Vitamin D deficiency tied to heart attacks in men
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Low blood levels of vitamin D appear to increase the risk of heart attacks, according to the results of a study involving middle-aged and older men. To increase these levels, the authors believe that dietary guidelines should be changed to encourage greater intake of the vitamin.
Ecological studies have shown that death from heart disease is increased at higher latitudes, during the winter, and at lower altitudes, all of which are associated with low vitamin D levels, explain Dr. Edward Giovannucci, at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and his associates.
Using data from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, Giovannucci’s group compared blood levels of vitamin D in 454 men who suffered a heart attack over 10 years’ of follow-up and 900 similar men who did not.
The new findings appear in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
After accounting for demographics, family history, lifestyle risk factors, and the presence of various illnesses, men with low vitamin D levels were twice as likely to experience a heart attack than those with high levels.
“These results further support an important role for vitamin D in (heart attack) risk,” Giovannucci and his associates maintain.
Their findings bolster recommendations, they add, that the current guidelines that require 200 to 600 IU per day of vitamin D need to be increased to achieve blood levels of the vitamin that are large enough to provide potential health benefits.
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, June 9, 2008.
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