Muscle problems are both treated and avoided by Vitamin D – April 2018

Vitamin D and muscle.

Bone Rep. 2018 Apr 18;8:163-167. doi: 10.1016/j.bonr.2018.04.004. eCollection 2018 Jun.
Gunton JE1,2,3,4, Girgis CM1,2,3,5.

Overview Sports and vitamin D has the following summary

Athletes are helped by vitamin D by:

1. Faster reaction time
2. Far fewer colds/flus during the winter
3. Less sore/tired after a workout
4. Fewer micro-cracks and broken bones
5. Bones which do break heal much more quickly
6. Increased VO2 and exercise endurance Feb 2011
7. Indoor athletes especially need vitamin D
8. Professional indoor athletes are starting to take vitamin D and/or use UV beds
9. Olympic athletes have used UV/vitamin D since the 1930's
10. The biggest gain from the use of vitamin D is by those who exercise less than 2 hours per day.
11. Reduced muscle fatigue with 10,000 IU vitamin D daily
12. Muscle strength improved when vitamin D added: 3 Meta-analysis
13. Reduced Concussions
    See also: Sports and Vitamin D category 267 items

 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

Vitamin D is increasingly recognised to play an important role in normal muscle function. Low vitamin D status is associated with an increased risk of falls and proximal weakness.

Since vitamin D deficiency is very common, and the signs are non-specific, it is important to maintain a high index of suspicion of vitamin D deficiency in patients with muscle pain and weakness, and it is simple to measure serum 25(OH) vitamin D.

Therapy is cheap, safe and effective, but sometimes a larger dose may be needed, and, as shown in our case report, willingness of people to pay for an over the counter medication can be an issue.

Following a striking case report that demonstrates muscle defects in severe vitamin D deficiency, we discuss clinical studies examining specific effects of vitamin D on physical performance, muscle strength and falls. Finally, we present an overview of molecular mechanisms that explain vitamin D's biological effects on muscle.