Low vitamin D levels is linked with cardiac risks, a new study has found adding to the pre-existing evidence about the "sunshine" vitamin's role in good health.

The study, published in the June 23, 2008 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that patients with the lowest blood levels of vitamin D were about two times more likely to die from any cause during the next eight years than those with the highest levels. The link with cardio-related deaths was particularly strong in those with low vitamin D levels

In yet another benefit of the sunshine vitamin, scientists have found that sun exposure and vitamin D helps ward off juvenile diabetes. The findings suggest that a lack of vitamin D, which the body produces when ultraviolet light hits the skin, has a role in the development of type 1 diabetes in children.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, found that children who live in countries at higher latitudes, such as Canada, where there is less sunlight for much of the year, are far more likely to develop juvenile diabetes than kids who live at or near the equator

Women who get an adequate amount of vitamin D through daily exposure to the Sun are less likely to develop breast cancer as compared to women who do not, new studies suggests.

The "sunshine vitamin," when taken in high doses may cut the risk of breast cancer by 70%. Vitamin D is synthesized naturally in human body after the skin is exposed to the ultraviolet (UV) rays and lack of UV exposure is linked to higher risk of breast cancer

Inadequate exposure to the sun, the main source of Vitamin D, was linked by a Mount Sinai Hospital study to breast cancer. Data used by researchers included a study on 512 Canadian women with an average age of 50 undergoing breast cancer treatment at three University of Toronto hospitals from 1989 to 1995.

Findings showed that 94 percent of women had higher chances of having breast cancer if they lacked sufficient exposure to sunshine. But getting Vitamin D is linked with geography. In cold countries like Canada, the strong ultraviolet rays from the sun is only available on certain months

Health Canada will launch a study by fall to probe the link between the lack of Vitamin D and major ailments like cancer, heart disease and multiple sclerosis.

The study was triggered by mounting pressure from the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Pediatric Society on Health Canada to look deeper based on the claims by the two medical societies that it has strong evidence on the benefits of taking large doses of Vitamin D