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(Ivanhoe Newswire) We all know that vitamin D from milk builds strong bones but can it build a healthy heart as well?
A study by researchers at the Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City suggests that vitamin D contributes to a strong and healthy heart, and that inadequate levels may significantly increase a person's risk of stroke, heart disease, and death, even among people who have never had heart disease.
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The Intermountain Medical Center research team followed 27,686 patients who were 50 years of age or older with no prior history of cardiovascular disease. They tested participants blood vitamin D levels during routine clinical care. The patients were divided into three groups based on their vitamin D levels; normal (over 30 nanograms per milliliter), low (15-30 ng/ml), or very low (less than 15 ng/ml). The patients were then followed to see if they developed some form of heart disease.
Researchers found that 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.
"This was a unique study because the association between vitamin D deficiency and cardiovascular disease has not been well-established," Brent Muhlestein, MD, study author and director of cardiovascular research of the Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center, was quoted as saying. "Its conclusions about how we can prevent disease and provide treatment may ultimately help us save more lives."
"Utah's population gave us a unique pool of patients whose health histories are different than patients in previous studies," said Dr. Muhlestein. "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."
Heidi May, PhD, MS, an epidemiologist with the Intermountain Medical Center research team and one of the study authors, was quoted as saying, "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."
SOURCE: Presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Conference, Orlando, FL, November 16, 2009
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