Vitamin D deficiency linked to poor brain function after cardiac arrest

By: Editorial Team | | Published: October 22, 2014 12:45 pm

Tags: In the news Vitamin D Vitamin D deficiency

A new study has revealed that Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of poor brain function after sudden cardiac arrest by seven-fold. According to lead researcher Jin Wi from Korea, in patients resuscitated after sudden cardiac arrest, recovery of neurological function is very important, as well as survival and Vitamin D deficiency has been reported to be related to the risk of having various cardiovascular diseases, including sudden cardiac arrest. The researcher said that they investigated the association of vitamin D deficiency with neurologic outcome after sudden cardiac arrest, a topic on which there is no information so far. Also Read - Alarmingly high vitamin D deficiency can make you more vulnerable to COVID-19: Study

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Patients with a poor neurological outcome had a significantly lower vitamin D level compared to those with a good neurological outcome. The researchers found that 65 percent of patients with vitamin D deficiency had a poor neurological outcome at 6 months after discharge compared to 23 percent of patients with healthy vitamin D levels. They also found that 29 percent of patients with vitamin D deficiency had died at 6 months compared to none of the patients with good vitamin D levels. Also Read - High vitamin D pregnancy linked to greater child IQ: Foods rich in vitamin D

Wi said that patients with vitamin D deficiency were more likely to have a poor neurological outcome or die after sudden cardiac arrest than those who were not deficient. Nearly one-third of the patients who were deficient in vitamin D had died 6 months after their cardiac arrest, whereas all patients with sufficient vitamin D levels were still alive. Vitamin D deficiency increased the risk of poor neurological outcome after sudden cardiac arrest by 7-fold. The only factors that had a greater impact on poor neurological outcome were the absence of bystander CPR or having a first monitored heart rhythm that was non-shockable. (Read: )

The researchers added that their findings suggest that vitamin D deficiency should be avoided, especially in people with a high risk of sudden cardiac arrest. People are at higher risk if they have a personal or family history of heart disease including heart rhythm disorders, congenital heart defects and cardiac arrest. Other risk factors for cardiac arrest include smoking, obesity, diabetes, a sedentary lifestyle, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and drinking too much alcohol. (Read: Beware, vitamin D deficiency can make you infertile)

Here are top 12 health risks you might be facing due to low levels of vitamin D.

1. Diabetes: The number of diabetic people is increasing day by day and most of them might be deficient in vitamin D. Vitamin D is required to balance sugar levels in the blood by regulating the secretion of insulin. Research suggests that low levels of vitamin D increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life. Some studies have also found that the vitamin D also increases the risk of type 1 diabetes.

2. Hypertension: Indian research based on a large scale observational data showed that people having low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (a form of vitamin D) had a higher risk of developing hypertension; however, the correlation is not yet found.

3. Cardiovascular risk: A population-based study of 9,949 adults showed that vitamin D deficiency is significantly associated with increased risk of fatal cardiovascular events. The study considered adjustments for smoking, physical activity and other factors contributing to heart diseases and concluded that vitamin D deficiency increased the risk of fatal cardiovascular diseases (CVD) by 62%. Read more about 12 health risks of Vitamin D deficiency

With inputs from ANI

Photo source: Getty images

Published : October 22, 2014 12:45 pm

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