Vitamin D shown not to slow disease progression in knee osteoarthritis, says study

A new study has found that the use of vitamin D supplements did not relieve pain or slow the progression of knee osteoarthritis, even though the patients involved in the study had low levels of the vitamin.

There have been a number of conflicting studies in the past regarding the use of vitamin D to reduce the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis. For this study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr Changhai Ding, a professor at the University of Tasmania and his colleagues, randomly assigned just over 400 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 researchers did not see any difference in the two groups in reduced pain, loss of cartilage or improvement in bone marrow in the thigh or shin bone.

Osteoarthritis is a progressive disease, and currently no treatment is available that will stop the loss of cartilage. Eventually, many patients are headed for knee replacements, the Australian researchers said.

“These data suggest a lack of evidence to support vitamin D supplementation for slowing disease progression or structural change in knee osteoarthritis,” says Dr Ding.

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