BALTIMORE, Nov 18, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Long-term vitamin D deficiency may
result in lower levels of the sex hormone estrogen but not testosterone, U.S.
researchers said.
Lead investigator and cardiologist Dr. Erin Michos of The Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine said the findings build on previous studies
showing that deficiencies in vitamin D and low levels of estrogen, found
naturally in differing amounts in men and women, were independent risk factors
for hardened and narrowed arteries and weakened bones.
"Our results confirm a long-suspected link and suggest that vitamin D
supplements, which are already prescribed to treat osteoporosis, may also be
useful in preventing heart disease," Michos said in a statement. "All three
steroid hormones -- vitamin D, estrogen and testosterone -- are produced from
cholesterol, whose blood levels are known to influence arterial and bone
health."
The 1,010 men in the study had their hormone levels measured for both chemical
forms of testosterone and estrogen found in blood. Initial results showed no
link between vitamin D deficiency and depressed blood levels of either hormone.
However, when researchers compared ratios of estrogen to the protein sex hormone
binding globulin levels, they found that rates of osteopenia, the early stage of
osteoporosis, were higher when both estrogen and vitamin D levels were
depressed. Men low in vitamin D were also at heightened risk of cardiovascular
diseases compared to men with adequate levels of the vitamin.
The findings were presented at the American Heart Association's annual
scientific sessions in Orlando, Fla.
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Copyright 2009 by United Press International