There is new research that supports extensive links between vitamin D levels and risk of developing a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease, like arthritis, for example.
According to a study done by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Health Prevention, about one out of every five US adults has doctor-diagnosed arthritis. This includes more than 100 different rheumatic diseases and conditions, the most common of which is osteoarthritis. Other forms of arthritis that occur often are rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, and gout.
Previous research analyzing data from over 29,000 women over 11 years suggested that women with lower levels of vitamin D were more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis. In the new study, Spanish researched compared 677 control subjects to 721 patients with psoriatic arthritis, 775 patients with rheumatoid arthritic and 738 people with ankylosing spondylitis, a type of arthritis of the spine. They found vitamin D deficiencies in about 27 percent of the control subjects, 41 percent of the psoriatic arthritis patients, 40 percent of the rheumatoid arthritis patients and 40 percent of the ankylosing spondylitis patients.
“Many people think of arthritis as a disease that only affects the elderly, but it affects people of all ages, including children,” says the study. “Although the risk of developing arthritis increases with age, nearly two-thirds of people with arthritis are younger than 65. Arthritis is more common among women (26%) than men (19%), and it affects members of all racial and ethnic groups.”
The number of adults with arthritis is expected to increase to 67 million by 2030, as the population ages. Currently, there are an estimated 52.5 million adults have doctor-diagnosed arthritis, and 22.7 million report limitations due to their arthritis, according to the report.
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