More on Vitamin D. A study put out by the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York reinforces the alarmingly high rate of low vitamin D in patients scheduled for orthopedic surgery. In a chart review of 723 patients, they found that 43% of all patients had low vitamin D levels, and of those, 40% had severely low levels. The highest rates of low vitamin D levels were seen in patients in Sports Medicine Services as well as who had trauma or fractures. Over one half of patients (52%) had low vitamin D levels in patients undergoing sports related surgery! The highest rate was in patients between age of 18 and 50 years and it was significantly higher in men (5X higher). In patients sustaining fractures, 66% had low vitamin D levels. In individuals with darker skin tones (Blacks and Hispanics) were over 5 times more likely to have low vitamin D levels when compared with those with lighter skin tones (White and Asians).
Bottom line: Get your vitamin D level checked. If you are a runner and have had arthroscopic surgery, I am routinely recommending, particularly in men, to have your vitamin D levels checked and corrected because we are seeing an increasingly high number of stress fractures and bone bruises that occur when patients go back to high-level sports that involved running, jumping, or pounding. We do not know for sure whether the low vitamin D levels correlate with the reason why one develops this. On the other hand, it seems like it could be very likely. You should be taking at least 1000 mg of vitamin D3 tablets a day and I recommend you take it as a supplement unless you drink four cups of milk a day.
Lesley J. Anderson, MD