Stroke and vitamin D

Abstract

The main role of vitamin D is to maintain the balance of calcium and phosphorus homeostasis. Besides this, in several studies, vitamin D deficiency was associated with extraskeletal system disorders, particularly cardiovascular, autoimmune, endocrine system diseases and these corelations were reconciled to the pathophysiological mechanism in vitamin D metabolism. Recent studies were focused on the relationship between vitamin D, and stroke. Several studies revealed with vitamin D deficiency may be a risk factor, and may be associated with poor prognosis after stroke. In this review we aimed to emphasize the effect of vitamin D on stroke risk, severity and functional outcome after stroke with the help of clinical and experimental studies.