- Vitamin D, also known as the “sunshine” vitamin, is a fat-soluble vitamin that exists in two main forms: D-2 and D-3.
- As an essential micronutrient and one that is primarily derived from sunlight, vitamin D is important for the development of bones and teeth and the regular functioning of the immune system.
- Beyond these functions, previous studies suggest an association between low vitamin D levels and a higher likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease.
- In a new study, researchers have established that it is worthwhile to check vitamin D levels when assessing a person’s cardiovascular risk.
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Using a novel analytical approach, researchers in Australia have discovered an additional factor that may increase a person’s likelihood of CVD.
Lead author Prof. Elina Hyppönen, director of the Australian Centre for Precision Health at the University of South Australia Cancer Research Institute, outlined the results of the study for Medical News Today,
“We found evidence that vitamin D deficiency can increase blood pressure and the risk of CVD.”
“However,” she added, “increasing vitamin D concentrations will only be helpful for those participants who ‘need it,’ and further benefits from elevating concentrations beyond the nutritional requirement are going to be modest, if they exist.”
The results from the study appear in the European Heart Journal.
In the recent study, the researchers set out to investigate whether there is a relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, or 25(OH)D, and the risk of developing CVD.
Serum 25(OH)D levels are an established marker for vitamin D status.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers employed a specific analytical method to analyze data from UK Biobank — a large prospective cohort study of the United Kingdom’s population aged 37–73 years.
The participants were recruited from 22 assessment centers across the U.K. between March 13, 2006, and October 1, 2009. They filled out questionnaires providing broad information on health and lifestyle at baseline and provided blood samples for biomarker and genetic assays.
For the study, the research team limited data analyses to unrelated individuals who were identified as white British based on self-report and genetic profiling. Additionally, the team excluded participants with mismatched information between self-reported and genetic sex.
After filtering, the research team conducted genetic assays among individuals with complete information on 25(OH)D concentrations. As a safety measure, they also collected variables — including age, sex, and time of sample collection — that could affect serum 25(OH)D measurements.
The scientists collected this information from up to 295,788 participants.
The researchers compared the