title: Live longer with vitamin D?
abstract: The global burden of vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency is of great concern for public health. According to recent studies, vitamin D deficiency is an important etiological factor in the pathogenesis of many chronic diseases. Whether or not there is a connection between 25-hydoxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) status and overall mortality is a matter of considerable debate. A new meta-analysis confirmed that low 25(OH)D levels were associated with a significant increased risk for all-cause mortality. Individuals with severe vitamin D deficiency have almost twice the mortality rate as those with 25(OH)D level ≥ 30 ng/mL, (≥75 nmol/L). Unlike previous meta-analyses which suggested that serum 25(OH)D > 50 ng/mL was associated with increased mortality, this new analysis found that there was no increased risk even when 25(OH)D levels were ≥70 ng/mL. In general, closer attention should be paid to vitamin D deficiency in medical and pharmaceutical practice than has been the case hitherto. The results of these studies are consistent with the recommendation to improve the general vitamin D status in children and adults by means of a healthy approach to sunlight exposure, consumption of foods containing vitamin D and supplementation with vitamin D preparations.
authors.affiliation: Academy for Micronutrient Medicine, Zweigertstr, 55, 45130 Essen, Germany. uwegroeber@gmx.net.
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gröber
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, The Saarland University Hospital, 66421 Homburg/Saar, Germany. Joerg.Reichrath@uniklinikum-saarland.de.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reichrath
authors.affiliation: Boston University Medical Center, 85 East Newton Street M-1013, Boston, MA 02118, USA. mfholick@bu.edu.
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Holick
mesh_terms: D002423:Cause of Death; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D014807:Vitamin D / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality*
chemical_list: D014807:Vitamin D; C104450:25-hydroxyvitamin D