What is the Current Role for Vitamin D and the Risk of Stroke?

INTRODUCTION: Increasing evidence supports the relationship between vitamin D and stroke. Vitamin D has now been proposed as a prognostic biomarker also for functional outcome in stroke patients. METHODS: A revision of the data suggests that low vitamin D is associated more with ischemic than with haemorrhagic stroke, even if the role of optimal vitamin D levels for vascular wall is still unclear. Vitamin D deficiency induces with different mechanisms an alteration of vascular wall. RESULTS: However, to date, the research supporting the effectiveness of vitamin D supplementation in stroke and in post-stroke recovery is still inadequate and conclusive evidences have not been published. CONCLUSION: In this review, we provide a better understanding of the role of vitamin D in stroke.