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Fibromyalgia? Maybe You Should Check Vitamin D Levels
By Dr. Paul Varnas | April 3, 2009
Testing for vitamin D in the serum is a very inexpensive test. If you have been labeled with fibromyagia it may be worth having someone check your vitamin D. Research appearing in the July 19, 2006 issue of Clinical Rheumatology, linked anxiety and depression experienced by fibromyalgia patients to vitamin D levels. The subjects of the study were 75 patients with fibromyalgia who filled out a Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score. Blood samples were taken to measure vitamin D levels. Twenty-three of the patients had normal levels of vitamin D. Ten of the patients were deficient in vitamin D and 42 had insufficient levels. Patients who were deficient in vitamin D placed higher on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score than those with normal or insufficient levels of vitamin D. The researchers concluded that low vitamin D levels were associated with fibromyalgia and that the anxiety and depression associated with the disease may be linked to low vitamin D levels.
According to the Mayo Clinic Proceedings (December 9, 2003), vitamin D deficiency is one possible cause of persistent and vague musculoskeltal pain. A study of 150 children and adults suffering from vague musculoskeletal pain performed at the University of Minnesota found that 93% of the subjects were vitamin D deficient. Of the subjects involved with the study, all of the African, African-American, Hispanic and Native Americans were vitamin D deficient, as well as all of the subjects under the age of 30. The worst vitamin D deficiencies were found in women of child-bearing age.
According to the Nov. 12, 2003 edition of the Pain Management issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the cost of treating pain unsuccessfully is $61.2 billion per year. This study shows that there may be, at least in some patients, a very simple answer for this common problem.
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a risk for osteoporosis, diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, and auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Inadequate vitamin D is also harmful for developing fetuses and is the cause rickets of in children.
In separate study, conducted in Saudi Arabia, a vitamin D deficiency was found in a group of chronic back patients. All the patients were given cholecalciferol for three months, which improved the chronic pain. The subjects were given doses that are considered toxic (5,000 to 10,000 IU, which is between two and three times the toxic dose). After receiving the cholecalciferol , all the patients had normal levels.
For more information on this and other health topics, go to www.wholehealthweb.com.
Topics: General | 2 Comments »
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:29 am
[...] Fibromyalgia? Maybe You Should Check Vitamin D Levels | Don’t … [...]
September 24th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
You write the the test for Vitamin D serum levels is inexpensive, but it is almost prohibitively so for me.
I’m self-pay (no insurance) and my income is rather low because I cannot work consistently (I have fibromyalgia). When my MD ordered the vit d serum level lab, the cost was over $200 at a well-known lab.
She (my doctor) wants me to increase my vitamin d supplementation, and recheck levels in 3 months. I will have to reconsider whether to have the check done, or perhaps will wait 6 months.
“Inexpensive” is a rather objective term, especially when you’re dealing with people who are not working due to a chronic pain disorder.
September 24th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
The test is available for much less than that, less than $40 in some places.
December 26th, 2009 at 8:59 am
vit D and exercise
March 27th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Thanks for the read… Great info