A new study by Austrian researchers published in the June 23 edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine concludes that people with vitamin D deficiency have an increased risk of death compared to those with normal or the highest levels.

The new study adds to the growing body of evidence that vitamin D is essential for our body. Researchers have long sustained that vitamin D plays a significant role in causing no less than seventeen varieties of cancers as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, birth defects, osteoporosis and other serious conditions.

Vitamin D is found in many dietary sources such as fish, eggs, fortified milk, and cod liver oil. The sun also contributes significantly to the daily production of vitamin D. More exactly, as little as 10 minutes of exposure is thought to be enough to prevent deficiencies. This is the reason why the vitamin is also called the “sunshine vitamin.”

People should have between 20 and 30 nanograms per milliliter of the vitamin in their blood, most doctors believe. The Institute f Medicine recommends 200 units daily of vitamin D in children and adults up to age 50, and 400 to 600 units for older adults. However, these quantities are far too low according to some doctors who recommend supplements as well.

For the new study, Harald Dobnig an internist and endocrinologist at the Medical University of Graz, Austria, and colleagues studied more than 3,200 people with an average age of 62 who were scheduled for angiography (a heart examination) between 1997 and 2000.

After about eight years of follow-up, the researchers found that 737 patients had died, 463 of them from cardiovascular disease. Some of these people had very low levels of vitamin D in their body, the researchers further discovered when looking at the cause of their death. More exactly, there were 307 deaths in patients with the lowest levels, versus 103 deaths in those with the highest levels.

Even when considering factors like age or physical activity, the study found that deaths from all causes were about twice as common in patients in the lowest-level group.

Dobnig said “this is the first association study that shows vitamin D affects mortality regardless of the (primary) reason for death,” Reuters quotes him.

Another study published in the same journal at the beginning of this month found that men with vitamin D deficiency (meaning 15 nanograms per millimeter of blood or less) were about 2 1/2 times more likely to suffer a heart attack than those with higher levels of the vitamin.

Even after the researchers applied additional adjustments such as family history of myocardial infarction, body mass index, alcohol consumption, physical activity, history of diabetes mellitus and hypertension, the relation between vitamin D deficiency and death from heart attacks remained the same.

How exactly vitamin D helps in preventing cardiovascular disease is not known yet, although it has been shown to help regulate the body’s disease-fighting immune system, Dobnig said. He also added that the study results should lead to more Vitamin D measurements “on a more frequent basis especially in populations at risk.”

This way people will be more informed on their lack of vitamin D, thus preventing the risk of developing diseases.