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Low vitamin D linked to leg artery disease People with low vitamin D levels have a higher incidence of peripheral artery disease (PAD), a study shows. PAD occurs when arteries in the legs become narrowed or clogged with fatty deposits, reducing blood flow to the legs. PAD affects about 8 million Americans and is associated with significant disease and death. People obtain vitamin D by making it themselves (through skin exposure to sunlight), by eating foods like fish and fortified dairy products that contain vitamin D, or by taking Vitamin D supplements. Adequate vitamin D levels are necessary for bone health, but researchers are only beginning to explore vitamin D's connection to cardiovascular disease. Dr. Michal L. Melamed from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York and colleagues analyzed data from a national survey in which vitamin D levels were measured in 4,839 U.S. adults. Researchers in that survey had also documented ankle-brachial index -- a PAD screening tool that measures blood flow to the legs. Average vitamin D levels were significantly lower in people with PAD than in people without PAD, Melamed and colleagues report. In the participants with the highest vitamin D levels, only 3.7 percent had PAD. Among those with the lowest levels, 8.1 percent had PAD. Participants with the lowest vitamin D levels were 2.18 times more likely to have PAD than were participants with the highest vitamin D levels after adjustment for age, gender, and race. For each 10 nanogram per milliliter decrease blood vitamin D level, there was a 35 percent increase in the prevalence of PAD, the investigators said. Melamed cautioned that "the evidence is not quite there yet to suggest patients with PAD would benefit from vitamin D supplementation." She added, "If there is a causal relationship between low vitamin D levels and PAD, it may be that long-standing vitamin D deficiency causes PAD and that intervening once PAD is already established may not change the course of the disease. Therefore, more studies are needed in this area." SOURCE: Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, June 2008 Dr. Cinque's comments: Remember that peripheral artery disease is just atherosclerotic heart disease in a different location. The anti-atheroslerotic effect of Vitamin D is just being discovered and documented. One theory holds that when the body is starving for Vitamin D, it increases the blood cholesterol level to provide more of the building block for Vitamin D production. The effect is small, but sunbathing does lower blood cholesterol levels. And another theory holds that heart disease is really a tumorous condition- a neoplasia within the arteries, and it's well known that Vitamin D impedes tumors by way of its apoptotic effect. And epidemiologically, we know that heart disease increases the farther you move north or south from the equator. I believe very strongly that humans are equatorial animals. And I also think that Vitamin D is among the most important supplements we can take. Even if you are not a big supplement person and your supplement list is short, make sure you're getting enough Vitamin D. It's crucial. E-mail to a friend Next Article |
