The Daily HIT

This adds to the growing list of studies highlighting the crucial role of vitamin D in skeletal health.

Elderly men with low serum levels of vitamin D are at increased risk for developing hip osteoarthritis, a prospective cohort study found. 

Men whose levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin (OH)D were between 15.1 to 30 ng/mL had twice the likelihood of prevalent radiographic hip osteoarthritis than those whose levels were normal (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.21 to 3.97), according to R. Krishna Chaganti, MD, of the University of California at San Francisco, and colleagues.

Conversely, after adjusting for age, season at blood draw, and clinic site, higher vitamin D levels were associated with a lower prevalence of hip osteoarthritis (OR 1.39 per 1 SD decrease in 25(OH)D level, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.74), the researchers reported in the February issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism.

Adjusting for season when the blood was drawn is necessary because vitamin D levels in the blood rise in the warmer, sunnier parts of the year as we spend more time outside. This needs to last us through colder and greyer times.

Of course, vitamin D supplements (D2 from irradiated yeast or D3 from irradiated lanolin) can also help fill the gap.