I was delighted to see a new article that came out in December 2008 in a major cardiology journal on the subject of vitamin D deficiency as a treatable cardiovascular risk factor. It was authored by Dr. Michael Holick and others.
In this article the authors review the role of vitamin D deficiency is a contributor to the development of heart disease. They review the medical literature and point out that vitamin D blood levels are inversely connected with coronary artery calcification. It is pointed out that vitamin D deficiency increases inflammation in the body, specifically diagnosable by elevated levels of C-reactive protein. The C-reactive protein was even recently mentioned in the Wall Street Journal as a risk factor that all executive should pay attention to with their physician. All patients with elevated C-reactive printing should have their vitamin D status evaluated.
The authors also point out that muscle aching, which is one of the most common complaints by patients who take statin therapy, could be at least in part caused by an underlying vitamin D deficiency. The authors of the article have noted in their own practices that correcting vitamin D deficiency very often improves or resolves the muscle aching associated with statin use. If you or one of your loved ones has gotten muscle aching from statin therapy please be sure that your vitamin D level has been checked. In addition, of course, all patients on statin therapy should take coenzyme Q10, which is depleted by all statin drugs, and this is also associated with the muscle pains.
The most exciting thing to me about this article is that it now brings to the attention of all cardiologists, in one of their most important journals, the importance of checking vitamin D levels in their patients with heart disease.
Reference:
J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Dec 9;52(24):1949-56.
i just turned 50, 5′9 tall, 170lbs, Black female. i get approx 3 hrs. cardio/wk, and I am very deliberate about my eating. Still I battle controling my BP! I prefer Chinese/holistic medicine to synthetic drugs. However, this past year, due to my BP being so high I’ve taken 3 different drugs, Maxzide, Norvasc & Tekturna
and none of them have been sufficient. I question if my out of balance female hormones in conjunction with hereditary hypertension is part of the problem? And if I increase my Vit D3 if that will help balance my female hormones, and thus decrease my BP? Is there a connection? By the way, I sun bathe daily!
I am 42 years old and my Dr just found out I am vitamin D deficient so I have been in a 3 week treatment now for which I thanks my Dr so much….,Because I’m feeling so good!!! I went to see my Dr. because i was feeling so miserable and had this muscle pain and fatigue I couldn’t fix. I feel so revitalize and full of energy I finally could start jogging like I always wanted.
Feeling good,
Blanca
Bianca! it surely sounds like you had osteomalacia, which you will know from my book I also had!
I’m delighted that you have such an aware doctor, who drew your blood, and has put you on a treatment protocol that is helping you feel so much better. Be sure to measure your blood tests occasionally to make sure that your dose is staying correct. I’m so glad you’re feeling much better
Dear Yvonne,
In my experience as an integrative medicine doctor for many years, changes in female hormones can definitely be a contributor to blood pressure problems.
Vitamin D deficiency in the African-American community of the United States is epidemic. You may have noticed the comments in the front of my book for my dear friend Verdine White of Earth Wind and fire. He and I are working together with others to try to inform the African-American community of the importance of taking vitamin D and optimizing their levels.
It is good that you’re sunbathing but as you will know from my book African-Americans can require up to five to 10 times the amount of sun as a Caucasian person to raise their vitamin D levels. It would be best for you to get a blood test for vitamin D to see where your level is now. In my experience optimizing vitamin D levels can help get blood pressure to get under control. However they do not take the place of other medications.
Dr Soram
Great site this blog.vitamindrevolution.com and I am really pleased to see you have what I am actually looking for here and this this post is exactly what I am interested in. I shall be pleased to become a regular visitor
Thank you ! I look forward to keeping you posted on the newest info on Vitamin D ! Dr Soram
rated site this blog.vitamindrevolution.com great to see you have what I am actually looking for here and this this post is exactly what I am interested in. I shall be pleased to become a regular visitor
Thank you Offexia! Great to have you here!
Dr Soram