Rediscovering vitamin D

Abstract

Over the past 2 years there has been a radical change in standard clinical practice with respect to vitamin D. As a result of a growing body of knowledgeable physicians are assessing the vitamin D nutritional status of their patients and prescribing aggressive repletion regimens of a vitamin D supplement. The present paper summarizes some basic information about this essential nutrient and reviews some of the more recent data implicating vitamin D deficiency in disease etiology with an emphasis on cardiovascular disease and cancer. Finally a rational approach to the dosing of vitamin D in different patient populations is provided.

Keywords: Vitamin D deficiency; calcidiol; calcitriol; disease prevention; autoimmune; cardiovascular; cancer; mycobacterial infection; cathelicidin