Vitamine D voor een langer leven*
Uit een nieuwe studie blijkt dat voldoende vitamine D zorgt voor een 26% lagere kans op doodgaan. De onderzoekers stellen vast dat een goede bloedwaarde vitamine D 30 ng/ml of hoger is. In Amerika hebben 41% van de mannen en 53% van de vrouwen waarden lager dan 28 ng/ml. Van meer dan 13.000 personen werden bloedwaarden vitamine D gemeten en de personen werden bijna 9 jaar gevolgd. Zij met de laagste vitamine D waarden (< 18 ng/ml) hadden 26% meer kans om dood
te gaan dan zij met de hoogste waarden (> 32 ng/ml).
Low vitamin D tied to increased death risk
New research suggests that low blood levels of vitamin D are associated with a 26 percent increased risk of death from any cause.
"Our results make it much more clear that all men and women concerned about their overall health should more closely monitor their blood levels of vitamin D, and make sure they have enough," Dr. Erin D. Michos, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said in a statement.
In a report in the latest issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, Michos and colleagues note that the optimum blood level of vitamin D has been suggested to be 30 nanograms per milliliter or higher. Yet, roughly 41 percent of U.S. men and 53 percent of U.S. women have levels lower than 28 nanograms per milliliter.
Prior research has shown an elevated risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and certain malignancies with low vitamin D levels, but whether a deficiency in vitamin D actually increases death was unclear.
Michos and colleagues addressed this question by analyzing data from 13,331 adults who participated in a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vitamin D levels were measured from 1988 through 1994 and the subjects were followed through 2000.
During a median follow-up period of 8.7 years, 1,806 subjects died, including 777 from cardiovascular disease.
The researchers found that people with the lowest vitamin D levels (less than 17.8 nanograms per milliliter) had a 26 percent increased rate of death from any cause compared to people with the highest vitamin D levels (more than 32.1 nanograms per milliliter).
Several lines of evidence support a potential tie between low vitamin D levels and an increased risk of death, the investigators note, including the fact that heart-related events are more common in the winter, when vitamin D levels are lower, and that cancer survival is better if the disease is diagnosed in the summer when vitamin D levels are higher.
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine (September
2008)
