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Chronic pain linked to low vitamin D

12/08/2008

Chronic pain in middle aged women could be due to low vitamin D levels, research suggests.

A study of almost 7,000 45-year-old men and women from Britain found that smokers, non-drinkers, the overweight and the underweight all reported higher rates of chronic pain.

While the extent of chronic widespread pain (CWP) did not vary among men according to vitamin D levels, this was not the case for women.

Women with vitamin D levels between 75 and 99 mmol/litre had the lowest rates of this type of pain, at just over eight per cent.

Women with levels of less than 25 mmol/litre had the highest rates, at 14.4 per cent.

There appeared to be a J-shaped curve, with the prevalence of widespread pain at ten per cent or higher among those with vitamin D levels above 99 mmol/litre.

Writing in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, researchers from University College London said that the findings were not explained by gender differences in lifestyle or social factors, such as levels of physical activity and time spent outdoors.

They suggest that osteomalacia, a disease of extreme vitamin D deficiency, could play a role.

"Follow-up studies are needed to evaluate whether higher vitamin D intake might have beneficial effects on CWP risk," the study concludes.