Effect of vitamin D on musculoskeletal pain and headache: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial among adult ethnic minorities in Norway.
Pain. 2014 Dec;155(12):2591-8. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2014.09.024. Epub 2014 Sep 23.
Knutsen KV1, Madar AA2, Brekke M3, Meyer HE4, Natvig B3, Mdala I3, Lagerløv P3.
Immigrants from South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa living in Northern Europe frequently have low vitamin D levels and more pain compared to the native Western population. The aim of this study was to examine whether daily vitamin D3 (25 μg/d or 10 μg/d) supplementation for 16 weeks would improve musculoskeletal pain or headache compared to placebo. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial recruited 251 participants aged 18 to 50 years, and 215 (86%) attended the follow-up visit. The pain measures were occurrence, anatomical localization, and degree of musculoskeletal pain, as measured by visual analogue scale (VAS) score during the past 2 weeks. Headache was measured with VAS and the Headache Impact Test (HIT-6) questionnaire. At baseline, females reported more pain sites (4.7) than males (3.4), and only 7% reported no pain in the past 2 weeks. During the past 4 weeks, 63% reported headache with a high mean HIT-6 score of 60 (SD 7). At follow-up, vitamin D level, measured as serum 25(OH)D3, increased from 27 nmol/L to 52 nmol/L and from 27 nmol/L to 43 nmol/L in the 25-μg and 10-μg supplementation groups, respectively, whereas serum 25(OH)D3 did not change in the placebo group. Pain scores and headache scores were improved at follow-up compared with baseline. The use of vitamin D supplements, however, showed no significant effect on the occurrence, anatomical localization, and degree of pain or headache compared to placebo.
Copyright © 2014 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PMID: 25261164
1000 IU raised Vitamin D levels to 21 ng.
To get a benefit, Vitamin D levels need to be at least 30 or 40 ng
See also VitaminDWiki
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Pages listed in BOTH the categories Vitamin D Intervention and Pain
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- Growing pains reduced 60 percent by monthly Vitamin D – March 2014
- Fibromyalgia pain with trazodone reduced by 50 percent with weekly 50,000 IU of vitamin D – RCT Nov 2014
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- Fibromyalgia pain reduced with vitamin D intervention that achieved 30-48 ng – RCT Feb 2014
- Quality of Life
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