Low Vitamin D Ups Metabolic Syndrome Risk in Elderly

SAN DIEGOOlder adults with low levels of vitamin D have an increased risk for developing metabolic syndrome that can lead to diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to new research presented last month at Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting.

The study included subjects participating in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam and followed nearly 1,300 Caucasian men and women ages 65 and older. Researchers found a 48-percent prevalence of vitamin D deficiency; 37 percent had metabolic syndrome, a clustering of high blood pressure, abdominal obesity, abnormal cholesterol profile and high blood sugar.

Subjects with blood levels of vitamin D lower than 50 nanomoles per liter were likelier to have the metabolic syndrome than those whose vitamin D levels exceeded 50. The increased risk stemmed from the presence of two risk factors for the metabolic syndromelow HDL, or "good" cholesterol, and a large waistline. Researchers noticed no difference in risk between men and women.

"Because the metabolic syndrome increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, an adequate vitamin D level in the body might be important in the prevention of these diseases," said study co-author Marelise Eekhoff, MD, PhD, of VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam. "It is important to investigate the exact role of vitamin D in diabetes to find new and maybe easy ways to prevent it and cardiovascular disease."