Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN
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Several epidemiologic and clinical studies have suggested that there is a strong association between hypovitaminosis D and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Hypovitaminosis D was reported as a risk factor for increased cardiovascular events among 1739 adult participants in the Framingham Offspring Study. Analysis of more than 13,000 adults in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) showed that even though hypovitaminosis D is associated with an increased prevalence of CVD risk factors, its association with all-cause mortality is independent of these risk factors. ⋯ Activated vitamin D has also been shown to attenuate left ventricular dysfunction in animal models and humans. In summary, emerging studies suggest that hypovitaminosis D has emerged as an independent risk factor for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, reinforcing its importance as a public health problem. There is a need to advance our understanding of the biologic pathways through which vitamin D affects cardiovascular health and to conduct prospective clinical interventions to define precisely the cardioprotective effects of nutritional vitamin D repletion.