Vitamin D Guidelines in Primary Care

Around the turn of the 21st century, clinicians began hoping that vitamin D supplements would prevent a host of chronic conditions in pregnancy, childhood, and adulthood. These hopes rested on animal experiments showing that vitamin D supplementation reduces inflammation, improves bone mass, and inhibits cancer cell proliferation; human intervention studies showing salutary effects on intestinal calcium and phosphate absorption and mobilization of skeletal calcium stores; and observational population studies linking lower vitamin D intake with higher risks for fractures, malignancy, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and hypertension.