foodconsumer.org: Vitamin D deficiency key contributor to end-stage renal disease

Vitamin D deficiency key contributor to end-stage renal disease
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admin on 10/31/2009 02:14:00
 
New research found nearly 60 percent of the elevated risk of end-stage renal
disease (ESRD)in African-Americans were associated with low levels of vitamin D.
"Our study adds to previous evidence linking vitamin D deficiency to the
progression of kidney disease and the need for dialysis," commented Michal L.
Melamed, MD, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY.
"It also explains a fair amount of the increased risk of ESRD in African
Americans."
For the study, reported in the December Journal of the American Society of
Nephrology (JASN), Melamed and colleagues analyzed data from 13,000 Americans,
including measurements of the vitamin D metabolite 25(OH)D.
The researchers found the participants with the lowest 25(OH)D levels were 2.6
times as likely to end up on dialysis compared to those with higher levels.
They also found the Africans have lower 25(OH)D levels and higher risk of
end-stage kidney disease.  Blacks are prone to vitamin D deficiency because
their skin pigments absorb UV rays and lower the efficiency of vitamin D
production.
To be exact, vitamin D deficiency accounted for about 58 percent of the
increased risk of the serious kidney disease in African Americans, according to
the authors.
The study merely showed an association and it does not prove any
cause-and-effect relationship. However, the results of the study suggest that
Vitamin D deficiency is a major risk contributor to the disease in African
Americans.
Dr. John Cannell, a vitamin D expert and director of Vitamin D Council suggests
that adults should take 4000 to 6000 IU of the sunshine vitamin each day while
children under the age of two years can take 1000 IU per day and older children
can take 2000 IU a day.
By David Liu  - daidl at foodconsumer.org