Posts Tagged ‘vitamin D’

New research appearing in next month’s Annals of Family Medicine suggests that vitamin D deficiency may contribute to the disparity seen between whites and blacks in regards to rates of heart attacks and strokes. After looking at data from over 15,000 Americans the researchers found that vitamin D deficiency was associated with higher death rates among all subjects. However, blacks had a 38% higher risk of death than whites – this did not change even when taking into account socioeconomic status. The researchers also found that the risk of death decreased as vitamin D levels increased. It should be noted that this is only an observational study, not a controlled trial. But, given these findings further studies are warranted especially if vitamin replacement, which is relatively easy to do, could reduce the risk of death.

Vitamin D deficiency can lead to a chronic inflammatory state that is associated with heart disease and cancer. Since vitamin D is produced in the skin in a process involving sunlight, dark-skinned individuals may produce less of it because their skin pigment blocks the UV light needed for vitamin D synthesis. [via Medical News Today]

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Today’s Daily Dose comes from the current issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers found, after following over 238 thousand women over the course of 40 years, that women who had a BMI of 30 or greater at the age of 18 had more than twice the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), compared to women with a BMI between 18.5 and 20.9. “Our results suggest that weight during adolescence, rather than childhood or adulthood, is critical in determining the risk of MS,” said study author Kassandra Munger, ScD, of the Harvard School of Public Health. The study authors theorize the link between obesity and MS may be that obese women tend to have lower vitamin D levels (higher vitamin D levels are thought to reduce the risk of MS). In addition, fatty tissue can produce substances thought to affect immune and cellular function which may be associated with MS. [via Medical News Today]

Calculated your BMI.

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A National Institutes of Health and University of Minnesota study has found that vitamin D may assist in weight loss. By looking at vitamin D levels of overweight subjects before and after following a diet plan, researchers noted for every increase of 1 ng/mL in level of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (the precursor form of vitamin D and a commonly used indicator of vitamin D status) subjects ended up losing almost a half pound  more. Also, higher vitamin D levels at the onset of dieting resulted in greater loss of abdominal fat. ”Our results suggest the possibility that the addition of vitamin D to a reduced-calorie diet will lead to better weight loss,” the authors say. However, more stringent clinical trials will be needed in order to see whether there is a true associated between vitamin D and weight.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics today issued new recommendations regarding daily Vitamin D intake for kids.  Children , from newborns to teenagers, should now take twice as much Vitamin D as previously recommended because of its role in preventing disease – in addition to maintaining strong bones. In order to obtain the newly recommended 400 units each day, children can drink 4 cups of milk. However, one of the best ways to get the vitamin is to simply play in the sun. Our bodies produce Vitamin D when sunshine hits the skin. Other good sources include fortified cereals, and oily fish such as tuna, sardines, or mackerel.

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