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Impact of Vitamin D on Heart Health

Narinder Duggal, MD, FRCPC

Most people are aware that vitamin D is needed to facilitate calcium metabolism and to improve skeletal health, but new research has shown that we also need it for protection against many other serious diseases. In recent years, scientists have discovered that vitamin D may also have an impact on heart health.

Inadequate levels of vitamin D are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death, a new observational study has found. The findings of this study were presented in the American Heart Association Conference in 2009.^1,2 Nearly 27,000 individuals, over 50 years of age, with no prior history of cardiovascular disease, were evaluated for a period of one year. The results revealed individuals with very low levels of (<15 ng/ml) vitamin D were 77% more likely to die, 45% more likely to develop coronary artery disease, 78% more likely to have a stroke and twice as likely to develop heart failure compared to people with normal vitamin D levels (>30 ng/ml).

A number of studies suggest vitamin D deficiency may be a contributor to the development of cardiovascular disease with associations to the development of diabetes and hypertension.^3-5 The results of the 2008 Framingham Heart Study also indicated the association of cardiovascular disease with vitamin D deficiency.⁶ During the 5.4 years of this study, 120 subjects out of 1739, who developed a cardiovascular event, had low 25(OH) vitamin D levels. Similar results were found in another study, which evaluated 18,225 apparently healthy men aged 40-75 years.⁷ After a period of about 10 years, study participants  with vitamin D blood levels less than 15 ng/ml were at an increased risk for myocardial infarction compared to those with blood levels above 30 ng/ml.

Vitamin D deficiency may be linked to higher mortality in patients with increased cardiovascular risk.^8,9 The findings of a recent prospective clinical study from the Chianti region of Italy are particularly noteworthy. One thousand adults aged over 65 years old were monitored over a seven year period.¹⁰ During the course of study 107 participants died due to cardiovascular diseases. The participants with the lowest vitamin D levels were nearly three times as likely to die from heart attacks and other complications related to cardiovascular disease, when compared to the study participants with healthy levels of vitamin D in their blood. Similar results were found when Fiscella and colleagues analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1988-1994. It was found that the subjects who had low vitamin D status were at a 40% increased risk of death due to cardiovascular diseases.¹¹

The hormonal form of vitamin D exerts important physiological effects in cardiomyocytes (cardiac muscle cells). It increases the expression of the cardiac muscle protein myotrophin and decreases expression of atrial natriuretic peptide, a biochemical risk marker that is inversely related to cardiac function.¹² Low serum levels of vitamin D can enhance the synthesis of matrix metalloproteinases (connective tissue enzymes that are involved in the remodeling of the vascular wall and myocardium), which eventually leads to vascular calcification and coronary heart disease.¹² Vitamin D deficiency results in the elevation of parathyroid hormone, which increases the blood pressure and cardiac contractility. The sustained stress on myocardial tissue carries the potential for the development of cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial fibrosis and heart failure.¹³

Vitamin D plays a significant role in maintaining cardiovascular health. If you have been diagnosed with heart disease, vitamin D supplementation may be helpful.  Discuss vitamin D and cardiovascular health with your physician. Ask for a vitamin D blood test and and ask how Vitamin D10 supplementation from Synergy Therapeutics RX can benefit your heart condition.

References:

1.    http://www.mlive.com/living/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/02/heart_patients_need_vitamin_d.html. (Open link)
2.    http://www.theheart.org/article/1028165.do. (Open link)
3.    Judd SE, Tangpricha V. Vitamin D deficiency and risk for cardiovascular disease. Am J Med Sci 2009;338(1):40-4. (PUBMED Abstract)
4.    Michos ED, Melamed ML. Vitamin D and cardiovascular disease risk. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 2008;11(1):7-12. (PUBMED Abstract)
5.    Zittermann A, Schleithoff SS, Koerfer R. Putting cardiovascular disease and vitamin D insufficiency into perspective. Br J Nutr 2005;94(4):483-92. (PUBMED Abstract)
6.    Wang TJ, Pencina MJ, Booth SL, et al. Vitamin D deficiency and risk of cardiovascular disease. Circulation 2008;117(4):503-11. (PUBMED Abstract)
7.    Giovannucci E, Liu Y, Hollis BW, Rimm EB. 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of myocardial infarction in men: a prospective study. Arch Intern Med 2008;168(11):1174-80. (PUBMED Abstract)
8.    Pilz S, Dobnig H, Nijpels G, et al. Vitamin D and mortality in older men and women. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 2009;71(5):666-72. (PUBMED Abstract)
9.    Zittermann A, Gummert JF, Borgermann J. Vitamin D deficiency and mortality. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 2009;12(6):634-9. (PUBMED Abstract)
10.    Semba RD, Houston DK, Bandinelli S, et al. Relationship of 25-hydroxyvitamin D with all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in older community-dwelling adults. Eur J Clin Nutr;64(2):203-9. (PUBMED Abstract)
11.    Fiscella K, Franks P. Vitamin D, race, and cardiovascular mortality: findings from a national US sample. Ann Fam Med;8(1):11-8. (PUBMED Abstract)
12.    Zittermann A, Koerfer R. Vitamin D in the prevention and treatment of coronary heart disease. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care 2008;11(6):752-7. (PUBMED Abstract)
13.    Nemerovski CW, Dorsch MP, Simpson RU, et al. Vitamin D and cardiovascular disease. Pharmacotherapy 2009;29(6):691-708. (PUBMED Abstract)