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Sunshine Vitamin Protects the Heart As Well As Your Bones

Posted on: Tuesday, 8 January 2008, 18:00 CST

By Jenny Hope

VITAMIN D may protect against heart attacks and strokes on top of its traditional role in keeping bones strong.

Researchers found those with low blood levels of the sunshine vitamin were twice as likely to suffer heart failure, a heart attack or a stroke than those with higher levels.

The risk was still 62 per cent after adjusting for well- established risk factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Dr Thomas Wang, who led the research, said: Our data raise the possibility that treating vitamin D deficiency, via supplementation or lifestyle measures, could reduce cardiovascular risk.

The five-year study, published in the journal Circulation, involved 1,700 sons and daughters of the participants in the Framingham Heart Study, which was a major investigation of heart disease risk factors launched back in 1948. Most of the bodys supply of vitamin D is provided by sunlight on the skin. The rest comes from foods such as fish, eggs, fortified milk and breakfast cereals. The mechanism by which it works is only partly understood, but vitamin D has been shown to slow the rate of growth of cancer cells and may boost the function of blood vessels or the immune system.

Although most of those living in northern Europe are not sufficiently lacking in vitamin D to be classified as deficient, some experts believe blood levels should be higher to optimise health.

Only ten per cent of the study sample had levels considered ideal, even for bone health.

A spokesman for the UKs Health Supplements Information Service said: Dietary surveys show that large numbers of people in Northern climates have blood levels of vitamin D which are too low. Diet does not provide enough vitamin D and the need for each of us to expose our skin to sunlight for short periods of time to make it runs contrary to advice to avoid sunbathing to the reduce risk of skin cancer.

Confusing messages, combined with seasonal variation in UV radiation strength, geographic latitude, time of day, cloud cover and use of sunscreen merge to hamper reliable vitamin D synthesis.

If youre one of lifes worriers, doctors now say you could be at greater risk of a heart attack.

Those who suffer from chronic anxiety are up to 40 per cent more likely to have a heart attack than those with a relaxed approach to life, research shows. And anxiety can trigger heart problems on its own making it as critical as high blood pressure.

Until now, anxiety was considered to be an overload factor for those with heart problems.

For the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers followed 735 men over more than 12 years, scoring anxiety such as phobias and tension in stressful situations.

Researcher Biing-Jiun Shen, at the University of Southern California, said: Older men with sustained and pervasive anxiety appear to be at increased risk.

What were seeing is over and beyond what can be explained by blood pressure, obesity, cholesterol, age, smoking, blood sugar levels and other risk factors.

Men whose anxiety scores were in the top 15 per cent faced a heart attack risk 30 to 40 per cent above those with the lowest scores.

But Dr Shen offered some consolation: The good thing about anxiety is that its very treatable.

Source: Daily Mail; London (UK)

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