Health Information
Study Ties Low Vitamin D to Increased Mortality
Monday, November 09, 2009
Study Ties Low Vitamin D
to Increased Mortality
With an Institute of Medicine (IOM) expert panel currently at work updating vitamin D recommendations, a new study may add weight to the call for an increase in recommended vitamin D levels. Using data from 614 participants in the Hoorn Study, average age 69.8, researchers found that those with the lowest average blood levels of vitamin D were at 124% greater risk of mortality from all causes. Looking specifically at deaths from cardiovascular disease, vitamin D-deficient seniors were at 378% greater risk. During the six-year followup period, a total of 51 deaths were documented, 20 of them from cardiovascular causes. Research on whether vitamin D supplementation reduces mortality and cardiovascular disease in those with low levels of the "sunshine vitamin" is urgently needed, the investigators concluded, "to answer the question whether vitamin D deficiency is a cause or a consequence of poor health status." - Clinical Endocrinology
Should you get more sun to make more vitamin D? Experts balance the risks and rewards in our free Special Report.
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