Vitamin D deficiency is associated with the development of various conditions like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancers, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent worldwide and more pronounced during Winter and Spring.
A recent study published in the Journal of Diabetes and its Complications has found Vitamin D deficiency to be a risk marker for major adverse cardiovascular events and heart failure in type 1 and type 2 diabetes but not for microvascular complications or all-cause mortality.

According to data from the UK Biobank, 20 % of individuals with type 2 diabetes had vitamin D deficiency. In both T1D and T2D, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality; however, its role in developing complications is arguable. In the cohort study of 1448 T1D adults and 770 T2D adults, researchers investigated vitamin D deficiency as a risk marker for complications in such individuals.
Individuals in the lowest vitamin D decile were classified as deficient. Outcomes-based on medical records and registers included mortality, MACE, heart failure, a composite kidney endpoint, albuminuria progression and sight-threatening eye disease. Cox proportional hazard models were used.
The key results of the study are:
There was an association between Vitamin D deficiency and a higher risk of MACE (aHR 2.6) in T1D, but not T2D.
The risk of heart failure was higher in those with vitamin D deficiency in T1D and T2D individuals.
There was no association between Vitamin D deficiency and the development of microvascular complications or mortality.
They said we had a unique opportunity to evaluate the association between vitamin D deficiency and the complications.
Vitamin D deficiency was a risk marker for MACE and heart failure in individuals with type 1 diabetes.
Study Limitations are small sample size and a lack of data on medication changes and vitamin supplementation.
Reference:
Tougaard, N. H., Hansen, T. W., & Persson, F. (2023). Vitamin D deficiency and development of complications in individuals with type 1 and type 2 diabetes: A cohort study. Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications, 37(10), 108611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2023.108611