Wednesday, December 11, 2019
A new study has a word of caution about a common supplement
many of us take to build better bones.
This new study takes a common look at high-dose vitamin D.
It's used now for fighting many health problems, but when it comes to your
bones, the team at OrthoCincy says to find out if you need it before you take
it.
When bone specialist Dr. Howard Schertzinger evaluates
patients, he says it's not uncommon to see evidence of a need for vitamin D.
But he says, based on this new study recently presented at the American Society
for Bone and Mineral Research's annual meeting, vitamin D won't help your bones
if you're an adult and your bones don't need it.
Dr. Schertzinger says the important thing about the study
was the participants were all healthy and had normal vitamin D levels and
didn't have osteoporosis.
"They had patients in the study take 400, 4,000 and
10,000 international units of vitamin D, and they followed them both clinically
and with CT scans every three years. They found the bones in the lower leg and
the bones in the forearm, or the radius, declined in bone strength," said
Dr. Schertzinger.
Dr. Schertzinger says the amount of vitamin D you get in
three servings of dairy a day or from a multivitamin is good, and more is not
necessarily better for bones.
But since we are learning more about this nutrient, the
recommendations now are a little different for everyone, which means it's very
important that you have an individualized evaluation.
Who needs that testing? A couple of indicators may be that
you have had repeated fractures, even at a young age, or you have a history of
osteoporosis or bone loss in your family.
If you make an appointment based on appropriate risks, these
appointments are covered by medical insurance plans.
https://local12.com/health/orthocincy-solutions/orthocincy-bone-specialist-say-high-doses-of-vitamin-d-may-not-help-if-its-not-needed-cincinnati