Vitamin D — Effects on Skeletal and Extraskeletal Health and the Need for Supplementation

• Main Authors: Matthias Wacker, Michael F. Holick
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2013-01-01
• Series: Nutrients
• Subjects: vitamin D; 25-hydroxyvitamin D; vitamin D deficiency; osteoporosis; fractures; cancer; type 2 diabetes mellitus; cardiovascular diseases; autoimmune diseases; infectious diseases
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/5/1/111

Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, has received a lot of attention recently as a result of a meteoric rise in the number of publications showing that vitamin D plays a crucial role in a plethora of physiological functions and associating vitamin D deficiency with many acute and chronic illnesses including disorders of calcium metabolism, autoimmune diseases, some cancers, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and infectious diseases. Vitamin D deficiency is now recognized as a global pandemic. The major cause for vitamin D deficiency is the lack of appreciation that sun exposure has been and continues to be the major source of vitamin D for children and adults of all ages. Vitamin D plays a crucial role in the development and maintenance of a healthy skeleton throughout life. There remains some controversy regarding what blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D should be attained for both bone health and reducing risk for vitamin D deficiency associated acute and chronic diseases and how much vitamin D should be supplemented.