Vitamin D Deficiency And Mortality: Genetic Evidence

(CTN News) – There is a causal relationship between vitamin D deficiency and mortality in U.K. Biobank data.

This is according to a study published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine on October 25.

In a prospective cohort of 307,601 U.K. individuals, Joshua P. Sutherland, of the University of South Australia in Adelaide, and colleagues examined genetic evidence for the causal role of low vitamin D levels in mortality.

A biobank of participants with White European ancestry, aged 37 to 73 at recruitment, with available measurements of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) and genetic information, was recruited.

Over the course of 14 years of follow-up, the researchers identified 18,700 deaths.

There was a significant L-shaped association between genetically predicted 25(OH)D levels and all-cause mortality; the risk for death decreased steeply with increasing levels up to 50 nmol/L.

The association between cancer mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality, and respiratory disease mortality was confirmed in analyses of mortality related to these conditions.

Based on the genetic analysis, it was estimated that participants with a measured 25(OH)D concentration of 25 nmol/L were significantly more likely to die from all causes than participants with a measured concentration of 50 nmol/L (odds ratio, 1.25).

There is a need for additional research to identify strategies that meet the National Academy of Medicine’s guideline concentration of greater than 50 nanomoles per liter and reduce the premature death risk associated with low vitamin D levels.

What are Vitamin D and Calcium?

What are Vitamin D and Calcium? Vitamin D (a hormone) and calcium (a mineral) are nutrients that sustain healthy bones. They are also needed for: Muscle movement.

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