LONDON (Reuters) -
People with a vitamin
D deficiency are as
much as twice as
likely to die compared
to people whose blood
contains higher
amounts of the so-
called sunshine
vitamin, Austrian
researchers said on
Monday.

Their study -- the
latest to suggest a
health benefit from
the vitamin -- showed
death rates from any
cause as well as from
heart-related
problems varied
greatly depending on
vitamin D.

"This is the first
association study that
shows vitamin D
affects mortality
regardless of the
reason for death,"
said Harald Dobnig, an
internist and
endocrinologist at the
University of Graz in
Austria who led the
study.

The body makes
vitamin D when the
skin is exposed to
sunlight, a reason for
its nickname as the
"sunshine vitamin." It
is added to milk and
fatty fish like salmon
but many people do
not get enough of it.

Vitamin D helps the
body absorb calcium
and is considered
important for bone
health. In adults,
vitamin D deficiency
can lead to
osteoporosis, and it
can lead to rickets in
children.

A number of recent
studies have also
indicated vitamin D
may offer a variety of
other health benefits,
including protecting
against cancer,
peripheral artery
disease and
tuberculosis.

Last week, U.S.
researchers said
vitamin D may extend
the lives of people
with colon and rectal
cancer.

Dobnig and colleagues,
who reported their
findings in the
Archives of Internal
Medicine, studied
more than 3,200
people with an
average age of 62 who
were scheduled for a
heart exam between
1997 and 2000.

During an eight-year
follow-up the
researchers found
that the quarter of
volunteers with the
lowest levels of
vitamin D in their
blood were at greater
risk of dying.

Even when accounting
for factors such as
heart disease,
exercise and other
conditions, the
researchers found
that the risk was
double for people with
between 5 to 10
nanograms per
millilitre of vitamin D
in their blood, Dobnig
said.

Most doctors believe
people should have
between 20 to 30
nanograms per
millilitre of the
vitamin in their blood,
he added in a
telephone interview.

What causes this
effect is not clear,
but Dobnig pointed to
a host of studies
suggesting links to
high blood pressure,
cancer and fractures
as places to begin
looking.

The potential health
risk of low levels of
vitamin D should also
prod physicians to be
more aware of the
potential problem,
especially for the
immobile, elderly and
others who spend a
great amount of time
indoors, he added.

Many doctors agree
that people with low
levels of vitamin D
cannot make up for it
safely by sitting in
the sun, but should
take supplements.

"These results should
prompt us to perform
vitamin D
measurements on a
more frequent basis
especially in
populations at risk,"
Dobnig said.

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