title: Vitamin D - effects on skeletal and extraskeletal health and the need for supplementation.
abstract: Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, has received a lot of attention recently as  a result of a meteoric rise in the number of publications showing that vitamin D plays a crucial role in a plethora of physiological functions and associating vitamin D deficiency with many acute and chronic illnesses including disorders of calcium metabolism, autoimmune diseases, some cancers, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and infectious diseases. Vitamin D deficiency is now recognized as a global pandemic. The major cause for vitamin D deficiency is the lack of appreciation that sun exposure has been and continues to be the major source of vitamin D for children and adults of all ages. Vitamin D plays a crucial role in the development and maintenance of a healthy skeleton throughout life. There remains some controversy regarding what blood level of  25-hydroxyvitamin D should be attained for both bone health and reducing risk for vitamin D deficiency associated acute and chronic diseases and how much vitamin D  should be supplemented.
authors.affiliation: Vitamin D, Skin and Bone Research Laboratory, Section of Endocrinology, Nutrition, and Diabetes, Department of Medicine, Boston University Medical Center, 85 East Newton Street, M-1013, Boston, MA 02118, USA. mwacker@bu.edu
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wacker
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Holick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena; D013472:Sunlight; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D