Vitamin D Not Beneficial for Osteoarthritis of the Knee

Supplements don't slow disease progression or ease pain, even in patients with low levels of the vitamin
bandaged knee
bandaged knee

WEDNESDAY, March 9, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Vitamin D supplements don't appear to relieve pain or slow the progression of knee osteoarthritis in patients with low levels of the vitamin, according to a study published in the March 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Changhai Ding, M.D., Ph.D., a professor at the University of Tasmania in Hobart, and colleagues randomly assigned 413 patients with knee osteoarthritis and low vitamin D levels to monthly treatment with either 50,000 International Units of vitamin D a month or a placebo.

Over two years of follow-up, the investigators did not see any difference between the groups in reduced pain, change in tibiofemoral cartilage defects, or change in tibiofemoral bone marrow lesions.

"These data suggest a lack of evidence to support vitamin D supplementation for slowing disease progression or structural change in knee osteoarthritis," Ding told HealthDay.

Abstract
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