, 120 people had a cardiovascular event, which may have included the new onset of cardiac chest pain, heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, and leg pain due to inadequate blood supply.

Based on blood tests, people moderately deficient in vitamin D were 62% more likely to have had heart trouble than were those with higher vitamin D levels.

The patients who had high blood pressure with the lowest levels of vitamin D had twice as many serious cardiovascular events compared to these with high blood pressure and the highest blood levels of vitamin D. 

Another study published in June 9, 2008 in Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers found at the level of vitamin D in men who developed a heart attack during a 10 year follow-up period.

The result was the lower the vitamin D level, the higher the risk for heart attack.

Food sources of vitamin D include milk, fortified cereal, salmon, mackerel, sardines, and tuna, Sunshine is another source.

The researchers found that vitamin D was able to prevent the uptake of LDL cholesterol by the cells in the arterial walls, which is the main reason for narrowing of the coronary arteries.

Vitamin D deficiency is common among patients with myocardial diseases because sun-induced vitamin D production in the skin and dietary intake of vitamin D is often insufficient.
Vitamin D reduces risk of heart disease

Heart disease due to deficiency of Vitamin D

Vitamin D, a fat-soluble prohormone, has wide-ranging roles in the regulation of many physiological processes through their interactions with the vitamin D receptors (VDR). It plays a major role in bones and calcium metabolism.

Recent research has linked inadequate vitamin D status to non-skeletal major chronic diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases. Existing data from laboratory studies, epidemiologic and experimental research and prevention trials, suggest that vitamin D reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Through increased renin and angiotensin II synthesis, vitamin D deficiency can increase the production of reactive oxygen species and G protein RhoA, resulting in inhibition of the pathways necessary for intracellular glucose transporter and thus the development of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. In addition, direct effects of vitamin D upon smooth muscle calcification and proliferation could contribute to their effects on cardiovascular health.

Studies have also demonstrated a link between vitamin D deficiency and progression of atherothrombosis and vascular calcification. Vitamin D has been found to regulate macrophage maturation and infiltration into the vasculature, subsequently regulating the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and adhesion molecules, which are critical components in the progression of atherosclerosis. These findings are also in line with observations that vitamin-D deficient patients have increased plaque instability and incidence of myocardial infarction.

Heart disease due to deficiency of Vitamin D