While Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with musculoskeletal disorders, and recent studies now suggest a correlation to hypertension, diabetes mellitus and renal disease,  Joseph B. Muhlestein, from the University of Utah’s Intermountain Medical Center (USA), and colleagues studied 27,686 Utah residents, average age 66.5 years.  They measured  25[OH] Vitamin D level at the study’s start, and followed the subjects for an average of 1.3 years, tracking for subsequent deaths and respective causes.  The researchers found that the patients with very low levels of Vitamin D were 77% more likely to die, 45% more likely to develop coronary artery disease, and 78% more likely to have a stroke, as compared to subjects with normal Vitamin D levels. In addition, patients with very low levels of Vitamin D were twice as likely to develop heart failure, as compared to those with normal Vitamin D levels.  Comments the team: “[M]oderate to severe levels of vitamin D deficiency are strongly associated with death and the incident development of [coronary artery disease, heart failure, or cerebrovascular accident].”