People take vitamins for a simple reason: if you have the right amount of vitamins in your system, it helps your body run smoothly. Several vitamin deficiencies have different symptoms, some of which are more severe than others, and if you lack certain vitamins, you may be at risk for serious conditions. A recent study found that one specific vitamin deficiency was linked to heart problems. Read on to see what vitamin is associated with cardiovascular problems, and for a supplement you should be careful about: If you take this popular supplement, your heart may be in danger, says study.
Researchers from Saudi Arabia conducted a study among 360 patients with heart hospitals and published their findings in December 2020 International Journal of Preventive Medicine. According to the study, more than 40 percent of participants had vitamin D deficiency and nearly 28 percent vitamin D deficiency. By comparison, only 31 percent have normal levels of vitamin D. After adjusting for other factors, the researchers concluded that “vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are associated with ischemic heart disease, hyperglycemia and hypertriglyceridemia.” According to the study, heart patients are twice as likely to be associated with vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency. And to avoid vitamins, it’s the one vitamin you should never take, doctors say.
Your body usually produces vitamin D on its own, such as when you are in the sun. But certain factors can lead to lower vitamin D levels. According to Johns Hopkins experts, obesity is a major risk factor for lower vitamin D levels because fat cells absorb this vitamin and prevent it from circulating through the bloodstream. Women and people with dark skin also tend to have lower vitamin D levels, as well as older people who absorb less vitamin D from their diet and produce less vitamin D in their skin. In the Saudi study, the researchers found that female cardiac patients over the age of 60 suffer the most from vitamin D deficiency. And for more heart risk factors to note, this supplement can cause cardiac arrest if you take too much, doctors say.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, vitamin D is essential for your body to function properly. If you are deficient in vitamin D, you may experience fatigue, leg pain, mood swings, muscle weakness, muscle aches or muscle cramps. Your doctor can test your vitamin D levels according to the Cleveland Clinic, but they usually do not order routine checkups, so you should pay attention to any symptoms and ask to be tested if you are concerned that you do not have vitamin.
Finding out if you have vitamin D deficiency can help you look for signs of heart problems. For ischemic heart disease, also known as coronary heart disease, you may experience angina, shortness of breath with physical activity, fatigue and neck pain, according to the National Institute for Heart, Lung, and Blood. For hyperglycemia, the Cleveland Clinic says you may experience increased vomiting, excessive hunger and thirst, rapid heartbeat, and facial problems. Hypertriglyceridemia, which has high triglyceride levels, usually shows no symptoms, but if your levels are high enough, according to Medscape, you may experience pain in the middle of the abdomen, chest or back, as well as nausea and vomiting. And sign up for our daily newsletter for more useful information sent directly to your inbox.
Unless you have a deficiency, there is no reason to take your vitamin D for your heart health. According to a 2019 analysis published in JAMA Cardiology, vitamin D supplements do not take the risk of you suffering or dying from a heart attack or stroke. In a statement, JoAnn Manson, MD, lead author of one of the studies included in the analysis, told the American Heart Association (AHA) that just because low levels of vitamin D are strongly associated with the risk of having cardiovascular disease, it does not deficit does not mean. necessary to cause them. And consuming large amounts of vitamin D supplements can cause problems.
“There has been concern that very high doses of supplementation may increase the risk of blood vessel calcification and may actually have adverse effects,” Manson explained. An important principle, then, is that more is not necessarily better, and in fact, megadosing on vitamin D can have detrimental effects. ‘ And if you take these two OTC medications with you, you could put liver at stake.