Dec. 1, 2008 -- Getting too little vitamin D may be an underappreciated heart disease risk factor that's actually easy to fix.\n\nResearchers say a growing body of evidence suggests that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of heart disease and is linked to other, well-known heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.
Measuring the thickness of a person's neck may provide as many clues to their risk of developing heart problems as measuring their waist, a study says.
Researchers from the Framingham Heart Study found even those with relatively trim waistlines appeared to be at greater risk if they had larger necks.