Sunshine reduces heart, diabetes risk
Posted on: Friday, 22 May 2009, 22:13 CDT
British researchers say sunshine helps reduced heart disease and diabetes risks in older people.
Dr. Oscar Franco of Warwick Medical School in England and colleagues investigated the association between vitamin D levels in the blood and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in 3,262 people ages 50-70 in China.
The study, published in Diabetes Care, found a high correlation between low vitamin D levels and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. They found 94 percent of people in the study had a vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency. The results showed 42.3 percent of these people also had metabolic syndrome -- a risk factor for diabetes and heart disease.
As we get older our skin is less efficient at forming vitamin D and our diet may also become less varied, with a lower natural vitamin D content,
Franco, the study leader, said in a statement.
Most importantly, however, the dermal production of vitamin D following a standard exposure to UVB light decreases with age because of atrophic skin changes. When we are older we may need to spend more time outdoors to stimulate the same levels of vitamin D we had when we were younger.
Source: United Press International
Related Articles
- Metabolic Syndrome Study is Released
- Fast Food Diet Ups Metabolic Syndrome Risk
- Iron levels can be high in 'metabolic syndrome'
- Nicotinic Acid in the Management of Dyslipidaemia Associated With Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome: a Position Paper Developed By a European Consensus Panel
- Physical Activity Energy Expenditure Predicts Progression Toward the Metabolic Syndrome Independently of Aerobic Fitness in Middle-Aged Healthy Caucasians: The Medical Research Council Ely Study
- The Effect of Metformin and Intensive Lifestyle Intervention on the Metabolic Syndrome: The Diabetes Prevention Program Randomized Trial
- Cardiovascular Disease in U.S. Patients With Metabolic Syndrome, Diabetes, and Elevated C-Reactive Protein
- The Metabolic Syndrome and 11-Year Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study
- Metabolic Syndrome Variables at Low Levels in Childhood Are Beneficially Associated With Adulthood Cardiovascular Risk: The Bogalusa Heart Study
- Prevention and Treatment of the Metabolic Syndrome
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds