NOW Foods - Vitamin D Supplementation May Help Bone Health in Postmenopausal Women

Vitamin D Supplementation May Help Bone Health in Postmenopausal Women

Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, December 28, 2007, abstracted from “Dose response to vitamin D supplementation among postmenopausal African American women” in the December 2007 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Of the many changes that women undergo during and after menopause, including hot flashes, night sweats, and mood changes¹, a serious but possibly preventable health issue is osteoporosis. Osteoporosis-related fractures currently cost our healthcare system $18 billion² and result in 31,000 deaths each year³. For every 10% decrease in bone density, the risk of having an osteoporosis-related fracture nearly triples⁴.

Now a new study⁵ has found that taking vitamin D supplements to improve blood levels of vitamin D promotes bone health in postmenopausal women.

In the study, 208 postmenopausal African-American women were given either 800 IU of vitamin D per day or placebo for two years and then 2000 IU per day for another year. The researchers were looking to see if the vitamin D supplementation would raise blood levels of vitamin D to at least 75 nanomoles per liter, which has been thought to be a level that will promote good bone health⁶.

The researchers found that the two years of 800 IU of vitamin D per day raised vitamin D blood levels to an average of 71 nanomoles per liter and reached as high as 90 nanomoles per liter in the group. After the dosage increased to 2000 IU per day in the third year, it took only 3 months to achieve an average of 87.3 nanomoles per liter. Overall, 60% of the women in the vitamin D group reached vitamin D blood levels of 75 nanomoles per liter and 95% achieved at least 50 nanomoles per Liter.

In addition to citing that “the current recommended daily allowance of vitamin D3 of 400–600 IU per day will not optimize vitamin D nutrition in this population”, the researchers concluded that “higher amounts than the recommended upper daily allowance of 50 micrograms per day (2000 IU/d) may be required to achieve concentrations of 75 nmol/L in most of the African American population.”

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com

Reference:

¹ “Menopause” posted on www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/menopause.cfm

² “Osteoporosis-related hip fractures cost $13 billion to $18 billion yearly - Moving Toward Healthier Diets” posted on http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3765/is_n1_v18/ai_19209859

³ Cooper C, Atkinson EJ, Jacobsen SJ, O'Fallon WM, Melton LJ 3d. Population-based study of survival after osteoporotic fractures. Am J Epidemiol 1993; 137:1001-5

⁴ Bone density measurement--a systematic review. J Intern Med 1997;241(suppl 739):1-60

⁵ Talwar SA. Dose response to vitamin D supplementation among postmenopausal African American women. Amer Jou Clin Nutr 2007; 86: 1657-1662

⁶ NIH. Osteoporosis prevention, diagnosis, and therapy. NIH Consensus Statement 2000;17(1):1– 45