title: Misconceptions - vitamin D insufficiency causes malabsorption of calcium.
abstract: The negative effect of vitamin D insufficiency on bone is commonly attributed to a decrease in calcium absorption although little evidence has been produced to support this assumption. Using two previously published series of elderly patients we refute this common assumption and present evidence that low circulating levels of 25 hydroxyvitamin D have a direct and deleterious effect on bone.
authors.affiliation: The Division of Clinical Biochemistry, Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, the Department of Medicine, University of Adelaide and the Hanson Institute, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia. allan.need@imvs.sa.gov.au
authors.forename: Allan G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Need
authors.forename: B E Christopher
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Nordin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism*; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007408:Intestinal Absorption / Q000502:physiology*; D008286:Malabsorption Syndromes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone / Q000097:blood; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D050071:Bone Density Conservation Agents; D010281:Parathyroid Hormone; D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D; D002118:Calcium