Insufficient vitamin D levels increase heart attack risk If we could go back 30 years and offer some advice to Tim Russert and George Carlin who both recently succumbed to fatal heart events, we could keep it simple and just say, "Please get some sun, fellas." In yesterday's e-Alert ("Natural Nurturer" 7/9/08), I told you about a study that showed how inadequate vitamin D levels in heart patients increased the risk of mortality over an eight-year period. Another new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine underlines D's heart health connection. Using 10 years of data collected from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, Harvard researchers compared vitamin D levels to medical records in more than 18,000 men, all over the age of 40. Results showed a clear link between vitamin D deficiency and increased risk of heart attack. This link remained strong when researchers adjusted for heart risk factors such as family history of heart attack, diabetes, and high triglyceride levels. Perhaps more alarming: Even men with mid-range levels of vitamin D were at higher risk compared to men with sufficient levels. Source:
"25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Risk of Myocardial Infarction in Men" Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 168, No. 11, 6/9/08, archinte.ama-assn.org | 
