Vitamin D has demonstrated efficacy in preventing diseases from cancer to cardiovascular disease and dementia. Every cell in the body is now known to have vitamin D receptors where the nutrient provides an essential key to accurate DNA and cellular replication.

A research team from Wake Forest School of Medicine has published the results of an important study on vitamin D and disease risk in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM). The study purports that low levels of vitamin D and high levels of parathyroid hormone are associated with increased mortality in older African American and Caucasian adults. Prior studies on the effects of low vitamin D levels have been conducted on persons of European origin, but this study distinguishes important differences in disease risk between blacks and whites.