Vitamin D prescriptions in US Military increased 5X in 5 years

Created July 2015

Trends in Vitamin A, C, D, E, K Supplement Prescriptions From Military Treatment Facilities: 2007 to 2011.

Mil Med. 2015 Jul;180(7):748-753.

Morioka TY1, Bolin JT1, Attipoe S1, Jones DR1, Stephens MB1, Deuster PA1.

1Uniformed Services University, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814.

* Suspect it has been more than 5X in the most recent 5 years * This appears to be number of prescriptions, not the amount of IU prescribed * Suspect that even more vitamin D was consumed which was not prescribed. See also VitaminDWiki * Military and Vitamin D - many studies * 3X increased chance of Breast Cancer if recent vitamin D levels were low – Jan 2013 in military * Suicide 2X more likely with low vitamin D (in military) – Jan 2013 * 3X less Multiple Sclerosis with enough vitamin D - Veterans Administration * US Army learning about benefits of vitamin D to trauma – Matthews Dec 2013 * Huge increase in Vitamin D supplementation in the US military (2005-13) – Oct 2016 See also web * Vitamin D Status and Monitoring in Female Veterans April 2015 * Authors: Ahmad Alazzeh MDa, Maria M. Cooper MS IIa, Beth Bailey PhDb, Dima A. Youssef MDc, Todd Manning BAd & Alan N. Peiris MD * "Vitamin D deficiency in female veterans was also associated with increased health-care costs. " * Vitamin D Status May Affect Resilience and Recovery from Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Military Personnel May 2014 full text online * Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels and Stress Fractures in Military Personnel: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Nov 2014 * Those with stress fractures had ~2 ng lower vitamin D levels at entry into basic training and at time of fracture * Changes in vitamin D and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in submariners during a submerged patrol Feb 2014 * Abstract free, Publisher charges $47 for the PDF Thus huge potential economic benefits to military for increasing Vitamin D include: DECREASED brain trauma, stress fractures, suicide. breast cancer, MS, time in ICU, etc. DECREASED COST Of health care for both active military and veterans INCREASED FORCE READINESS By the way: Vitamin C was the focus of perhaps the first Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) in 1758 It took the English govt over 100 years to give Vitamin C to their sailors to increase "force readiness" to fight the French

INTRODUCTION:

Although prior studies have examined the prevalence of dietary supplement use among various populations, data on single vitamins prescribed by health care providers are limited.

OBJECTIVE:

This study examined trends in single-vitamin supplement (A, C, D, E, K) prescriptions by providers from military treatment facilities from 2007 to 2011.

METHODS:

We examined prescription data from the Department of Defense Pharmacy Data Transaction Service to determine trends in the aforementioned single-vitamin supplement prescriptions. Prescription rates per 1,000 active duty personnel were estimated using population data retrieved from the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (i.e., [number of prescriptions/population size] × 1,000).

RESULTS:

Across the 5-year period, the number of vitamin D prescriptions per 1,000 active duty personnel increased 454%. In contrast, the number of vitamin A, vitamin E, and vitamin K prescriptions per 1,000 active duty personnel decreased by 32%, 53%, and 29% respectively. Vitamin C prescriptions remained relatively constant. Across all age groups, total single-vitamin supplement prescriptions increased by 180%.

CONCLUSION:

Together, prescriptions examined in this study increased steadily from 2007 to 2011, primarily because of the increase in vitamin D prescriptions. The exhibited trend reflects the current general-population pattern of dietary supplement use, with large increases in vitamin D and declines in vitamin E.

PMID: 26126244

Publisher wants $20 for the PDF

I thought that results of Govt funded studies were to be available FREE to the public