vitamin D

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Thought I would share this. My endo wants my Vit D hydroxy between 90 and 100.

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Low vitamin D linked to sudden cardiac death

Monday, November 17, 2008

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Vitamin D deficiency is associated with heart

dysfunction,

sudden cardiac death, and death due to heart failure, German researchers report.

An association between vitamin D deficiency and heart trouble is physiologically

plausible,

the researchers note. For example, vitamin D is known to affect contractility of

the heart.

Dr. Stefan Pilz, from the University of Heidelberg, and colleagues assessed

vitamin D levels

in 3,299 Caucasian patients who were referred for a test used to look for

clogged heart

arteries called coronary angiography from 1997 to 2000. The subjects were then

followed

for 7.7 years.

During follow-up, 116 patients died from heart failure and 188 from sudden

cardiac

death, Pilz and colleagues report.

In analyses taking into factors that might influence the results, they found

that severe

vitamin D deficiency, compared with optimal vitamin D levels, was associated

with nearly a

three-fold increased risk of death from heart failure and about a five-fold

increased risk

of sudden cardiac death.

" These data strongly indicate that the maintenance of an optimal vitamin D

status may be

a promising approach for the prevention and/or therapy of (heart) diseases,

warranting

confirmation in interventional trials with vitamin D supplementation, " the

researchers

conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism October, 2008.HEALTH

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