In a study involving almost 250,000 people, scientists have found a connection between high levels of vitamin D in the blood and the risk of suffering a stroke or a coronary thrombosis, according to a ScienceNordic article.
The findings cannot directly link the two, because it was an observational study. But the study results should not be ignored, says one of the scientists involved.
“It may not provide the definitive truth, but our study does show that we should be aware of the connection,” says Peter Schwarz, a professor from the department of clinical medicine at the University of Copenhagen, in the article.
Christian Gluud, who leads the Copenhagen Trial Unit at the center for clinical intervention research at Copenhagen University Hospital, agrees with Schwarz.
“Finding a link in an observational study is not evidence enough, but in my mind the study is interesting,” Gluud says. “When I look at the results I think to myself: ‘This makes sense, because it perhaps reflects what we’ve previously seen in a systematic overview of randomised clinical tests,’” adds Gluud, who was not involved in the new study.
The researchers also discovered that it is very difficult to get vitamin D levels balanced correctly. Increased mortality also applied to participants with excessively low levels of vitamin D in their blood. Those who fared best were in between.
“In the case of low levels the effect is if possible even more apparent. It just isn’t particularly new — so nobody doubts any longer that vitamin D deficiency is bad for people,” says Schwarz. “What is significant is that the same also applies to high levels.”
Source: ScienceNordic
