THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HYPERTENSION AND VITAMIN D LEVELS

Abstract

Hypertension is a disease that leads to serious cardiovascular complications. The etiology of hypertension has not yet been fully elucidated. However, it has been shown that many risk factors may play a role in the development of hypertension. Recently, it has been reported that there may be a relationship between vitamin D deficiency and cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension. Thirty patients who were diagnosed with hypertension and whose serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were measured in our hospital between January 2016 and September 2018 were evaluated retrospectively. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure greater than 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure greater than 90 mmHg. Routine laboratory parameters and serum 25 (OH) D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) levels were measured in all patients. Twelve male and 18 female patients were included in the study. The mean age was 64.53 ± 9.89 years for men and 58.66 ± 11.10 years for women. The mean vitamin D level was 18.57 ± 5.77 ng / mL in men and 11.92 ± 5.26 ng /mL in women. Vitamin D levels were significantly lower in women (p?0.05). Vitamin D deficiency was found in 23 (76.6%) patients and vitamin D insufficiency was found in 7 (23.4%) patients. Furthermore, vitamin D levels were lower than the 10 ng/mL in 8 (26.6%) female patients with vitamin D deficiency. Hypertension is an important factor in the development of cardiovascular diseases, stroke and renal failure. Therefore, its treatment is important. In our study, vitamin D deficiency was 76.6% and vitamin D insufficiency was 23.4% in hypertensive patients, suggesting a relationship between serum 25-hidroksivitamin D deficiency and hypertension. Although vitamin D deficiency is considered to be an independent cardiovascular risk factor, the results of clinical studies investigating whether vitamin D supplementation reduces cardiovascular risk are still contradictory. Therefore, patients with cardiovascular disease or hypertension should not undergo vitamin D supplementation unless there is vitamin D deficiency. To clarify the relationship between hypertension and vitamin D, further prospective randomized studies should be performed.