Type 2 Diabetes and Healthy Living - Four Diseases That Can Be Caused By A Vitamin D Deficiency

By Beverleigh H Piepers

According to a review article written by Michael Holick, MD, Ph.D., and published in the New England Journal of Medicine in July 2007 a deficiency of vitamin D leaves children and adults at risk for numerous diseases and disorders.

If you are someone who is not paying close attention to your vitamin D intake, perhaps it is time you gave some thought to supplementation. It is true the sun can help your body to activate vitamin D but as we age our body loses its ability to convert sunlight into the active form of vitamin D.
Most people do not understand all the risk factors associated with a vitamin D deficiency, so let us take a closer look so you can see where you stand...

1. Vitamin D Deficiency and Dementia. Dementia is a disease none of us like to think about as it is often a part of getting older and we would rather avoid thinking about it. However, ignoring it is not going to make it go away.
Research does suggest there may be some connection between a vitamin D deficiency and dementia development, so if you want to side-step this condition, you are best off looking to smart supplementation. Those who are low in vitamin D have a 53% increased risk of developing all-cause dementia, which includes Alzheimer's disease.

2. Prostate Cancer And Vitamin D. Another connection with low vitamin D status is prostate cancer. This seems to be mainly the case among European-American and African-American men, so if you fall into this group you will want to be especially careful.
Researchers looked at the likelihood of those who were undergoing screening for cancer and their corresponding vitamin D status and found there does appear to be a positive correlation. The lower the vitamin D status, the higher the chances of cancer was detected.

This said, the study did not prove if you do not have a deficiency of this vitamin you will be immune from cancer, so it is more an issue of reducing your overall risk factor than it is offering robust protection.

3. Erectile Dysfunction. Another connection to know about is erectile dysfunction and vitamin D status. It appears as though popping that vitamin may do the trick to help you protect against this problem.
While ED does tend to be more familiar with age, it does appear as though men who are not taking any vitamin D supplementation do suffer more frequently than those who are. When you are deficient in vitamin D, it may reduce the ability of the artery to dilate, which then prevents a proper erection.

4. Vitamin D And Heart Disease. Adults who are deficient in vitamin D may also be at an increased risk for heart disease. There is no direct evidence yet that supplementation will help to provide substantial benefits, but research illustrates vitamin D levels may be a culprit for health-related problems that could lead to a heart attack. Issues such as...

• atherosclerosis,
• hypertension,
• Type 2 diabetes, and
• stroke.

There you have a few points to keep in mind where your health and vitamin D supplementation is concerned. It makes excellent health sense.

Type 2 diabetes is not a condition you must just live with. By making easy changes to your daily routine, its possible to protect your heart, kidneys, eyes and limbs from the damage often caused by diabetes, and eliminate some of the complications you may already experience.

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