title: Vitamin D: important for prevention of osteoporosis, cardiovascular heart disease, type 1 diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and some cancers.
abstract: Vitamin D is very important for overall health and wellbeing. A major source of vitamin D comes from exposure to sunlight. Measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the blood and not 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D is used to determine vitamin D status. A blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D of at least 20 ng/mL is considered to be vitamin D sufficient. Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of many common cancers, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, cardiovascular heart disease, and type I diabetes.
authors.affiliation: Vitamin D, Skin and Bone Research Laboratory, and the Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. mfholick@bu.edu
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Holick
mesh_terms: D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D