Heart & Blood Low vitamin D linked to higher risk of premature death from all causes
By Sue Mueller
Jul 27, 2008 - 9:13:38 AM
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SUNDAY July 26, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study has
found that low serum of 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D are
independently associated with all cause and cardiovascular mortality.
Previous studies found low serum levels of vitamin D or exactly
25-hydroxyvitamin D are linked with higher incidence of cardiovascular risk
factors and disease.
25-hydroxyvitamin D also known as
vitamin D2: ergocalciferol
or calciferol
is the form of vitamin D tested to evaluate one’s vitamin D status.
In the kidney,
25-hydroxy vitamin D changes into 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D, an active form of
vitamin D.
In the study, Harald Dobnig, MD and colleagues from Medical
University of Graz, Graz, Austria and other organizations followed 3258 male
and female patients at an average age of 62 who were scheduled for coronary
angiography.
The study subjects were divided into quartiles based on 25
hydroxyvitamin D and 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels within each month of blood
drawings.
During the 7.7-year follow-up,
737 patients or 22.6 percent died of whom 463 died from cardiovascular cases.
Dobnig and colleagues found low serum vitamin D levels were inversely
correlated to higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
The lower two 25-hydroxyvitamin D quartiles
(7.6 and 13.3 ng/mL) were 2.08 times and 1.53 times more likely to die from all
causes respectively than those in the highest 25-hydroxyvitamin D quartile
(28.4 ng/mL).
The increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease was
similar. Those who were in the lower two quartiles were 2.22 times and 1.82
times more likely to die respectively than those who were in the highest
quartile.
The associations between 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D and the
higher risk of all cause and cardiovascular mortality were similar.
The associations were independent of coronary artery
disease, physical activity and other possible factors.
The researchers also found that low 25-hydroxyvitamin D
levels were significantly linked to variables of inflammation such as C -
reactive protein and interleukkin 6 levels, oxidative burden, and cell
adhesion.
Dobnig and colleagues concluded that "Low 25-hydroxyvitamin
D and 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels are independently associated with
all-cause and cardiovascular mortality."
The study was published in The Archives of Internal
Medicine: Vol. 168 No. 12, June 23, 2008.