Hypertension is a significant contributing factor to cardiovascular disease,
accounting for a significant mortality and morbidity. The elderly and aging population
of our planet, a risk factor for vitamin D deficiency, requires a deeper understanding of
the importance of Vitamin D. Musculoskeletal effects of Vitamin D has been well
known. Extra-musculoskeletal effects of Vitamin D in cardiovascular health, cancer,
diabetes and immunity has been a hot topic for the last decade. Even though Vitamin D
deficiency has been shown to play a role in the aggravation of cardiovascular health,
understanding of the fundamental mechanisms and the solidity of the data to suggest a
causation between Vitamin D deficiency and non-musculoskeletal effects is mostly
lacking and these issues have been largely neglected by attending physicians. In this
chapter, we explain the proposed mechanisms of the effects of Vitamin D on extra
skeletal tissues, summarize complex mechanisms with a special emphasis on
hypertension in the elderly and talk about Vitamin D analogues and validity of
evidence with regard to non-skeletal effects of Vitamin D in the body.
Keywords: Aging, Apoptosis, Calcitriol, Cardiovascular aging, Cardiovascular
disease, Doxercalciferol, Elderly, Hypercalcemia, Hypertension, Klotho,
Osteoblast-like cell, Osteoclast-like cell, Paricalcitol, Renin angiotensin
aldosterone system, Vascular smooth muscle cell, Vitamin D, Vitamin D
analogues, Vitamin D deficiency, Vitamin D receptor, 25-Hydroxyvitamin D.