Vitamin D: A D-Lightful Vitamin for Health – Holick

Created January 2013

Endocrinol Metab. 2012 Dec;27(4):255-267. English.

Published online 2012 December 20. http://dx.doi.org/10.3803/EnM.2012.27.4.255

Michael F. Holick

Vitamin D, Skin and Bone Research Laboratory, Section of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine, Nutrition and Diabetes, Boston University Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.

Corresponding author: Michael F. Holick. Department of Medicine, Vitamin D, Skin and Bone Research Laboratory, Section of Endocrinology, Nutrition and Diabetes, Boston University Medical Center, 85 East Newton Street, M-1013, Boston, MA 02118, USA. Tel: +1-617-638-4546, Fax: +1-617-638-8882, Email: mfholick@bu.edu

Vitamin D is a sunshine vitamin that has been produced on this earth for more than 500 million years. Because foods contain so little vitamin D most humans have always depended on sun exposure for their vitamin D requirement. Vitamin D deficiency has been defined as a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration < 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L); vitamin D insufficiency as a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D of 21-29 ng/mL and vitamin D sufficiency as a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D of 30-100 ng/mL whereas toxicity is usually not seen until blood levels are above 150 ng/mL. Vitamin D deficiency is a global health problem that increases risk for metabolic bone diseases in children and adults as well as many chronic illnesses including autoimmune diseases, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, and cancer. The major causes of vitamin D deficiency are lack of adequate sensible exposure to sunlight, inadequate dietary intake and obesity.

Vitamin D: A D-Lightful Vitamin for Health – Holick

Vitamin D in the Body

Vitamin D vs time of the day

Vitamin D vs time of the year

Hyperparthyroidism

See also VitaminDWiki