Vitamin D Deficiency: What a Pain It Is

Abstract

years and older than 60 years had vitamin D deficiencies, with the younger group having significantly lower levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. The association between nonspe-cific musculoskeletal pain and vitamin D deficiency was suspected because of a higher prevalence of these symptoms during winter than summer. The study patients ranged in age from 10 to 65 years, and all had symptoms of vitamin D deficiency. Of the more than 90% of patients who were medically evaluated for persistent musculoskeletal pain 1 year or more before screening, none had been tested previously for vitamin D deficiency. See also page 1463. Most physicians recognize that the elderly population is at risk for vitamin D deficiency. 2,3 However, it is less appreciated that children, young adults, and middle-aged adults are also at high risk. Nesby-O'Dell et al 4 reported that 42% of African American women in the United States aged 15 to 49 years were vitamin D-deficient; Tangpricha et al 5 reported that 32% of healthy young white men and women in Boston aged 18 to 29 years were vitamin D-deficient at the end of winter in 2003. It is now recognized that mothers with darker skin, along with their newborns and young children who receive their total nutrition from breastfeeding, are at high risk of vitamin D deficiency. In Boston, 76% of 50 mother-infant pairs were found to be vitamin D-deficient, as were 69% of infants in the New York area (