Vitamin D levels could increase diabetes risk

A new study from the United States has revealed a link between the amount of vitamin D in the blood and the presence of risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
The research, which used participants with pre-diabetes and abnormally high blood sugar levels, showed an inverse relationship between levels of vitamin D and diabetes, with those people who had the highest blood levels of vitamin D facing a 48 per cent reduced chance of developing type 2 diabetes than those with the lowest amount of vitamin D.
Those with the highest levels of vitamin D were found to have an average concentration of 30.6 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) in their blood, while participants with the lowest levels had an average concentration of 12.1 ng/mL. It was shown that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes with a high level of vitamin D was around a half that of low levels.
The metabolic syndrome is based on a range of different risk factors, such as lower levels of the good cholesterol, increased triglycerides, raised fasting blood sugar and higher blood pressure, which all raise the likelihood of someone developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Researcher Joanna Mitri, from the Tufts Medical Center in Bosto, said “This association has been documented before, but our study expands the association to people of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. These include minority groups that are already at higher risk of diabetes.”