Lower vitamin D, higher risk of death

[Celebration]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-08-11-vitamin-D-death_N.htm

"A New Risk Factor for Death"

Low levels of vitamin D may raise a person's risk of premature death, a study by Johns Hopkins researchers shows.

The research follows other recent studies showing low levels of vitamin D are linked to certain cancers, diabetes, and bone and immune system problems, but this is the first research to connect vitamin D deficiency to a higher risk of death, says study author Erin Michos, assistant professor of cardiology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore.

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In the study, people who had low vitamin D levels — 17.8 ng/mL or lower — were 26% more likely to be dead at the end of the study than those with higher vitamin D levels, Michos says.

"We took into account 30 different variables — including age, weight, diabetes, cholesterol, high blood pressure, whether they exercise, smoking — and we found that low vitamin D levels, independent of all these other risk factors for heart disease, predicted an increased risk of dying from any other cause. So we found a new risk factor for death," Michos says.

[SmokingJacket]

1. this is why you shouldn't wear sunscreen all year long

We *need* vitamin D.

[pansypoo53219]

6. i never wear sunscreen.

i don't really sunbathe. i do try to get at least 5 minutes of sun a day.

[trotsky]

8. Actually they say that most of us apply it so poorly,

and/or forget to reapply often, that even with sunscreen we're getting enough sun exposure to make vitamin D.

[SmokingJacket]

9. We probably need more, since most people are low.

We evolved being outdoors a lot more than we are now. But we also didn't sunbathe. I think moderate, unlotioned, regular exposure to the sun, without getting burned, is the best program.

[tabatha]

2. Thanks for the info.

But you may get blasted my the medicine-only folks.

[Celebration]

3. No, I don't think so

It is a scientific study. I think they'll be happy to have the information, too.

[petersjo02]

4. My nephrologist ordered a vitamin D test

in April when I saw him. The studies they have conducted on in- and out-patients at the University of Iowa show that 95% of the population is deficent vitamin D, including me, although I was supplementing at 400 IU per day. I was prescribed 50,000 IU of vitamin D once a week for 8 weeks and then was retested to find that vitamin D was up in the desired range. Now I take 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily, as recommended by my internist. The sun doesn't always do the job, especially in northern states, and depending on amount of skin exposed to the sun on any given day.

[Celebration]

5. very good info!!

Thanks for posting.

[TechBear_Seattle]

7. My doctor gave me the same prescription

I have T2 diabetes and go in every three months for blood work. One of the tests he ordered at my mid-April visit was a vitamin D test; it came back low. I now take a 400 iu pill in the evening with the B complex I've been taking for years, in addition to the multi-vitamin with 400 iu I take in the morning.

[cutlassmama]

10. good info. thanks

[LeftishBrit]

11. Thanks for info!

Diet is important here as well as sun, I think.

I get vitamin D and calcium to prevent osteoporosis; but it's interesting that vitamin D seems to be increasingly found to be important with regard to many conditions.