Low Vitamin D May Raise Risk of Death

Previously, studies of aging adults have shown that Vitamin D deficiency may precipitate or exacerbate osteopenia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, fractures, common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases, as well as raise the risk of cancers and diabetes.   Stefan Pilz, from Medical University of Graz (Austria), and colleagues studied data collected on 614 men and women, average age of 69.8 years, following them for a six-year period.  The team found that those subjects with the lowest average vitamin D levels (30.6 nanomoles per litre) were found to be at a 124% increased risk of death from all causes, and at 378% increased risk of cardiovascular mortality.  The researchers conclude that:  “Low [vitamin] D levels are associated with all-cause mortality and even more pronounced with cardiovascular mortality… intervention studies are warranted to evaluate whether vitamin D supplementation reduces mortality and cardiovascular diseases.”