Vitamin D Deficiency Increases Risks

MyAchingKnees.com has written before about the necessity for Vitamin D at much higher levels than previously thought to support a healthy immune system. In fact, one of our auto responders when you sign up for more information from this site, is on the effects of Vitamin D to combat oxidative stress which often manifest itself in joint pain as well as many other symptoms of degenerative disease. I take 3,800 IU's of pharmaceutical grade Vitamin D daily.

Published study, although it gets a little technical, showed that adults with low vitamin D levels had more than double the risk of pre-hypertension and pre-diabetes than adults with higher vitamin D levels.

Pre-diabetes and pre-hypertension have been associated with low vitamin D levels. In a recent issue of the journal Diabetes Care, scientists report a correlation between reduced vitamin D levels and pre-diabetes and pre-hypertension in adults. Both pre-diabetes and pre-hypertension are estimated to exist in at least one-fourth of disease-free adults.

Researchers analyzed data from 898 men and 813 women who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2001-2006. Blood pressure measurements were obtained during examinations conducted upon enrollment, and blood samples were evaluated for glucose, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and other factors.

Pre-diabetes was defined as having a fasting serum glucose of between 100 and 125 milligrams per deciliter, and pre-hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure of 120 to 139 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure between 80 and 89 mmHg. Pre-diabetes was 33 percent higher among those with vitamin D levels of 76.3 nmol/l (30.5 ng/ml) or less compared to those with higher levels. Pre-hypertension was evident in 61 percent of those with the lower vitamin D levels. Participants with undiagnosed diabetes and untreated hypertension had even lower vitamin D levels on average. Serum vitamin D levels tended to decline with increasing age and body mass.

When the risk of having both conditions was considered, those with low vitamin D levels had 2.4 times the risk of that experienced by subjects with higher vitamin D levels.

It is reasonable that among those with pre-diabetes or pre-hypertension, vitamin D supplementation resulting in increased serum vitamin D levels may help reverse subtle changes in fasting serum glucose and resting blood pressure that may lead to more advanced disease states.

Source: Pre-diabetes and Pre-hypertension in Healthy Adults Are Associated With Low Vitamin D Levels. Diabetes Care March 2011 vol. 34 no. 3 658-660, Alok K. Gupta, MD, Meghan M. Brashear, MPH and William D. Johnson, PHD.

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