Vitamin D Deficiency — Is There Really a Pandemic?
N Engl J Med 2016; 375:1817-1820 November 10, 2016DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1608005
JoAnn E. Manson, M.D., Dr.P.H.,
Patsy M. Brannon, Ph.D., R.D.,
Clifford J. Rosen, M.D., and
Christine L. Taylor, Ph.D.
I purchased the NEJM paper ($20) which dozens of websites were reporting on
Report content was virtually identical due to copying from a NEJM news release.
Example titles include
- Too many people are worried about vitamin D deficiency, experts say
"Only 13 percent of Americans aged 1 to 70 are at risk of being deficient in vitamin D — and less than 6 percent are deficient." - Vitamin D deficiency is widely overestimated, doctors warn"
- Vitamin D deficiency may be widely overestimated
- Doctors warn about overdosing on Vitamin D
- Don’t Worry About Getting More Vitamin D, Doctors Reassure
- Why you probably don't need more Vitamin D
- Too many people are being told they have a vitamin D deficiency
The paper cannot be posted on the web - The paper is behind a $20 paywall
My comment
They think that 600 IU will provide 97% of the non-seniors (including obese, pregnant, dark skinned, etc) with enough Vitamin D (for bone health). They believe that 97% of non-seniors need LESS than 20 ng (for bone health)
"Less than 6% are deficient in vitamin D [serum 25(OH)D levels <12.5 ng per milliliter"
Their reference is the IoM report - that data for which is now 8 years out of date
Here are a few papers papers which strongly disagree
- Bone fractures reduced by a minimum of 800 IU vitamin D and Calcium – meta-meta-analysis March 2014
https://vitamindwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page_id=5378 - Professor who concluded that vitamin D (800 IU) does not help bones got 324,000 dollar prize- Nov 2015
https://vitamindwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page_id=7088 - Bone health best with 40 nanograms of vitamin D – Oct 2015
https://vitamindwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page_id=7067 - 800 IU Vitamin D proven again to not be enough to stop bone loss - Aug 2015
https://vitamindwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page_id=6757
See also VitaminDWiki
- Vitamin D Deficiency
- Is 50 ng of vitamin D too high, just right, or not enough: Note 50 ng, not 16
- Proof that Vitamin D Works 71 as of Aug 2016 - generally Randomized Controlled trials
Note: Only one of these trials has been published at the time the IoM stopped gathering data
People die sooner if they have less than 36 ng of vitamin D
click on chart for details
Huge decrease in many health problems as increase vitamin D > 20 nanograms
click on chart for details
Intervention - Vitamin D includes a table of recent studies in which Vitamin D is given and results are observed
Studies in VitaminDWiki
| Year | Randomized Controlled Trials | Interventions | Meta- analyses |
| 2022 | 900+ | 700+ | 600+ |
| 2017 | - | 48 | 52 |
| 2015 | 69 | 82 | 35 |
| 2012 | 41 | 38 | 39 |
Note: Govt recommendations in 2015 often ignored data after 2011