Vitamin D Levels Important for Heart Health

A new study by researchers at the Harvard Medical School has found that low levels of vitamin D in the body can increase the risk of heart disease. The study published in the journal Circulation suggests that people who also have high blood pressure are at particularly high risk.

The sun is our main source of vitamin D with certain other foods such as oily fish and eggs helping make up for less exposure to the sun. Many people, including the elderly, pregnant women and those prefer to wear clothes that completely conceal them generally do not get enough vitamin D from sunlight. Vitamin D deficiency is known to weaken bones and has also been linked to multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

The new study adds another dimension – that of heart disease. Carried out by Dr. Thomas Wang and colleagues, the study covered more than 1,700 people with an average age of 59. Starting in 1996, the researchers tested and monitored the vitamin D levels of the participants for a period of up to seven years.

The researchers found that people with low levels – below 15 nanograms per millilitre of vitamin D in their blood faced double the risk of a heart attack or stroke compared to those with higher levels. The combination of high blood pressure and low vitamin D levels was found to be the cause for the highest incidence of cardiovascular disease.

Analysis revealed that while 28% of the study participants had vitamin D levels below 15 ng/ml, only 10% showed levels above 30 ng/ml, which is considered ideal for bone health. In their opinion, vitamin D receptors being located in heart muscle and blood vessel lining, low levels of the vitamin might lead to heart disease.

Dr. Thomas Wang added, “What hasn’t been proven yet is that vitamin D deficiency actually causes increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This would require a large randomised trial to show whether correcting the vitamin D deficiency would result in a reduction in cardiovascular risk.”

The British Heart Foundation expressed the need for more information on how vitamin D can affect health because other studies have not yielded positive results in terms of using different vitamins to benefit heart health.

“Just because other vitamins haven’t succeeded doesn’t preclude the possibility of finding vitamins that might prevent cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Wang said. “Vitamins are easy to administer and in general have few toxic effects.” The researchers opine that correcting vitamin D deficiency could prove good for the heart.

June Davison, cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation said, “This study suggests an association with vitamin D deficiency and an increased risk of heart and circulatory disease. However, the reasons as to why this happens are uncertain and further research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind this.”

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