Heart Health Includes Vitamin D

A lack of vitamin D, which is absorbed primarily through exposure to sunlight, helps boost the risk of heart attacks and strokes, new research finds.

"There is a whole array of studies linking increased cardiovascular risk with vitamin D deficiency," notes Dr. James H. O'Keefe, at the Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri.

"It is associated with major risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and stiffening of the left ventricle of the heart and blood vessels," he says. "Inflammation is really important for heart disease, and people with vitamin D deficiency have increased inflammation."

Dr. O'Keefe is the lead author of a review of such studies to be reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Experts estimate that up to half of adults and 30 percent of children and teenagers in the United States are vitamin D-deficient, according to the report.

A Bit of Sunshine a Good Thing

Recent data from the long-running Framingham Heart Study indicated that someone with vitamin D levels below 15 nanograms per milliliter of blood is twice as likely to suffer a heart attack, stroke, or other cardiovascular problem within two years as someone with the recommended 20 nanograms per milliliter, the report shows.

Vitamin D is well known as the "sunshine vitamin" because human skin makes the nutrient upon exposure to sunlight.

Only 10 minutes of exposure to sunlight between 10 am and 3 pm each day will be enough for Caucasians to reach the recommended level, experts say. People with darker skin will need somewhat longer exposure times.

Sunscreen can also block vitamin D production, the experts add, so people must balance the risks and benefits of sun exposure.

"A little bit of sunshine is a good thing, but the use of sunscreen to guard against skin cancer is important if you have more than 15 to 30 minutes of intense sunlight exposure," notes Dr. O'Keefe.

Some foods are also rich in vitamin D, he says. "Salmon and other deepwater fish are good. Also milk, which is supplemented with vitamin D, but you would have to drink 10 to 20 glasses of milk a day to get the recommended intake."

Recommended vitamin D intake is 200 international units a day up to age 50, 400 units for ages 50 to 70, and 600 units a day over the age of 70.

Supplements are Fine for Vitamin D

One way to reach that level is to take a supplement. "There is strong evidence that supplementing vitamin D improves health," notes Dr. O'Keefe.

"This is an important report," says Dr. Robert U. Simpson, a professor of pharmacology at the University of Michigan, whose group was the first to identify vitamin D receptors in heart cells. "It will help those interested in cardiovascular disease understand more about the vitamin D system."

Vitamin D is not just another vitamin, says Simpson. "It is a precursor to a hormone, and this prehormone is responsible for making a very important regulator of cardiovascular processes.”

Supplementation is an acceptable way of getting enough vitamin D, Simpson adds. "Food is not really an option. You don't get enough vitamin D in the foods we ordinarily eat.

Supplementation is my preferred choice, although I get sunlight whenever the sun shines here in Ann Arbor."

Always consult your physician for more information.

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