Vitamin D and Diabetes Heart Risk

liverock · � #1 � 11-30-2012, 05:29 AM

More confirmation about the necessity for adequate Vitamin D levels in diabetics and prediabetics.

Make sure you have adequate magnesium intake as well to help ensure Vitamin D absorption and removal of artery calcium.

Quote:

Journal of Biological Chemistry; Published online ahead of print

November 27, 2012

Low levels of vitamin D may be responsible for the increased risk of heart disease among diabetics, according to new research.

The study, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, reports that diabetic people who receive good levels of vitamin D are less likely to develop atherosclerotic plaques that clog up the blood vessels, while people with low levels of the sunshine vitamin are at a higher risk of developing clogged blood vessels.

Led by Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi from Washington University School of Medicine, the research team says that their findings suggest low vitamin D levels may be to blame for a higher risk of heart disease often seen in people with diabetes.
"As obesity rates rise, we expect even more people will develop diabetes," said Bernal-Mizrachi. "Those patients are more likely to experience heart problems due to an increase in vascular inflammation, so we have been investigating why this occurs."

The researchers explained that the new study builds on previous findings from the group by not only suggesting that vitamin D is implicated in the risk of heart disease for diabetic people, but also that when vitamin D levels are low, a particular class of white blood cells known as macrophages are more likely to adhere to cells in the walls of blood vessels.

As a result, the authors suggest that vitamin D levels work to influence these macrophages to either keep arteries clear or to clog them.

Bernal-Mizrachi and his team investigated the vitamin D levels in 43 people with type 2 diabetes and in 25 others who were similar in age, sex and body weight but did not have diabetes.

They found that in diabetes patients with low vitamin D�defined as less than 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood�macrophage cells were more likely to adhere to the walls of blood vessels. This then triggers cells to load with cholesterol and eventually causes the vessels to stiffen and block blood flow, they explained.

"We took everything into account," said lead author Dr. Amy Riek. "We looked at blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes control, body weight and race. But only vitamin D levels correlated to whether these cells stuck to the blood vessel wall."

However, both Riek and Bernal-Mizrachi said what is not yet clear is whether giving vitamin D to people with diabetes will reverse their risk of developing atherosclerosis.

The team said they are now treating mice with vitamin D to see whether it can prevent immune cells from adhering to the walls of blood vessels near the heart, and are also conducting two clinical trials in patients.
In one of those studies, the researchers are giving vitamin D to people with diabetes and hypertension to see whether the treatment may lower blood pressure.

In the second study, African Americans with type 2 diabetes are getting vitamin D along with their other daily medications, and the research team is evaluating whether vitamin D supplements can slow or reverse the progression of heart disease.

pinballdoctor · � #2 � 12-02-2012, 01:18 PM

Interesting article.

Quote:

Low levels of vitamin D may be responsible for the increased risk of heart disease among diabetics, according to new research.

I would suggest that low levels of vitamin D may be responsible for the increased risk of heart disease amoung all people.

Ted_Hutchinson · � #3 � 12-06-2012, 12:19 PM

I think it's also reasonable to point out that magnesium also enhances the ability of the Circulating form of Vitamin D3 (CALCIDIOL) switch to the ACTIVE HORMONAL FORM (CALCITRIOL). If we are going to fight infection or inflammation we need to be able to switch ON and OFF the production of the powerful regulating hormone.
half life of calcidiol = 3~4 weeks
half life of Calitriol 5–8 hours
You don't want your system continually relying on Calcitriol, but when you do need it you need it in effective amounts and you need to be able to switch off production as promptly as it's switched on.

Traditionally living populations in East Africa have a mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration of 115 nmol/l.=46ng/ml

The highest levels of inflammatory inhibition occurred at 50 ng/ml.

It costs only �10 ($13.49) for a year's supply of 5000iu Vitamin D3 and testing 25(OH)D is from �20(CityAssays) $55 Vitamin D council (bulk packs)

It's not just Vitamin D levels are lower than ever before but also omega 3<> omega 6 ratio is more biased to pro-inflammatory omega 6 than at any point in human history while magnesium status is lower than before (modern farming, fertilizer & plant breeding) and on top of that melatonin levels are low because of LED digital displays, street lighting and increased shift working. Vit D, omega 3, magnesium and Melatonin are all neuro-protective, anti-inflammatory agents while melatonin is also a major iron chelator.
It's entirely predicatable that Shift workers 'risking' Type 2 diabetes and obesity

Worth adding here also that the omega 3 DHA (like magnesium mentioned earlier, also increases Calcitriol production (DHA acts as a vitamin D receptor ligand so it's increasing the action of vitamin D3)

Dietary iron intake, body iron stores, and the risk of type 2 diabetes:

It's probable that pasteurization and homegenization of milk, that removes some of milks natural LACTOFERRIN content (powerful iron binding, iron chelating agent) exacerbates the damage done by iron overload.

Ted_Hutchinson · � #4 � 12-06-2012, 12:26 PM

Not medicated Yet

Discovery: First evidence of what causes diabetes.

Cause of diabetes may be linked to iron transport

Mercola has a recent article on this topic.
The �Selfish� Reason to Donate Your Blood

Some people with T2Diabetes have problems following donation.
Back to past leeches: repeated phlebotomies and cardiovascular risk

Quote:

On the other hand, as blood volume was not replaced following phlebotomies, patients on multi-drug therapy or with type 2 diabetes might also have a dysfunctional endothelium and sympathetic response to relative hypovolemia. They might be unable to compensate for hypovolemia as healthy donors do. Indeed, most previous evidence were from cohort and cross-sectional studies of healthy donors and* from high-ferritin T2DM patients and carriers of hereditary hemocromatosis in whom blood volume was restored to normal at each procedure

I've reposted this from the General Discussion forum as it's Diabetes related and it's important that those with diabetes understand both the importance of reducing iron overload and of increasing their anti-inflammatory reserves.

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