High Levels of Vitamin D in the Elderly Found to Reduce Heart Disease and Diabetes

Middle-aged and elderly people with high levels of vitamin D could reduce their chances of developing heart disease or diabetes by 43%, according to British researchers.

A team of researchers from Warwick Medical School (Coventry, UK) performed a systematic literature review of studies examining vitamin D and cardiometabolic disorders. Cardiometabolic disorders include cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in some foods and is also produced when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger vitamin D synthesis. Fish such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel are good sources of vitamin D, and it is also available as a dietary supplement.

Researchers looked at 28 studies including 99,745 participants across a diversity of ethnic groups including men and women. The studies revealed a significant link between high levels of vitamin D and a decreased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (33% compared to low levels of vitamin D), type 2 diabetes (55% reduction), and metabolic syndrome (51% reduction).

The literature review, published in the March 2010 issue of the journal Maturitas, was led by Johanna Parker and Dr. Oscar Franco, assistant professor in Public Health at Warwick Medical School. Dr. Franco said, "We found that high levels of vitamin D among middle age and elderly populations are associated with a substantial decrease in cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Targeting vitamin D deficiency in adult populations could potentially slow the current epidemics of cardiometabolic disorders.”

All studies included were published between 1990 and 2009 with the majority published between 2004 and 2009. Half of the studies were conducted in the United States, eight were European, two studies were from Iran, three from Australasia and one from India.

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