How is Sunshine Vitamin Related to Heart Disease Prevention?

Vitamin-D is produced in the body when our skin is exposed to sunlight. That is why people also name it as ‘sunshine vitamin’. It can be found in milk and in fatty fish like salmon. It helps absorb calcium, and it is considered important for bone health. A deficiency of Vitamin-D can lead to osteoporosis for adults, and rickets in children.

Researchers from the University of Graz in Austria reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine on June 23, 2008 that people without enough Vitamin-D are at a higher risk of dying sooner than those with a higher amount of Vitamin-D.

As suggested by the Austrian researchers, the death rates from heart disease as well as any other causes varied greatly depending on Vitamin-D. Being considered as the latest to associate health benefits with Vitamin-D, the study showed that Vitamin-D did affect mortality irrespective of the first primary reason for death.

More than 3,200 people with an average age of 62 were involved in the study. These participants were scheduled for a heart examination between 1997 and 2000. During the 8-year follow-up program, the researchers found that the quarter of volunteers with the lowest levels of Vitamin-D were more likely to have died.

The risk was doubled for people with between 5 to 10 nanograms per milliliter of Vitamin-D in their blood, even after taking into account of heart disease, exercise and other conditions.

The study did not highlight what causes this effect, but a number of recent studies have already suggested that Vitamin-D might protect against cancer, peripheral artery disease and tuberculosis. In fact, United States researchers indicated just a week earlier (mid June 2008) that Vitamin-D might extend the lives of people who had colon and rectal cancer.

A consensus among doctors is that people should have at least 20 to 30 nanograms per milliliter of Vitamin-D in their blood. Most people, however, just do not have enough of it. People with low levels of Vitamin-D cannot make up for it safely just by sitting in the sun. Instead, they have to take supplements.

The new findings should prod doctors to be more aware of the problem, especially for those immobile, elderly and others who spend a great deal of time indoors. Meanwhile, the researchers also hope that the results would prompt people to perform measurements on Vitamin-D more frequently, especially for those populations at risk.

Vitamin That May Protect One Against Heart Attack!

If one’s body is deficient of certain type of vitamin, he or she may face a high risk of having heart attack. In January 2008, researchers from Harvard Medical School reported that people with low level of Vitamin D might have a higher risk for heart attack, heart failure and stroke. The study was published in June 2008 in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

In their study of identifying possible health benefits from Vitamin D, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found that men with low levels of Vitamin D have a higher risk of getting heart attack.

The study involved 454 health professionals ages between 40 and 75 who had suffered a nonfatal heart attack or died of heart disease, and 900 other men with no history of cardiovascular disease. These subjects were followed for 10 years after providing blood samples to measure their Vitamin D levels.

The researchers compared participants who were deficient in Vitamin D (no more than 15 nanogrammes per milliliter of blood) with participants who were in the lower end of the normal range (at least 30 nanogrammes per milliliter of blood).

Men classified as deficient in vitamin D were about 2 and a half times more likely to have a heart attack than those with higher levels of the vitamin. In fact, those with low Vitamin D, besides being at higher risk for heart attack, were at particularly high risk to have a fatal heart attack.

Vitamin D is also known as “sunshine vitamin” because body makes Vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight. It can be found in milk and fatty fish like salmon. Vitamin D helps our body to adsorb calcium and benefits bone health. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to osteoporosis for adults, rickets for children.

Several recent studies have also indicated that Vitamin D may offer a variety of other health benefits. This includes protecting against colon cancer, breast cancer, peripheral artery disease and tuberculosis.

Vitamin D may protect against heart attack in a number of ways. It might lower blood pressure, regulate inflammation, reduce calcification of coronary arteries, affect the heart muscle or reduce respiratory infections in winter.

To find out whether one’s Vitamin D level is normal, just visit the family doctor and take a blood test. Those with very low levels can take Vitamin D supplements.

Is Aspirin That Important?

Surveys in the US and UK have shown that less than half of patients with high-risk conditions are prescribed aspirin. The researchers estimate that world wide 40,000 extra lives could be saved every year with 3,000 lives saved along in the UK, if every one with high-risk condition for whom aspirin was appropriate actually received it.

When used for secondary prevention, the benefit from aspirin readily outweighs possible harm from major haemorrhage (bleeding). In addition, the new study found that lower daily doses of aspirin (75-150mg) are as effective as higher doses for longer time.

In conclusion, aspirin is protective in most type of patients at increased risk of cardiovascular events, including those with myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, unstable/stable angina, previous myocardial infarction, stroke, cerebral ischemia, peripheral artery disease or atrial fibrillation.