title: Optimal vitamin D status for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.
abstract: Vitamin D(3) (cholecalciferol) sufficiency is essential for maximising bone health. Vitamin D enhances intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphorus. The major source of vitamin D for both children and adults is exposure of the skin to sunlight. Season, latitude, skin pigmentation, sunscreen use, clothing and aging can dramatically influence the synthesis of vitamin D in the skin. Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D or are fortified with vitamin D. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D; calcifediol] is the best measure of vitamin D status. Vitamin D deficiency [as defined by a serum 25(OH)D level of <50 nmol/L (<20 ng/mL)] is pandemic. This deficiency is very prevalent in osteoporotic patients. Vitamin D deficiency causes osteopenia, osteoporosis and osteomalacia, increasing the risk of fracture. Unlike osteoporosis, which is a painless disease, osteomalacia causes aching bone pain that is often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia or chronic pain syndrome or is simply dismissed as depression. Vitamin D deficiency causes muscle weakness, increasing the risk of falls and fractures, and should be aggressively treated with pharmacological doses of vitamin D. Vitamin D sufficiency can be sustained by sensible sun exposure or ingesting at least 800-1000 IU of vitamin D(3) daily. Patients being treated for osteoporosis should be adequately supplemented with calcium and vitamin D to maximise the benefit of treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology, Nutrition, and Diabetes, Vitamin D, Skin and Bone Research Laboratory, Boston University Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Holick
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015663:Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015995:Prevalence; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents; D014807:Vitamin D