CALCIUM PLAQUES: Men with insufficient levels of vitamin D are twice as likely to have heart attacks as men with sufficient levels, according to a 10-year medical study published this month.

After collecting blood samples from 18,000 male health professionals, researchers analyzed them for vitamin D levels. They then followed the men's health history for the next 10 years and adjusted for family histories of heart health issues. During the study, 454 men had heart attacks. Even men with moderate levels of vitamin D were more at risk than those with sufficient levels. Medical researchers published their results in the June issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

How Does Vitamin D Deficiency Cause Heart Attacks?

Researchers aren't sure how vitamin D works. They do know, though, that there's definitely a relationship between vitamin D and the body's ability to absorb and use calcium.

How could that lead to heart attacks? The hypothesis runs like this:

1. Vitamin D helps distribute calcium throughout the body.
2. Without enough vitamin D, calcium can't distribute properly.
3. When calcium isn't put in the proper place, it collects as plaque in the blood vessels.
4. Plaque leads to heart attacks.

The authors of the study are convinced that vitamin D deficiency is the culprit.

"Those with low vitamin D, on top of just being at higher risk for heart attack in general, were at particularly high risk to have a fatal heart attack," said Dr. Edward Giovannucci of the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and one of the study's authors. (Reuters, 6/9/08)

Can We Get Enough Vitamin D from the Sun?

Probably the most effective way to get enough vitamin D is from the sun. Our bodies convert sunlight on our skin into vitamin D.

The length of time you need to spend in the sun depends on your skin color and where you live:

• Fair skinned people need very little sun.
• Dark people need more sun.
• People living at high latitudes (far north or far south) need more exposure.
• Those living closer to the equator need less sunlight.

Dark skinned people who spend winters at the North Pole should probably have their blood tested for vitamin D deficiency.

"The people most concerned about skin cancer should definitely not be baking in the sun, but for about 10 minutes at midday, you can make a lot of vitamin D quickly," said Giovannucci. "You don't need to get a sunburn to make vitamin D.... for people who live in the northern-most states and in the winter months, when we don't get a lot of exposure to sunlight, [supplementing with] 1,000 to 1,500 units a day of vitamin D may be warranted '' (Bloomberg, 6/09/08)

Can Vitamin D Supplements Hurt?

Although recent vitamin D research shows it's important for our health, there's no consensus yet on how effective supplements are.

Some studies show that taking supplements might even increase disease—a deficiency might be how the body protects itself or fights off an illness.

"We need to discard the notion that vitamin D affects a disease state in a simple way," said Trevor Marshall, Ph.D., professor at Australia's Murdoch University School of Biological Medicine and Biotechnology. "Vitamin D affects the expression of over 1,000 genes, so we should not expect a simplistic cause and effect between vitamin D supplementation and disease. The comprehensive studies are just not showing that supplementary vitamin D makes people healthier." (Science Daily, 1/27/08)

For instance, even though babies are commonly vitamin D deficient, there's no evidence showing any negative long-term effect from the deficiency.

Copyright © 2009 Informify

Question for Readers:

Do you think it's a good idea for everyone to take vitamin D supplements?