Vitamin D supplements may help osteoarthritis

Friday 9th November 2007

Low vitamin D levels can complicate knee pain for patients with osteoarthritis, research shows.

Knee arthritis is caused by cartilage breakdown in the knee joint and can be triggered through stress on the joints, overweight, age or injury.

A two-year trial of vitamin D supplements on knee osteoarthritis progression found that those who were deficient had increased knee pain and difficulty walking than other participants.

Vitamin D promotes the absorption of calcium and phosphorus needed for bone mineralisaton, study authors say their results suggest that vitamin D supplements could help in arthritis treatment.

"These preliminary results suggest that, among people with knee osteoarthritis, having a low vitamin D level is associated with more knee pain and greater functional limitation," said Tim McAlindaon, study author.

"Further results from this ongoing randomised, doubleblinded placebo – controlled clinical trial of vitamin D will help determine whether vitamin D is an effective disease-modifying intervention for knee osteoarthritis."

American College of Rheumatology

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