A new article in Circulation magazine looks at low vitamin D levels and the risk for heart disease in diabetic patients.
Dr.Carlos Bernal Mizrachi, an endocrinologist at Washington University in St. Louis was the principal investigator.
He is quoted as saying "Vitamin D inhibits the uptake of cholesterol by cells called macrophages. The macrophages get clogged with cholesterol and become what scientists call foam cells, which are one of the earliest markers of atherosclerosis"
In this study the scientists looked at macrophage cells from patients with and without diabetes, and with and without vitamin D deficiency. The scientists put the cells from these patients in a culture dish and found that macrophages from diabetic patients with low vitamin D levels were much more likely to become foam cells.
This study, in my opinion is just one more reason for people with diabetes to be sure to optimize their vitamin D level. This study is very exciting to me because it shows that vitamin D regulates the biochemical pathways that are connected with both the uptake and clearance of cholesterol in our macrophage cells. As noted above when these macrophages get filled up with cholesterol they become foam cells which are one of the earliest markers of heart disease.
Published online before print August 10, 2009, doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.856070
can you take 5000 iu of vitamin d3 and it not be a risk to your body diabetics especially.
Dan
You will know though from my book that that is a complex question. Depending on your age, your body weight, your skin type the latitude at which you live, and many other factors your dose of vitamin D will vary. That is why I offer an at-home vitamin D blood test and why I do blood tests on every one of my patients.
For those people without a blood test, I recommend 2000 IU of vitamin D a day, until they can see what the blood test shows and then they can take the appropriate dose, as I outlined in my book to normalize and optimize their levels.
There are those on the Internet who would recommend that without a blood test you take 5000 IU a day of vitamin D but as a physician working with vitamin D every day I do not recommend that high dose without appropriate blood testing.
Dr. Soram