Shortage Of Vitamin D Increases Death Risk
June 24th, 2008 | by admin |
Results of a new study find that a deficiency in vitamin D can increase a person’s risk of an early death.
People in a study who had the lowest blood levels of the vitamin, were at the greatest risk of dying from heart disease as well as other causes.
The study, found that these people were up to 2 times more likely to die within 8 years of follow up than those who had proper amounts of vitamin D in their blood.
“This is the first association study that shows vitamin D affects mortality regardless of the (primary) reason for death,” said Harald Dobnig, an internist and endocrinologist at the University of Graz in Austria, who led the study.
The sun is probably one of the best sources of vitamin D but if one is out in the sun too much, they increase their risk of skin cancer due to dangerous cancer causing rays.
Vitamin D is also found in bread, milk and some fish such as salmon.
The vitamin is needed by the body to help absorb and process calcium.
The Austrian study is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
