Vitamin D deficiency common across a range of rheumatic conditions

Vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with a range of rheumatic diseases, according to two new studies.

A further study assessing response to vitamin D supplementation found that taking the recommended daily dose did not normalise vitamin D levels in rheumatic disease patients.

"We have seen in studies that vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with a range of rheumatic diseases, and our results have confirmed this using several clinically accepted measures of disease activity," said Dr. L. Idolazzi, of the Rheumatology Unit, University of Verona, Italy.

"What we need to see now is a range of long term studies, which examine the clinical response of patients to vitamin D supplementation," Idolazzi added.

The results of these three studies were presented today at EULAR 2010, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Rome, Italy.