Letter: Ischaemic heart disease, vitamins D and A, and magnesium

Age-related Disease: A Revolution is Coming, Part 2-Dietary Acid Load, Hypertension, and Cardiovascular Disease

We are starting to develop the analytical tools to examine damage to our DNA and screen for the presence of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential. This type of technology will soon support the personalization of approaches to both the prevention and treatment of age-related diseases, which have historically been characterized as beyond our control. We are at the start of an era that will one day be looked upon as the age of precision personalized lifestyle health care. This article is the second in a series in which I will be examining new tools and research that I believe is paving the path forward and leading to exciting times ahead.

Levels of vitamin D and cardiometabolic disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis

Cardiometabolic disorders and vitamin D deficiency are becoming increasingly more prevalent across multiple populations. Different studies have suggested a potential association between abnormal vitamin D levels and multiple pathological conditions including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. We aimed to evaluate the association between vitamin D levels, using 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD) as an indicator of vitamin D status, and the presence of cardiometabolic disorders including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and metabolic syndrome. We performed a systematic review of the current literature on vitamin D and cardiometabolic disorders using the PubMed and Web of Knowledge databases in September 2009. Studies in adults looking at the effect of vitamin D levels on outcomes relating to cardiometabolic disorders were selected. We performed a meta-analysis to assess the risk of developing cardiometabolic disorders comparing the highest and lowest groups of serum 25OHD. From 6130 references we identified 28 studies that met our inclusion criteria, including 99,745 participants. There was moderate variation between the studies in their grouping of 25OHD levels, design and analytical approach. We found that the highest levels of serum 25OHD were associated with a 43% reduction in cardiometabolic disorders [OR 0.57, 95% (CI 0.48-0.68)]. Similar levels were observed, irrespective of the individual cardiometabolic outcome evaluated or study design. High levels of vitamin D among middle-age and elderly populations are associated with a substantial decrease in cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. If the relationship proves to be causal, interventions targeting vitamin D deficiency in adult populations could potentially slow the current epidemics of cardiometabolic disorders.

Magnesium in coronary artery disease

Magnesium in coronary artery disease is reviewed with regard to its role in the pathogenesis of arteriosclerosis, coronary spasm, myocardial function, acute myocardial infarction and ventricular arrhythmias. Experimentally, magnesium depletion potentiates and supplementation retards the effect of atherogenic diets. Evidence from human studies is circumstantial. Reactivity of arterial smooth muscle is enhanced by low and suppressed by high magnesium media. Evidence that magnesium depletion may initiate coronary spasm is provided by dog and retrospective human studies. Although experimental magnesium deficiency disrupts myocardial mitochondria, there are no studies which show that magnesium deficiency will lead to cardiac failure or that replacement will improve cardiac function. It is known that an infarcted or ischaemic myocardium loses magnesium and this may be the basis for ventricular arrhythmias. Coronary occlusion in a previously magnesium-depleted heart will result in a larger area of necrosis and ischaemia. The fall in serum magnesium in acute myocardial infarction is probably due to the formation of soap in fat cells undergoing catecholamine lipolysis. Ventricular fibrillation in coronary artery disease will respond to parenteral magnesium, even in the presence of normal serum concentrations.