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03.04.2023

Lower back pain? A vitamin D supplement may help

If your lower back is constantly bothering you without doctors being able to find a satisfactory explanation, your vitamin D level may be too low. There is a link between low back pain and low vitamin D levels.

Study
In 2003, doctors from Saudi Arabia published a study involving 360 patients with persistent low back pain. The patients were 15-52 years old, and doctors had not been able to find a clear cause for their complaints.

When the doctors measured the patients' vitamin D levels, it turned out that 83 percent had too low a vitamin D level of less than 22.5 nanomoles.

90 percent of the patients were female. The reason for that is obvious. In Saudi Arabia, women wear clothes outdoors that hide the body from view and sunlight. Since sunlight is the main source of vitamin D, it is likely that many Saudi women have low vitamin D levels.

Supplementation
The researchers gave their patients a hefty dose of vitamin D3 every day for three months. Patients who weighed less than 50 kilograms received 5,000 IU or 125 micrograms of vitamin D3 daily. Patients who weighed more than 50 kilograms received a daily supplement containing 10,000 IU and 250 micrograms of vitamin D3.

The approach worked. 100 percent of patients with vitamin D levels less than 22.5 nanomoles reported significant improvement. In the other back patients, this was the case in 69 percent of the subjects.

The Saudis did not use a control group that received a placebo. That's a pity then.

Source:
Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2003 Jan 15;28(2):177-9.

More:
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Q10 may protect cartilage in the spine against decay 18.10.2018
Strength training helps back pain 18.02.2010

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Vitamin D
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