When people complain of back pain in the winter, many of us feel that it must be the cold weather. But some think that it is the lack of adequate amounts of sunshine and therefore low Vitamin D being produced.
Musculoskeletal disorders have been linked to Vitamin D3 deficiency in a number of studies. One of the most recent studies[1] looks at the role that very low Vitamin D3 levels play in the increase of chronic low back pain in women.
In this study 60 women that were complaining of low back pain lasting more than three months were studied. Researchers measured levels of Vitamin D3 in the women with low back pain and compared those levels to those of 20 women considered to be healthy controls.
The study revealed that patients with low back pain had significantly lower Vitamin D3 levels than controls. Low Vitamin D3 levels (25 OHD < 40 ng/ml) were found in 49/60 patients (81 percent) and 12/20 (60 percent) of controls.
With as many as 8 out of 10 people likely to experience back pain in their lifetime and often no evidence of any injury, disease, or bone problem like a slipped disc we must consider if the findings of such studies can play a significant role in our health. According to Stewart B. Leavitt, MA, PhD, Executive Director of Pain Treatment Topics found that pain relief may be available from Vitamin D.
We found a 6 page brochure on the Pain-Topics.org website that goes into more detail regarding the pain relieving value of Vitamin D. Click here to read the file: http://pain-topics.org/pdf/vitamind-brochure.pdf
So tell us what you think;
1. Can the summer sunshine really benefit your back pain?
2. Is Vitamin D part of your Pain relief plan?
[1] Lotfi A, Abdel-Nasser AM, Hamdy A, Omran AA, El-Rehany MA. HypoVitaminosis D in female patients with chronic low back pain. Clin Rheumatol. 2007 Mar 22; [Epub ahead of print].
