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From American Medical News:

Quote:

AMA meeting: Vitamin D checks urged

Studies associate low levels with increased risk of disease, but more extensive research is needed before testing and supplementation become routine.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Posted June 29, 2009.

Physicians should consider assessing 25-hydroxyvitamin D in patients most likely to have low levels of the hormone. These patients should then be counseled about ways to improve their vitamin D status, according to a Council on Science and Public Health report adopted at the AMA's Annual Meeting.

"We need to get the word out to doctors to measure vitamin D levels in patients who might be deficient," said Sandra Fryhofer, MD, the member of the council who presented the report during the meeting.

The action was taken because a growing body of literature indicates that intake of vitamin D, which is primarily obtained from being exposed to the sun and drinking fortified milk, has gone down. Recommendations for how much is needed to be healthy also may be too low. Studies have connected vitamin D depletion to bone problems, some cancers, cognitive decline, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and several autoimmune conditions.

"The importance of vitamin D has certainly expanded beyond endocrinologists' interest in bone health," said Vineeth Mohan, MD, who was speaking for the Endocrine Society.

It's the latest move by medical societies and government agencies on this subject. The American Academy of Pediatrics published a statement Oct. 31, 2008, in Pediatrics doubling the recommended intake from 200 to 400 IU for babies, children and adolescents.

Examining vitamin D research

The Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board is reviewing the data, along with that for calcium, and is expected to come out with revised recommendations within the next two years. The issue also has come up at several endocrinology meetings, and some physicians recommend their patients take as much as 1,000 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily.

But delegates expressed caution about coming out with too strong of a recommendation. Research that low vitamin D levels are associated with worse health outcomes is compelling. But data are lacking that low levels cause problems and that increasing intake makes a difference.

There's also concern about balancing the risk for skin cancer since vitamin D is most easily derived from exposure to sunlight. For these reasons, the council also asked for continued research. The report also called for the AMA to educate physicians on the evolving science around vitamin D.

"Vitamin D is hot, and not just because it's a sunshine vitamin. ... The [associated] research is promising, but we still need clinical trials" Dr. Fryhofer said.

Physicians suggested that some patients, such as those who have dark complexions but, because of their religious beliefs, rarely expose their skin to sunlight could be assumed to be vitamin D deficient. They most likely don't need to be tested. Rather, a trial of vitamin D supplementation can be tried to assess whether this strategy relieves whatever symptoms they are experiencing.

The print version of this content appeared in the July 6, 2009 issue of American Medical News.

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/20...29/prsg0629.htm