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

Nutrients

Matthias Wacker¹ 

[1]Vitamin D, Skin and Bone Research Laboratory, Section of Endocrinology, Nutrition, and Diabetes, Department of Medicine, Boston University Medical Center, 85 East Newton Street, M-1013, Boston, MA 02118, USA

[2] E-Mail

关键词: vitamin D;    25-hydroxyvitamin D;    vitamin D deficiency;    osteoporosis;    fractures;    cancer;    type 2 diabetes mellitus;    cardiovascular diseases;    autoimmune diseases;    infectious diseases;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nu5010111

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.