Role of vitamin D in cardiovascular disease

Abstract

BACKGROUND: According to many studies, vitamin D deficiency has been linked to cardiovascular diseases (CV). Other than maintaining skeletal health, vitamin D has been shown to decrease the risk of developing CV disease such as hypertension, coronary artery disease (CAD) and thromboembolism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To perform a comprehensive review of the current literature on vitamin D and CV disease, we searched the online database, including PUBMED, Scopus, and Google Scholar until data inception January 2016. The search term included "vitamin D", "blood pressure", "hypertension", "coronary artery disease "and "thrombosis". We only included human studies that were published in English. RESULTS: A majority of data indicate that there is no relationship between vitamin D and hypertension, but the association of vitamin D with thrombosis is yet to be determined. Vitamin D is a fair predictor of adverse outcomes in coronary artery disease (CAD), which highlights it for future studies. ONCLUSION: According to research, there is a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among patients with CV diseases, which needs to be diagnosed and treated.