Benefits and Requirements of Vitamin D for Optimal Health A Review

Short Description
Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD - Vitamin D, Skin and Bone Research Laboratory, ….. The interest in vitamin D as a risk reduction factor for …

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Copyright.2005 Thorne Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No Reprint Without Written Permission Vitamin D Review
Page 94 Alternative Medicine Review ? Volume 10, Number 2 ? 2005
Abstract
Vitamin D sufficiency is required for optimal
health. The conditions with strong evidence for a
protective effect of vitamin D include several bone
diseases, muscle weakness, more than a dozen
types of internal cancers, multiple sclerosis,
and type 1 diabetes mellitus. There is also
weaker evidence for several other diseases and
conditions. There are good reasons that vitamin
D sufficiency be maintained during all stages of
life, from fetal development to old age. Adequate
calcium intake is also recommended. The current
vitamin D requirements in the United States are
based on protection against bone diseases.
These guidelines are being revised upward in
light of new findings, especially for soft-tissue
health. The consensus of scientific understanding
appears to be that vitamin D deficiency is reached
for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels
less than 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L), insufficiency in
the range from 20-32 ng/mL, and sufficiency in
the range from 33-80 ng/mL, with normal in sunny
countries 54-90…