Less Vitamin D Risk of Diabetes

Research experts back links between low levels of vitamin D with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. In research released at the annual meeting of The Endocrine Society in Houston, researchers found an inverse relationship between vitamin D levels in the blood with the metabolic syndrome, which is a group of risk factors for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Researchers reported that those with the highest levels of vitamin D in their blood had a 48 percent lower risk of having metabolic syndrome than people with the lowest vitamin D levels.
"This association has been documented before, but we are expanding our research association for people from racial and ethnic backgrounds are diverse," says lead researcher, Joanna Mitri, MD, a researcher at Tufts Medical Center, Boston.

According to the researchers, all participants involved in the study are a group at risk of developing diabetes because they have pre-diabetes or high blood sugar levels but can not be classified as diabetes.
Based on data from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States, pre-diabetes affects approximately 79 million Americans aged 20 or older.
In his study, Mitri and colleagues divided the participants into three groups based on the levels of plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the most common method used to measure vitamin D status in the body. Institute of Medicine said, the level of vitamin D in the blood considered normal when the levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D at the level of 20 to 30 ng / mL.
The group with the highest vitamin D levels had vitamin D concentrations average 30.6 nanograms per milliliter (ng / mL), and the lowest group had vitamin D concentrations an average of 12.1 ng / mL. The findings showed that participants with the lowest vitamin D levels at risk of metabolic syndrome.
Researchers also found that participants with vitamin D status best have a smaller waist, the good cholesterol (HDL) and higher blood sugar levels are low.
Mitri warned that their study does not prove that vitamin D deficiency causes diabetes type 2, or even no relationship between the two conditions.
"Metabolic syndrome is a common condition and the development of type 2 diabetes is very high. If a causal relationship can be seen in the current study, it is important for people to take vitamin D supplements because it is easily available and relatively inexpensive," he concluded.