There have been two separate studies done that revealed that vitamin Ddeficiency is a common denominator in patients with a range of rheumatic illnesses. Over half of the patients had below normal healthy levels of vitamin D. Further studying showed that by giving vitamin D supplementation in the recommended daily dose to the patients did not normalize their vitamin D levels.
Here are all of the details as explained on ProHealth:
The results of these three studies were presented June 18 at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy.
A UK study of 180 patients aimed to assess mean levels of vitamin D in patients with:
• Inflammatory joint diseases,
• Osteoarthritis, and
• Myalgia (muscle pain that, when experienced long term, may be associated with nutritional deficiency).
Data on vitamin D levels were gathered and results showed that 58% of individuals with a rheumatic condition had levels below that clinically considered to be ‘sufficient’ in healthy subjects (48-145 nmol/L).
An Italian study of 1,191 RA patients aimed to determine a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and several different clinical measures of disease activity. Researchers found that, regardless of supplementation, levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) – a standard clinical measure of vitamin D in the blood – were lower than healthy levels (less than 50 nmol/L) in 85% of the patients not taking a vitamin D supplement and in 60% of those taking 800 IU or more vitamin D daily as a supplement.In non-supplemented patients, levels of 25(OH)D significantly correlated with three measures of disease activity:
• The Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index, (p=0.000)
• The Mobility Activities of Daily Living Score (p=0.000) and
• The Number of Swollen Joints count (p=0.000).
“We have seen in studies that vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with a range of rheumatic diseases, and our results have confirmed this using several clinically accepted measures of disease activity,” said Dr. L. Idolazzi, of the Rheumatology Unit, University of Verona, Italy. “What we need to see now is a range of long term studies, which examine the clinical response of patients to vitamin D supplementation.”
Furthermore, a third study undertaken in Italy aimed to evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation in patients with inflammatory autoimmune disease (IAD) and non-inflammatory autoimmune disease (NIAD).
Following supplementation, only 29% patients reached vitamin D levels greater than the level clinically considered to be ‘sufficient’ in healthy subjects, with no significant differences in vitamin D levels observed between the inflammatory autoimmune disease and non-inflammatory autoimmune disease groups.
“Whilst it is well known that hypovitaminosis D is often seen in patients with inflammatory autoimmune diseases, the effects of supplementation have not been fully investigated in this setting,” said Dr. Pier Paolo Sainaghi of the Immuno-Rheumatology Clinic, A. Avogadro University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara, Italy and author of the third study.
“The results of our study show that daily 800-1,000 IU supplementation is not sufficient to normalize vitamin D levels in patients with rheumatologic or bone conditions,” he stated. “What is unclear is whether a higher dose would be more effective.”
Study Designs and Key Statistics
The UK study involved patients with a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoporosis, or unexplained muscle pain, (total n=90, 30 from each group). These patients were matched with a control group of patients presenting with chronic back pain for a minimum of 6 months (n=90). The RA patient group registered median levels of vitamin D of 36 nmol/L (range 16-85 nmol/L, p=0.045) and in osteoporosis patients, these levels were slightly lower with a median value of 31 nmol/L (range 7-82 nmol/L, p=0.005). Patients with unexplained muscle pain had equally low median levels of vitamin D at 31 nmol/l (range 11-79 nmol/L, p= 0.008).In the first Italian study of 1,191 patients (85% women) from 22 rheumatology centers, researchers measured levels of 25(OH)D, alongside parameters of disease activity, calcium intake, sun exposure and bone mineral density.
The association found by researchers between disease activity scores and vitamin D levels remained statistically significant when adjusted for both sun exposure and body mass index (BMI), both known risk factors for vitamin D deficiency.
Significantly lower 25(OH)D levels were found:
• In patients with active disease compared with those in disease remission (mean level 21.8 nmol/L 25(OH)D vs. 23.6 nmol/L respectively, p=0.057),
• And in those who were not responding to treatment compared to patients with a good response to treatment (20.5 nmol/L vs. 23.4 nmol/L p=0.020).
In the second Italian study, 100 patients (43 with IAD and 57 with NIAD) received daily supplementation of 800-1000 IU of cholecalciferol (a form of vitamin D often used to fortify foods) over the course of six months.
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