When researchers compared ratios of estrogen to sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels, however, they found that rates of both diseases, especially osteopenia, were higher when both estrogen and vitamin D levels were depressed.

Using the same measure of estrogen levels, men low in vitamin D were also at heightened risk of cardiovascular diseases. Michos explained, "These results reinforce the message of how important proper quantities of vitamin D are to good bone health, and that a man's risk of developing osteoporosis and heart disease is heavily weighted on the complex and combined interaction of how any such vitamin deficits interact with both their sex hormones, in particular, estrogen."
 
SOURCE: Presented at the American Heart Association Annual Scientific Sessions, Orlando, FL, November 15, 2009

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