A large study involving more than 5,500 adults over age 50 has identified a potentially dangerous combination of health risks. People who had both abdominal obesity and vitamin D deficiency faced a 123% higher risk of death compared with those who had neither condition.
The findings, published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, suggest that the two conditions may be especially harmful when they occur together. Although each was associated with a higher risk of death on its own, the combined effect was substantially greater.
"Abdominal obesity is a well-known risk factor because it's associated with inflammation and metabolic problems. Vitamin D, on the other hand, is a hormone that acts on various organs, and its deficiency impairs several bodily functions. When these two conditions occur together, one amplifies the effects of the other, further increasing the risk of death," explains Tiago Silva Alexandre, a professor in the Department of Gerontology at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in Brazil, who coordinated the study. "For that reason, monitoring vitamin D levels and treating excess abdominal fat are essential measures to prevent premature death, especially after age 50," he adds.
