CHICAGO — New research linking low vitamin D levels with deaths from heart disease and other causes bolsters mounting evidence about the “sunshine” vitamin’s role in good health.
Patients with the lowest blood levels of vitamin D were about two times as likely to die from any cause during the next eight years as those with the highest levels, the study found. The link with heart-related deaths was particularly strong in those with low vitamin D levels.
Experts say the results shouldn’t be seen as a reason to start popping vitamin D pills or to spend hours in the sun. Mega-doses of vitamin D pills can be dangerous, and skin-cancer risks from too much sunshine are well known. But also, it can’t be determined from this type of study whether lack of vitamin D caused the deaths or whether increasing vitamin D intake would make any difference.
