Update in vitamin D.
The past decade, particularly the last 18 months, witnessed a vigorous increase in interest in vitamin D from both the lay and biomedical worlds. Much of the growing interest in vitamin D is powered by new data being extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The newest statistics demonstrate that more than 90% of the pigmented populace of the United States (Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians) now suffer from vitamin D insufficiency (25-hydroxyvitamin D <30 ng/ml), with nearly three fourths of the white population in this country also being vitamin D insufficient. This represents a near doubling of the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency seen just 10 yr ago in the same population. This review attempts to provide some explanation for: 1) the rapid decline in vitamin D status in the United States; 2) the adverse impact of vitamin D insufficiency on skeletal, infectious/inflammatory, and metabolic health in humans; and 3) the therapeutic rationale and reliable means for vigorous supplementation of our diets with vitamin D.
Adams
John S
JS
UCLA-Orthopaedic Hospital Research Center, 615 Charles Young Drive South, Room 410E, Los Angeles, California 90095-7358, USA. jsadams@mednet.ucla.edu
Hewison
Martin
M
D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000276:immunology; D015519:Bone Density; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000209:etiology; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy
D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D; D002117:Calcitriol