Yet another study has linked low levels of “The Sunshine Vitamin” with higher rates of heart disease and early death.

University of Kansas researchers, looking at more than 10,000 patients, found that 70 percent were vitamin D deficient and that those with D deficiency were at significantly higher risk for many forms of heart disease, Reuters Health reported Nov. 25.

The study was published in the American Journal of Cardiology Nov. 7. According to the study, vitamin D deficiency doubled the risk of early death, but correcting the deficiency lowered that risk by 60 percent, Reuters reported.

“We expected to see that there was a relationship between heart disease and vitamin D deficiency; we were surprised at how strong it was,” Dr. James L. Vacek, a professor of cardiology at the University of Kansas Hospital and Medical Center, told Reuters Health. “It was so much more profound than we expected.”

According to Reuters, “Vacek said he believes so many people are deficient because we should get about 90 percent of our Vitamin D from the sun and only about 10 percent from our food. The human body makes vitamin D in response to skin exposure to sunlight.”

Diabetes was also more than two times as frequent in those with vitamin D deficiency in the study, along with high blood pressure and cardiomyopathy, according to Reuters.

To read the Reuters story click here.