Low levels raise odds for clogged arteries, preliminary
results suggests.
New research suggests people with lower levels of vitamin D
are more likely to suffer coronary artery disease and to have more severe forms
of the illness.
The recent findings reflect earlier research indicating that
Vitamin D may play a role in preventing heart disease. The results also indicate that vitamin D
deficiency is likely the cause rather than the consequence of atherosclerosis
(or clogged arteries), according to study investigator Dr. Monica Verdoia, a
cardiologist at Eastern Piedmont University in Novara, Italy.
Researchers who examined nearly 1,500 patients found that 70
percent of those undergoing angiography, a test used to detect blockages in the
arteries, had deficient levels of vitamin D. In a college news release,
researchers reported that patients with levels low enough to be considered
deficient had a 32 percent greater risk of coronary artery disease and an
almost 20 percent greater risk of the most severe level of disease.
More than half of U.S adults, especially blacks and Hispanics,
get too little vitamin D, according to the news release. It is recommended that
those without cardiovascular disease consume a diet rich in vitamin D and
exercise outdoors moderately.
Source: American College of Cardiology, news release March
27, 2014
