Friday, February 10, 2012

Too much vitamin D harmful to heart?

Just Read this in a newsletter:

Those with vitamin D deficiency have elevated risk for diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, and depression, compared with people in the designated "normal" vitamin D range of 41-60 ng/ml. There seems to be little doubt that many people could well benefit from getting a little more sun exposure to allow their body to make more vitamin D or taking vitamin D pills. This could be of help for bone health and could have a protective benefit for the heart, and lower the risk for certain forms of cancer. But new evidence indicates that too much has its downsides. Dr. Muhammad Amer, an assistant professor in the division of general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine helped conduct a study on this topic which was published in the Jan. 15, 2012 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology. A review of five years of data from a national survey of more than 15,000 adults found that people with a normal levels of vitamin D had lower levels of a c-reactive protein (CRP), a marker for inflammation of the heart and blood vessels. On the other hand, when vitamin D levels rose beyond the low end of normal, CRP also increased, resulting in a greater risk for heart problems. The researcher warns, "People taking vitamin D supplements need to be sure the supplements are necessary. Those pills could have unforeseen consequences to health even if they are not technically toxic." http://www.raysahelian.com/creactiveprotein.html

Another recent study indicates people with an excessive blood level of vitamin D from overdosing with supplements have a higher incidence of atrial fibrillation (a type of heart rhythm disturbance), based on a study of 132,000 residents of Utah and southeastern Idaho. This was reported at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association

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