Vitamin D Deficiency and Cardiovascular Risk: weare still in the Dark

For decades, observational  studies has provided evidence of the association between reduced levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. It is generally accepted that vitamin D deficiency is in some way related to adverse cardiovascular outcomes. It has been postulated that this association may be a result of reverse causality in which unhealthy and less mobile individuals are less likely to be exposed to sunlight , or perhaps due to a physiological chain of events in which low vitamin D concentrations promote downstream vascular remodeling andhemodynamic instability.And yet, after thousands of studies have been published on the topic, the global medical community remains very much in the dark regarding whether a true relationship exists between vitamin D deficiency and increased cardiovascular risk. 

A small number of clinical trials which have aimed to assess the possibility of a direct, causal relationship between low vitamin D concentrations and poor cardiovascular outcomes in select patient populations do exist. Unfortunately, metaanalyses of these trials demonstrate widespread inconsistency in trial duration, sample size, type of vitamin D intervention and route of administration, and primary outcomes. As a result, the medical landscape is barren of vitamin D trials with consistent, pragmatic designs formulated a priori to assess cardiovascular outcomes and thus the depth of knowledge of vitamin D has remained stagnant.

Read more.....