Vitamin D deficiency associated with increased mortality, finds large study

Low vitamin D status has been linked to increased mortality, but mortality in the context of vitamin D deficiency remains unclear. Randomized controlled trials either fail to recruit people with severe deficiency or, because of ethical reasons, are prevented from doing so.

Research by Researchers from the University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia has revealed  in a large study of more than 300,000 adults in the United Kingdom a causal relationship between vitamin D deficiency and mortality. These findings suggest a need for public health strategies to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D in the population.

The study has been published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in few foods like flesh of fatty fish such as trout, salmon, tuna, and mackerel, fish liver oils ,Beef liver, egg yolks, cheese and mushrooms.It is also synthesized endogenously when ultraviolet (UV) rays from sunlight strike the skin.

Vitamin D promotes calcium absorption in the gut and maintains adequate serum calcium and phosphate concentrations to enable normal bone mineralization and to prevent hypocalcemic tetany. Further it is needed for bone growth and bone remodeling by osteoblasts and osteoclasts and helps protect older adults from osteoporosis. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to thin and brittle bones leading rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.

Researchers from the University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, conducted a nonlinear mendelian randomization study of 307,601 participants in the U.K. Biobank to assess genetic evidence for the causal role of low vitamin D status in mortality.

The authors evaluated measurements of participants' 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-(OH) D) and other genetic data. They also recorded and analyzed both all-cause and cause-specific mortality data. Over a 14-year follow up period, the authors found that the risk for death decreased significantly with increased vitamin D concentrations, and the strongest effects were seen for persons in the severe deficiency range.

They note that recent estimates for the prevalence of severe deficiency range from 5 to 50 percent of the population, with rates varying by geographic location and population characteristics. According to the authors, their study affirms the potential for a notable effect on premature death and the continued need for efforts to abolish vitamin D deficiency.

Reference:

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M21-3324