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Vitamin D and heart disease – the great uncertainty continues
Is there a connection between vitamin D deficiency and the risk of cardiovascular disease? This has always been a matter of debate and studies have produced astonishingly different results.
However, after the most recent meeting of the American Heart Association in Chicago, two things now seem certain: on the one hand, vitamin D serum levels play a role in the functioning of several organ systems, and not only in the skeleton and central nervous system; on the other hand, further, quality studies are needed to lend support to solid conclusions. And this is particularly important as vitamin D deficiency is extremely widespread, especially among adults and the elderly.
Disparate results
It may be nothing new but it is still worth remembering that our heart too needs vitamin D. Erin Michos ( of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore) and Matthew Good (of Kansas University Hospital, Kansas City) are agreed about one thing: vitamin D deficiency may be directly linked to an increase in cardiovascular risk. Both researchers, worked with large study cohorts – around 8,000 and 11,000 individuals respectively – but diverge regarding the extent of the risks involved. And not just this…
Dr Michos, for example, believes that vitamin D deficiency is linked to an increase in cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs or stroke) and only to this. And only in the white population. African Americans, among whom vitamin D deficiency is widely prevalent also have a CVA mortality level that is higher than their fellow citizens of Caucasian origin. However, Dr Michos believes that the two are not connected.
… requiring further investigation
Dr Good’s team came to the conclusion that “vitamin D deficiency is a significant risk factor exposing people to several types of cardiovascular disorder: hypertension, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, coronary disease and cardiac insufficiency”. Nothing less! They also believe that a vitamin D supplement programme could substantially improve the situation and even the survival of the populations concerned.
Charles B. Eaton of Brown University, Pawtucket, Rhode Island (between New York and Boston) takes a more qualified view of research results. With his co-authors, Dr Eaton conducted a study on 1,829 menopausal women who had undergone cardiovascular monitoring for more than 10 years. They noted a definite correlation between their subjects’ vitamin status and their cardiovascular risk. However, this was modified after correction of other risk factors. Their conclusion was – unsurprisingly – that abdominal girth was a very predominant cardiovascular risk factor.
At the University of West Virginia, Dr Charumathi Sabanayagam and her colleagues established a positive relationship between persistent vitamin D deficiency and the risk of arterial hypertension among adults. Working with a cohort of 9,215 people, they concluded that this relationship exists regardless of age, sex, ethnic origin, alcohol and/or tobacco consumption, body mass index or sedentary lifestyle and many other risk markers. According to these researchers, “randomised intervention studies must be arranged to determine any possible benefits of supplementation (dietary or in medication) to prevent the development of arterial hypertension.
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