PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Vitamin D and parathyroid hormone levels may not affect cardiovascular mortality

In older adults with sufficient vitamin D: New study in the American Journal of Medicine

2010-12-16
(Press-News.org) New York, NY, December 15, 2010 – There is burgeoning public interest in possible wide-ranging health benefits from vitamin D, including cardiovascular health. In a study published in the December 2010 issue of The American Journal of Medicine, investigators found that there was no independent association between serum levels of vitamin D or parathyroid hormone and cardiovascular mortality in this prospective study, the first in a population of older community-dwelling adults with a low prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and a broad range of kidney function.

Researchers collected data from the Rancho Bernardo study, which was established in 1972. Between 1997 and 1999, 1091 participants attended a follow-up visit where blood samples were collected, along with detailed surveys of medical history, medications, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and exercise; serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) (mean 42 ng/mL), 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25[OH]2D) (median 29 pg/mL), and intact parathyroid hormone (median 46 pg/mL) were measured; mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was 74 mL/min/1.73 m2. Using data from 1073 participants who qualified for this study, these people were followed for a median of 6.8 years (maximum 10.7 years). During this period, there were 266 deaths, including 111 cardiovascular deaths. Of those 111, 71 had normal kidney function (eGFR > 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) and 40 had reduced kidney function (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2).

In populations with chronic kidney disease, low levels of 25(OH)D and 1,25[OH]2D, and high levels of intact parathyroid hormone have been suggested to explain the association between chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular mortality. Even in people with intact kidney function, there are multiple mechanisms that could link Vitamin D and cardiovascular disease.

"To our knowledge, this is the first prospective study to investigate the role of serum 25[OH]D, 1,25[OH]2D, and intact parathyroid hormone in the prediction of cardiovascular mortality in a population of older community-dwelling adults with a low prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and a broad range of kidney function," commented Lead investigator Simerjot K. Jassal, MD, Division of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, and VA San Diego Healthcare System, La Jolla.

Dr. Jassal continued, "After adjusting for age alone, there was no independent association between serum levels of 25(OH)D, 1,25(OH)2D, or intact parathyroid hormone and cardiovascular mortality. Prior published literature in community-dwelling adults suggests an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality only in individuals with vitamin D levels lower than levels observed here. Our null results may mean that only larger disruptions in levels of 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)2D contribute to cardiovascular mortality. These null findings are also compatible with results from randomized clinical trials in which vitamin D supplementation has failed to prevent cardiovascular outcomes, although the doses of vitamin D in these trials may have been too low."

###The article is "Vitamin D, Parathyroid Hormone, and Cardiovascular Mortality in Older Adults: The Rancho Bernardo Study" by Simerjot K. Jassal, MD, Michel Chonchol, MD, Denise von Mühlen, MD, PhD, Gerard Smits, PhD, and Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD. It appears in The American Journal of Medicine, Volume 123, Issue 12 (December 2010) published by Elsevier.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Nanomaterials in our environment

2010-12-16
Madison, WI DECEMBER 15, 2010 -- The manufacturing of nanomaterials has been steadily on the rise in the medical, industrial, and scientific fields. Nanomaterials are materials that are engineered to have dimensions less than 100 nanometers and have very unique properties as a result of their small size. In a study funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a team of scientists from the University of Kentucky determined that earthworms could absorb copper nanoparticles present in soil. One crucial step in determining the uptake of nanomaterials was discerning ...

Satellites give an eagle eye on thunderstorms

2010-12-16
MADISON — It's one of the more frustrating parts of summer. You check the weather forecast, see nothing dramatic, and go hiking or biking. Then, four hours later, a thunderstorm appears out of nowhere and ruins your afternoon. Thunderstorms can bring intense rain, hail, lightning and even tornadoes, but "predicting them a few hours out is one of the great problems of meteorology," says Chian-Yi Liu, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. And the consequences can be more serious than a rained-out hike — even major storms can be missed, Liu ...

Link between cholesterol compound and multiple sclerosis unlikely, researchers say

2010-12-16
New research findings appearing in the January Journal of Lipid Research indicate that compounds called oxysterols are not present in any significant amount in multiple sclerosis patients, contradicting a previous study that suggested that some of these cholesterol metabolites were associated with MS and could be used as diagnostic tools in the clinic. Oxysterols are somewhat controversial in science; while some laboratory experiments suggest these steroid molecules may be biologically important, they are present in only trace amounts in the blood, and studies in living ...

Seaweed as biofuel? Metabolic engineering makes it a viable option

2010-12-16
URBANA – Is red seaweed a viable future biofuel? Now that a University of Illinois metabolic engineer has developed a strain of yeast that can make short work of fermenting galactose, the answer is an unequivocal yes. "When Americans think about biofuel crops, they think of corn, miscanthus, and switchgrass. ln small island or peninsular nations, though, the natural, obvious choice is marine biomass," said Yong-Su Jin, a U of I assistant professor of microbial genomics and a faculty member in its Institute for Genomic Biology. Producers of biofuels made from terrestrial ...

Census analysis: Nation's diversity grows, but integration slows

2010-12-16
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Despite increased racial and ethnic diversity, American neighborhoods continue to be segregated, and some of the progress made toward integration since 1980 has come to a halt this decade, according to a new report by Brown University sociologist John Logan. The report, co-authored by Florida State University sociologist Brian Stults, marks the launch of the US2010 project, a program of research on changes in American society, supported by the Russell Sage Foundation and Brown University. "This is a surprising result," said Logan, ...

SIDS spikes on New Year's Day

2010-12-16
Not a happy holiday thought, but an important one: The number of babies who die of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, surges by 33 percent on New Year's Day. The suspected reason? Alcohol consumption by caretakers the night before. Led by sociologist David Phillips of the University of California, San Diego, the study documenting the dramatic rise in SIDS deaths on New Year's is published in the journal Addiction. The spike, write Phillips and his coauthors, is beyond the normal winter increase in SIDS. The study examined 129,090 SIDS cases from 1973 to 2006 using ...

Allô allô! Mom's voice plays special role in activating newborn's brain

Allô allô! Moms voice plays special role in activating newborns brain
2010-12-16
A mother's voice will preferentially activate the parts of the brain responsible for language learning, say researchers from the University of Montreal and the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Centre. The research team made the discovery after performing electrical recordings on the infants within the 24 hours following their birth. The brain signals also revealed that while the infants did react to other women's voices, these sounds only activated the voice recognition parts of the brains. "This is exciting research that proves for the first time that the newborn's ...

Study shows caffeine negatively affects children

2010-12-16
Cincinnati, OH, December 16, 2010 -- Caffeine consumption in children is often blamed for sleep problems and bedwetting. Information on childhood caffeine consumption is limited, and many parents may not know the amount or effects of their child's caffeine consumption. In a study published in The Journal of Pediatrics, researchers found that 75% of children surveyed consumed caffeine on a daily basis, and the more caffeine the children consumed, the less they slept. Dr. William Warzak and colleagues from the University of Nebraska Medical Center surveyed the parents ...

Bioethics Commission calls for enhanced federal oversight in new field of synthetic biology

2010-12-16
Washington, DC – The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues today released its first report—a wide-ranging review of the emerging field of synthetic biology—issuing 18 recommendations including a call for coordinated federal oversight of scientists working in both large institutions and smaller settings. The panel, comprised of 13 scientists, ethicists, and public policy experts, said that the very newness of the science, which involves the design and construction of laboratory-made biological parts, gives regulators, ethicists and others time to identify ...

Novosoft Released a Complex Data Protection Solution - Handy Backup Disaster Recovery 1.2

2010-12-16
Novosoft, one of the leading backup solution providers worldwide, has announced the release of the new version for innovative disaster recovery utility (http://www.handybackup.net/disaster-recovery.shtml ) - Handy Backup Disaster Recovery. The new version represents a complex data protection solution and includes tools for operation system and file recovery, antivirus protection and partition edition. "The new version of Handy Backup Disaster Recovery was developed with the idea of generalization now that it's rapidly seizing influence, - said Alexandr Prichalov, head ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Around 450,000 children disadvantaged by lack of school support for color blindness

Reality check: making indoor smartphone-based augmented reality work

Overthinking what you said? It’s your ‘lizard brain’ talking to newer, advanced parts of your brain

Black men — including transit workers — are targets for aggression on public transportation, study shows

Troubling spike in severe pregnancy-related complications for all ages in Illinois

Alcohol use identified by UTHealth Houston researchers as most common predictor of escalated cannabis vaping among youths in Texas

Need a landing pad for helicopter parenting? Frame tasks as learning

New MUSC Hollings Cancer Center research shows how Golgi stress affects T-cells' tumor-fighting ability

#16to365: New resources for year-round activism to end gender-based violence and strengthen bodily autonomy for all

Earliest fish-trapping facility in Central America discovered in Maya lowlands

São Paulo to host School on Disordered Systems

New insights into sleep uncover key mechanisms related to cognitive function

USC announces strategic collaboration with Autobahn Labs to accelerate drug discovery

Detroit health professionals urge the community to act and address the dangers of antimicrobial resistance

3D-printing advance mitigates three defects simultaneously for failure-free metal parts 

Ancient hot water on Mars points to habitable past: Curtin study

In Patagonia, more snow could protect glaciers from melt — but only if we curb greenhouse gas emissions soon

Simplicity is key to understanding and achieving goals

Caste differentiation in ants

Nutrition that aligns with guidelines during pregnancy may be associated with better infant growth outcomes, NIH study finds

New technology points to unexpected uses for snoRNA

Racial and ethnic variation in survival in early-onset colorectal cancer

Disparities by race and urbanicity in online health care facility reviews

Exploring factors affecting workers' acquisition of exercise habits using machine learning approaches

Nano-patterned copper oxide sensor for ultra-low hydrogen detection

Maintaining bridge safer; Digital sensing-based monitoring system

A novel approach for the composition design of high-entropy fluorite oxides with low thermal conductivity

A groundbreaking new approach to treating chronic abdominal pain

ECOG-ACRIN appoints seven researchers to scientific committee leadership positions

New model of neuronal circuit provides insight on eye movement

[Press-News.org] Vitamin D and parathyroid hormone levels may not affect cardiovascular mortality
In older adults with sufficient vitamin D: New study in the American Journal of Medicine