Relationship Between Dietary Vitamin D and Deaths From Stroke and Coronary Heart Disease

Background and Purpose— There is growing evidence about the importance of vitamin D for cardiovascular health. Therefore, we examined the relationship between dietary vitamin D intake and risk of mortality from stroke and coronary heart disease in Japanese population. Methods— A prospective study encompassing 58 646 healthy Japanese adults (23 099 men and 35  547 women) aged of 40 to 79 years in whom dietary vitamin D intake was determined via a self-administered food frequency questionnaire. The median follow-up period was 19.3 years (1989–2009). The hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals of mortality were calculated using categories of vitamin D intake. Results— During 965 970 person-years of follow-up, 1514 stroke and 702 coronary heart disease deaths were documented. Vitamin D intake was inversely associated with risk of mortality from total stroke especially intraparenchymal hemorrhage but not from coronary heart disease; the multivariable hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) for the highest (≥440 IU/d) versus lowest (<110 IU/D) categories of vitamin D intake were 0.70 (0.54–0.91;P for trend=0.04) for total stroke and 0.66 (0.46–0.96;P for trend=0.04) for intraparenchymal hemorrhage.Conclusions— Dietary vitamin D intake seems to be inversely associated with mortality from stroke.