High levels of V-D may reduce several diseases

Middle aged and elderly people with high levels of vitamin D could reduce their chances of developing heart disease or diabetes by 43% according to a study in the journal Maturitas. A team of researchers carried out a systematic literature review of studies examining vitamin D and cardiometabolic disorders. Cardiometabolic disorders include cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome.

Researchers looked at 28 studies including 99,745 participants across a variety of ethnic groups including men and women. The studies revealed a significant association between high levels of vitamin D and a decreased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (33% compared to low levels of vitamin D), type 2 diabetes (55% reduction) and metabolic syndrome (51% reduction). All studies included were published between 1990 and 2009 with the majority published between 2004 and 2009. Half of the studies were conducted in the United States, eight were European, two studies were from Iran, three from Australasia and one from India.

Steve - this is a meta-analysis, which we rarely use because there can be such bias and generalization of the data. However the reductions in preventing these diseases are so overwhelming, it is impossible to ignore.