Vitamin D in Cardiovascular and Renal Disease Prevention / Vitamin D u Prevenciji Kardiovaskularne i Bubrežne Bolesti

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is a well-known public health problem. In the last ten years nephrologists have recognized chronic kidney disease not only as a public health problem but also as one of the major cardiovascular risk factors. There are observational data that support the concept that vitamin D is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular and renal disease or that at least vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for these diseases. In this brief review epidemiological data will be presented and the biological mechanism of the vitamin D effect on cardiovascular and renal disease will be discussed.