NEW RISK
ANCHOR LEAD: LOW VITAMIN D MAY PUT PEOPLE AT RISK FOR HEART DISEASE, ELIZABETH TRACEY REPORTS
Vitamin D levels in the blood can be low because of reduced sunlight exposure or inadequate diet, but whatever the reason, a recent study finds that low vitamin D is bad for your heart. Rick Lange, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins, explains.
LANGE: Patients that have decreased vitamin D, that is vitamin D deficiency, are at a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This is important because as much as thirty percent of the population may in fact be deficient in vitamin D, and in this Framingham Offspring study, 28% had very low levels of vitamin D, and in those individuals they had a 60% increased risk of having cardiovascular disease. This was independent of the other risk factors we know about: high blood pressure or diabetes or family history or inflammation, so this is the addition of a new risk factor :323
Lange says measuring vitamin D involves a simple and easily available blood test. I’m Elizabeth Tracey reporting.
