Chronic Pain Linked to Low Vitamin D
Inadequate vitamin D may represent an under recognized source of nociperception and impaired neuromuscular functioning, say researchers.
"Physicians who care for patients with chronic, diffuse pain that seems musculoskeletal — and involves many areas of tenderness to palpation — should strongly consider checking vitamin D level," Michael Turner, MD, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said in a news release issued March 25, 2009.
"For example," he added, "many patients who have been labeled with fibromyalgia are, in fact, suffering from symptomatic vitamin D inadequacy. Vigilance is especially required when risk factors are present, such as obesity, darker pigmented skin, or limited exposure to sunlight."
Dr. Turner was lead investigator of a study published in the journal Pain Medicine in November 2008. The work suggests a correlation between inadequate vitamin D levels and the amount of narcotic medication taken by chronic pain patients, with those who were vitamin D deficient needing approximately twice the narcotic dose for pain relief as those who were not.
References
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Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. is one of the world's leading integrative medical authorities on fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. He is the lead author of eight research studies on their effective treatments, and has published numerous health & wellness books, including the bestseller on fibromyalgia From Fatigued to Fantastic! and The Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Solution. Dr. Teitelbaum is one of the most frequently quoted fibromyalgia experts in the world and appears often as a guest on news and talk shows nationwide including Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, Oprah & Friends, CNN, and Fox News Health.
