title: The role of vitamin D for bone health and fracture prevention.
abstract: Vitamin D inadequacy is pandemic in adults. Vitamin D deficiency causes osteopenia, precipitates and exacerbates osteoporosis, causes the painful bone disease osteomalacia, and increases muscle weakness, which worsens the risk of falls and fractures. Vitamin D deficiency can be prevented by sensible sun exposure and adequate supplementation. Monitoring serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is the only way to determine vitamin D status. Recent recommendations suggest that in the absence of sun exposure, adults should ingest 1000 IU of vitamin D3 per day. The ideal healthy blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D should be 30 to 60 ng/mL. Vitamin D intoxication occurs when 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels are greater than 150 ng/mL. Three recent reports suggesting that vitamin D and calcium supplementation does not decrease the risk of fracture will be put into perspective in light of the vast literature supporting increasing vitamin D and calcium intake as an effective method for decreasing risk of vertebral and nonvertebral fractures.
authors.affiliation: Boston University School of Medicine, 715 Albany Street, M-1013, Boston, MA 02118, USA. mfholick@bu.edu
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Holick
mesh_terms: D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D