Older Adults With Insufficient Vitamin D Levels Are At Greater Risk Of Dying From Heart Disease

A new study at the University of Colorado Denver and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) says that vitamin D plays a vital role in reducing the risk of death associated with older age.

The research has been published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. It evaluated the association between vitamin D levels in the blood and the death rates of those 65 and older.

No Consensus on Optimal Vitamin D Dose
The new issue of the Mayo Clinic Health Letter says that while vitamin D is known to offer many benefits, there is no consensus on what level of the nutrient is optimal for good health.

The study found that older adults with insufficient levels of vitamin D die from heart disease at greater rates that those with adequate levels of the vitamin.

"It's likely that more than one-third of older adults now have vitamin D levels associated with higher risks of death and few have levels associated with optimum survival," said Adit Ginde, MD, MPH, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine's Division of Emergency Medicine and lead author on the study.

Given the aging population and the simplicity of increasing a person's level of vitamin D, a small improvement in death rates could have a substantial impact on public health," the expert added.

Low Vitamin D Elevates Heart Disease Risk in Diabetes Patients
A new study has revealed that low levels of sunshine vitamin can almost double heart disease risk in diabetes patients.

Older adults are at high risk for vitamin D deficiency because their skin has less exposure to the sun due to more limited outdoor activities as well as reduced ability to make vitamin D.

The study analyzed data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Seven Out of 10 U.S. Children Have Low Vitamin D Levels Says Study
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York have said that seven out of 10 children in the US have low vitamin D levels.

The research team analyzed vitamin D in blood samples of more than 3,400 participants that were selected to be representative of the 24 million older adults in the United States. Compared to those with optimal vitamin D status, those with low vitamin D levels were 3 times more likely to die from heart disease and 2.5 times more likely to die from any cause.

Source-ANI
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