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The Link Between Vitamin D and A Healthy Heart
In America, each year more people die of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than cancer. People spend hundreds of dollars in medications and many hours exercising to try and lower their risk of CVD. However, a basic, essential preventative may be just outside the door. Growing research is showing a link between Vitamin D deficiency and heart disease.
Vitamin D is produced in the skin through sun exposure or can be ingested through supplements and Vitamin D rich foods. Although it may seem easy to get enough Vitamin D, many people, due to location, lifestyle, or age factors, become Vitamin D deficient. It now seems this insufficiency can have serious consequences because studies show Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with cardiovascular issues such as chronic heart failure.
Current studies, including the prestigious, long-running Framingham Heart Study, all seem to be suggesting that Vitamin D deficiency is associated with CVD. In turn, this means that Vitamin D therapy could have significant mortality and morbidity benefits in the treatment of cardiovascular conditions. Though more research is necessary for conclusive results, Dr. J. Brent Muhlestein, director of cardiovascular research at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, says, "Our findings show that vitamin D could have far greater implications in the treatment and reduction of cardiovascular disease and other chronic conditions than we previously thought." Dr. Muhlestein asserts, "What we did was observational and not definitive, but we think it adds significantly to the story. It's at least a reasonable piece of evidence to add to the hypothesis that low vitamin D is causative of cardiovascular risk and treatment can reduce cardiovascular disease risk."
Medical protocol for reducing risk of heart disease is changing as a result of these findings. Dr. Muhlestein, for example, now recommends increasing vitamin D intake by 1000 to 5000 international units (IU) a day, depending on a patient's health and genetic risk. Recent reports indicate that raising the amount of circulating Vitamin D, in those who are already deficient, can reduce their risk of heart disease by about 30%. In contrast, the Farmingham Heart Study suggested that moderate Vitamin D deficiency could nearly double the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure over a mean of 5.4 years in patients with high blood pressure. Thus, though adequate levels of Vitamin D cannot guarantee heart health, insufficient levels have a strong adverse effect. Research continues to discover more details of the link, but the correlation between heart health and sufficient Vitamin D levels has been clearly established.
In America, each year more people die of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than cancer. People spend hundreds of dollars in medications and many hours exercising to try and lower their risk of heart disease. However, a basic, essential preventative may be just outside the door. Growing research is showing a link between Vitamin D deficiency and heart disease
Vitamin D is produced in the skin through sun exposure or can be ingested through supplements and Vitamin D rich foods. Although it may seem easy to get enough Vitamin D, many people, due to location, lifestyle, or age factors, become Vitamin D deficient. It now seems this insufficiency can have serious consequences because studies show Vitamin D deficiency has
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