AURORA, Colo. and BALTIMORE—Low vitamin D levels were associated with higher heart disease and with higher mortality rates in two new studies.
In the first study (J Am Geriatr Soc.;2009;57(9):1595-1603), 3,408 U.S. adults aged 65 and older were followed from 1988 to 2000. Vitamin D levels were measured at the onset of the study, and lower levels of the sunshine vitamin were associated with higher cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality. Compared to those with optimal vitamin D status, those with low vitamin D levels were three times more likely to die from heart disease and 2.5 times more likely to die from any cause.
In an study from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Nutr Res. 2009 Aug;29(8):525-30), researchers studied the relationship between vitamin D levels and mortality in a prospective, population-based study of 714 community-dwelling women, aged 70 to 79 years. During a median of 72 months of follow-up, 100 (14 percent) of the women died. Women in the lowest quartile of vitamin D levels (<15.3 ng/mL or 38.2 nmol/L) were at higher risk of death (P =0.02) compared to women in the highest quartile (>27.0 ng/mL or 67.4 nmol/L).