Vitamin D Relieves Pain
Supplements
Vitamin D appears to relieve chronic pain. In a 2008 analysis of 22 clinical trials involving patients with chronic pain and fatigue, in almost all cases patients were deficient in vitamin D. Nothing new there—it’s now being discovered that most every demographic group is deficient. What is notable is that when the patients were supplemented with vitamin D, their pain symptoms improved significantly—in some cases, ameliorated completely.  

A May 2009 study found an association between blood serum levels of vitamin D and knee-cartilage loss and joint-space narrowing. The study, conducted in Africa, found these results in women with osteoarthritis, but not in men or in those without knee pain. 

In the 556-participant Framingham Study, conducted in Massachusetts, those with the highest serum vitamin D levels had three times fewer incidents of osteoarthritis compared with those with the lowest vitamin D levels. Low serum levels of vitamin D also predicted loss of cartilage. 

Less well known is exactly how vitamin D produces these effects. Some evidence suggests that physiologic processes in bone are important determinants of osteoarthritis, and vitamin D is well known to promote the absorption of calcium and phosphorus needed for bone mineralization, growth and repair. Or, cumulative damage to tissues, created by oxidative stress, could also be a pathway to osteoarthritis, as this certainly appears to be a mechanism in other degenerative conditions.    
 
CALL 1-800-705-9473 • 9-5 CST • MON-FRI
eBooks
Newsletter
Official PayPal Seal