Scientists have looked into the link between lower back pain and vitamin D.
- Lower back pain is considered the leading cause
of disability worldwide.
- Past studies have linked a vitamin D deficiency
to lower back pain.
- A new study from researchers at the University
of Heidelberg in Germany says there is no correlation between vitamin D
deficiency and lower back pain.
Researchers estimate that about
This condition is also considered to be the
There are a number of reasons why a person may experience
lower back pain, including strained or injured muscles, spinal damage, or
underlying conditions like arthritis and osteoporosis.
Depending on the situation, a person’s lower back pain
may be treated with a combination of medications, physical therapy, and/or
surgery.
Previous research shows between
Past studies have linked a
Now,
researchers from the University of Heidelberg in Germany report the opposite to
be true — they say there is no correlation between vitamin D deficiency and
lower back pain.
The study was recently published in the journal Nutrients.
No vitamin D, lower back pain link found
For this study,
researchers analyzed information from the UK Biobank.
They used data from 135,934 participants between the ages of 40 and 69 years.
For this study, researchers analyzed data from the UK Biobank of
over 500,000 people. All study participants were between the ages of 40 and 69
years old.
Scientists had access to vitamin D information on all
participants, including their levels and whether or not they took a vitamin D
or multivitamin supplement. They also collected information on any lower back
pain diagnoses.
Scientists reported about 21.6% of all study
participants had a vitamin D deficiency and about 4% regularly took a vitamin D
supplement.
About 3.8% of study participants reported lower back
pain the month before the study started. Another 3.3% were diagnosed with lower
back pain for the first time during a median follow-up time of 8.5 years.
Upon
analysis, researchers found that vitamin D deficiency and vitamin D
supplementation were not associated with lower back pain. They believe this is
partially due to the multifactorial nature of lower back pain.
Mixed results from previous research
Past studies examining a
potential link between vitamin D deficiency and lower back pain have been
mixed.
A study published in July 2018 found that low back
Another study published in August 2019 discovered
vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency can
Research published in February 2021 indicated a
However, there have been other studies reporting no
link between vitamin D and lower back pain.
A study published in December 2020 concluded there was
Vitamin D may not prevent chronic pain
After reviewing this
study, Dr. Medhat Mikhael, a pain
management specialist and medical director of the non-operative program at the
Spine Health Center at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain
Valley, CA, told Medical News Today he was not surprised by its
findings.
“Treating
patients with chronic or low back pain for a long time, we haven’t really
(found) a link to prove that patients on supplemental vitamin D have prevented
low back pain,” Dr. Mikhael explained. “We have a lot of patients on vitamin D
supplements, but they have chronic low back pain.”
“The case is a little bit different for people that
are in their advanced age or they are menopausal and
they have (a) higher risk of osteoporosis and
compression fracture and then they have a low level of vitamin D,” he
continued.
“This is where we ask them to take the supplement to
get adequate mineralization of their bone and keep their bone healthy. But low
vitamin D or supplemental vitamin D did not prevent the development of low back
pain,” he said.
For future research in this area, Dr. Mikhael said he
would like to see if people who are premenopausal or have a genetic
predisposition for bone loss would be helped if treated with vitamin D early
on.
“I (want) to see if these patients (that) have been
preemptively or early on treated adequately for any vitamin D deficiency if
they can prevent the progress of bone loss and prevent the development of
full-blown osteoporosis and become high risk for compression fractures,” he
added.
90% of people will experience low back pain
Dr. Dante Implicito, department chair of Orthopedic Surgery
and chief of Orthopedic Spinal Surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center
in New Jersey, provided similar comments after reviewing this research.
“As is the case with the vast majority of vitamins and
supplements, there is no underlying proven connection for the ailments they are
heavily marketed as addressing,” Dr. Implicito told MNT. “This is the essence of the difference between
stringent FDA drug safety and efficacy process and ‘
“Low back pain is
ubiquitous. On the order of 90% of humans will experience low back pain in
their lifetime. The symptom of low back pain is seen in a large multitude of
conditions such as muscle strains, muscle deconditioning, cancer, disc
injuries, arthritis, kidney stones, endometriosis,
stress, etc. — the list goes on and on.”— Dr. Dante Implicito
Dr. Implicito said many varied factors are important
in making these actual underlying diagnoses and the presence of low back pain
is only one consideration.
“Vitamin D is known to play an important role in bone health and is especially important in the treatment of osteopenia and osteoporosis,” he added. “It has not been shown, to my knowledge, to actually be ‘anti-inflammatory’ by any peer-reviewed scientific journal.”
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