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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #161600
Title: RACIAL/ETHNIC CONSIDERATIONS IN MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS FOR VITAMIN D FOR ADULT AND ELDERLY MEN AND WOMEN

Author
item DAWSON-HUGHES, BESS - TUFTS-HNRCA

Submitted to: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/1/2004
Publication Date: 12/1/2004
Citation: Dawson-Hughes, B. 2004. Racial/ethnic considerations in making recommendations for vitamin D for adult and elderly men and women. In: Proceedings of the NIH Vitamin D Conference, October 10, 2003. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 80(Suppl):1763S-1766S.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Vitamin D is acquired through diet and skin exposure to ultraviolet B light. Skin production is determined by length of exposure, latitude, season, and degree of skin pigmentation. Blacks produce less vitamin D than whites in response to usual levels of sun exposure and have lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels in winter and summer. Blacks in the United States also use dietary supplements less frequently than whites. However, blacks and whites appear to have similar capacities to absorb vitamin D and to produce vitamin D after repeated high doses of ultraviolet B light. There is a growing consensus that a serum 25(OH)D level of at least 75 to 80 nmol/L is needed for optimal bone health, based on studies of older whites living in Europe and the US. These studies show that increasing serum 25(OH)D to this level suppresses parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels, lowers rates of bone loss, and reduces the incidence of fractures. Among US blacks, low 25(OH)D levels are associated with higher levels of PTH and the latter is associated with lower bone mineral density. Vitamin D supplements in blacks lower PTH and bone turnover marker levels. These findings suggest that improving vitamin D status will benefit blacks as well as whites. Based on studies conducted in the temperate zone, the intake of vitamin D3 needed to maintain a group average 25(OH)D level of 80 nmol/L in the wintertime is about 1000 IU per day. Broad based vitamin D supplementation is needed to remove vitamin D insufficiency as a contributing cause of osteoporosis.