A new study revealed that children low in Vitamin D might face higher risk of subclinical atherosclerosis in the future atherosclerosis is linked with cardiovascular risk factors, and predicts cardiovascular events meaning risk of having heart attack.
Markus Juonala from University of Turku Finland, one of the authors of the study said, “Our results showed an association between low vitamin D levels in childhood and increased occurrence of subclinical atherosclerosis in adulthood.”
“The association was independent of conventional cardiovascular risk factors including serum lipids, blood pressure, smoking, diet, physical activity, obesity indices and socioeconomic status,” Juonala added.
For their study, the researchers looked at the relationship between low childhood vitamin D levels and adult increased carotid intima-thickness (IMT), a marker of structural atherosclerosis. Their study included 2,148 participants aged 3 to 18 years as a baseline. A follow up examination was carried out after 25 years when the participants are already 30 to 45 years of age.
Based on the result of the analysis, the researchers said that participants with low levels of vitamin D in childhood had a significantly higher prevalence of high-risk IMT as adults. The researchers controlled factors such as exercise levels, poor nutritional habits, obesity, smoking and high blood pressure to avoid biases on the result of the study.
Additional research is needed though to prove that the low levels of Vitamin D as a child actually have a direct effect on the hardening of the arteries.
As Juonala put it, “More research is needed to investigate whether low vitamin D levels have a causal role in the development increased carotid artery thickness. Nevertheless, our observations highlight the importance of providing children with a diet that includes sufficient vitamin D.”
The findings are reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Photo Source: smnweekly.
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