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Reuters
Taking daily vitamin D doesn't keep knee pain from getting worse or slow the loss of cartilage for people with osteoarthritis, according to a U.S. study.
Previous research suggested that among people with the joint disorder, those with higher levels of vitamin D in their blood tended to have a slower progression of symptoms. But whether that meant taking more in supplement form would also have a protective effect was unclear.
"It looked compelling at that point," said lead author Timothy McAlindon, from Tufts Medical Center in Boston.
For the new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, he and his colleagues randomly assigned 156 of their patients with knee osteoarthritis to take a daily dose of vitamin D or a vitamin-free placebo for two years.
None of the participants knew which type of supplement they were assigned to take. The vitamin D doses started at 2,000 international units (IU) per day and were increased to as high as 8,000 IU daily in some patients. For most adults, the recommended daily allowance of vitamin D is 600 to 800 IU.
The vitamin D group started out slightly worse off than their comparisons on measures of knee pain and function, but the vitamin didn't seem to offer clear relief.
On a 0-to-20 point pain scale, people taking vitamin D saw a 2.3-point decrease during the two years, compared to a 1.5-point decrease among those taking placebos - a difference that could have been due to chance.
Changes in knee cartilage volume - a measure of the progression of osteoarthritis - and knee function were also similar among the two groups during and after the study period.
Robert Heaney, who has studied vitamin D at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska, said he wasn't surprised the study didn't find a beneficial effect on knee pain across all patients.
"It's almost certain that vitamin D's effects are different from person to person," said Heaney, who wasn't involved in the new research, to Reuters Health. "It's very important for some people, but may not make any difference for others."
That may have to do with genetics or other factors that doctors aren't yet able to test for before the prescribe vitamin D, Heaney said, though he noted that it's still worth trying since it may have other small health benefits.
McAlindon, however, disagreed, saying that while it's possible the higher levels of vitamin D in the blood could help knee pain, so far the results don't support that idea.
"Vitamin D broadly is the vitamin of the moment," McAlindon said. "There are hopes that it will have wide health benefits."
But he noted that this study shows each of those claims needs to be checked out carefully.
Leave a Comment:
Its difficult for me to continue reading about these vitamin studies that refute the claims about vitamins and supplements. I'll make it easy for people:
"Vitamins and supplements don't cure arthritis, colds, cancer, blindness, depression, skin problems, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, etc."
The only things that work to cure or even impact such chronic illnesses are lifestyle changes in conjuction with the "hard stuff", or precription medication. I'm sorry to have to hit the homeopathic people again, but its getting tedious and damaging to people to keep maintaining that vitamins can cure anything.
I can get 300 softgels of 5000 IU vitamin D3 for 6 dollars. Does Pharma have anything that cheap? No? Guess that's why this article. My two cents.
Yes, you can throw your money away on the vitamin D softgells. Your body will process some of each dose and eliminate most of it. Vitamins simply go through your system, and stay to the extent that your body is deficient. Most people get all the vitamin D they need by being outside in indirect sunlight for 10 minutes daily and eating a balanced diet.
Professionals deceive to promote their own viewpoints and protect financial interests. Everyone has to find out what is best for themselves and not be limited. There is a Chinese saying that goes something like this, Do Not Make Remarks about what others are SUCCESSFULLY doing.
Yes only problem is ,in the winter you get basically no vitamin d from the sun,hence the need to take d3 daily,why do you think people are sick with colds and flu in the winter????hello!!! .... hint.... it's not because it's cold outside.
Because in winter, people as a population see a significant reduction in physical activity which directly affects immune response. Also, people tend to congregate more inside buildings giving rise to better transmission vectors which also gives you a rather large component in that school is in session. With so many children and adults in close proximity to each other, it's very easy for colds and flu's to propagate throughout the population at large.
But yeah, your right, it must be D3 deficiency despite the fact most people get enough of it from foods should they have anything that somewhat resembles a balanced diet.
Mitchell
I guess I should also point out that quite a few households keep their temperatures inside their homes/apts lower than usual (especially those on fixed or lower incomes) which can lead to chronic hypothermia in those that have a harder time regulating their body temp such as seniors and small children. This condition greatly impacts the bodies ability to fight infection also.
Mitchell
Glycine might work a whole lot better.
Vitamin D will definitely have widespread benefits in future though the effect differs from person to person how their body cope up with the intake of such vitamins.