A study conducted on more than 300,000 adults in the United Kingdom revealed a causal relationship between vitamin D deficiency, or what is known as the sunshine vitamin, and mortality.
The results of the study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, pointed to the need for public health strategies to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D in the population, as the results linked low sunshine vitamin status to increased mortality.
Researchers from the University of South Australia in Adelaide conducted a randomized study of 307,601 participants from the UK Biobank, to assess genetic evidence for a causal role of low vitamin D status in mortality.
The researchers assessed participants’ measurements of the 25-hydroxyvitamin D deficiency test and other genetic data, recording and analyzing all-cause and cause-specific mortality data.
Over the 14-year follow-up period, the authors found that the risk of death decreased significantly with increasing vitamin D concentrations, and the strongest effects were observed in people in the severe deficiency range.
The researchers noted that recent estimates of the prevalence of severe deficiency range from 5 to 50 percent of the population, with rates varying by geographic location and population characteristics.
According to the researchers, the study confirms the potential for a significant impact on premature death and the continuing need for efforts to eliminate vitamin D deficiency.