Study Shows That Vitamin D Lowers Cardiovascular Disease Rates 77 Percent

by Heidi Stevenson

A study presented at the American Heart Association’s 2009 Scientific Sessions reports that Vitamin D significantly lowers death rates from cardiovascular disease. Of 27,000 people over age 50 with very low levels of Vitamin D are 77% more likely to die of heart disease and 78% more likely to die of strokes. The comparisons are made with people whose Vitamin D blood levels are at the medically recognized healthy level of more than 30 µg/mL, which, as readers of Gaia Health know, is far lower than genuinely good health demands.

Coauthor of the study, Heidi May, stated:

We concluded that even a moderate deficiency of Vitamin D was associated with developing coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, and death. However, it is not known whether this is a cause and effect relationship.

As ever, if there’s a natural solution to a health problem, the claim is that there’s no known cause and effect relationship, though such claims are casually made whenever there’s a drug to be sold or medical test to be done.

Dr. Eric Rimm, of the Harvard School of Public Health, says that there are ongoing studies to examine vitamin D usage, and that it will take 5-7 years before the results are in. Gaia Health asks the rhetorical question: Why is something so obviously related to health only now being studied? How long will it take for them to recommend methods of increasing Vitamin D intake, instead of hemming and hawing? Will it be after the FDA has defined Vitamin D as a drug, so that it’s only available by a doctor’s prescription?

Imagine what the researchers might find if they were to make comparisons with people whose Vitamin D blood levels are at the genuinely healthy level of more than 50µg/mL?

Source:

• The Heart Lipid & Metabolic, Vitamin D: A potential role in cardiovascular disease prevention