Vitamin D linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease

American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 17th Annual Meeting & Clinical Congress

Apart from its important role in bone health, vitamin D may be related to diseases like diabetes, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, certain infectious diseases and cancer, according to Robert P. Heaney, MD, FACP, FACN.

“This is a topic that is developing very rapidly,” Heaney, professor of medicine at Creighton University in Nebraska, said during his presentation. “Vitamin D is like an iceberg, there is a part of it that is above the surface that we have seen and have known about for a long time, but the bulk of it is below the surface.”

Heaney highlighted unexpected links to vitamin D, including clinical trials such as the Framingham study, which found that participants with 25(OH)D levels below 10 ng/mL had an 80% increase in the risk for cardiovascular disease.

“There remains a disconnect in the minds of a lot of people when it comes to vitamin D and CVD,” he said.

The same is true with cancer, according to Heaney. Results of one study published in Carcinogenesis this year showed that the risk for breast cancer was reduced significantly in participants with 25(OH)D levels of 75 nmol/L or greater.

Vitamin D and immunity

Using data from clinical trials that evaluated the role of vitamin D in immunity, Heaney highlighted vitamin D as an essential mediator in the innate immune response. Results of another study, published in Acta medica Indonesia, showed that 100% of patients with tuberculosis who, in addition to standard therapy, were randomly assigned 10,000 IU/d of vitamin D3 had sputum conversion, compared to only 76% in those receiving standard therapy alone.

“These are highly statistically significant results,” Heaney said. “But, this does not suggest for a moment that tuberculosis is due to a vitamin D deficiency. However, in order for the body to deal with a disorder such as tuberculosis, it needs to have all of its systems optimized. Some of those systems require vitamin D.”

While vitamin D deficiency has a role in many serious diseases, Heaney stressed the fact that it is not the cause of most of them.

“Adequate vitamin D status enables optimal response to a broad variety of signals. Vitamin D does not so much cause anything, rather it is part of a machine that the body needs in order to respond; something else is doing the causing,” he said. – by Stacey L. Adams

For more information:
Heaney RP. Vitamin D deficiency: a near universal health problem. Presented at: the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 17^th Annual Meeting & Clinical Congress; May 14-18, 2008; Orlando, Fla.