Alternative Health Blog

In a nested, case-control study involving a cohort of 600 female Navy recruits subsequently diagnosed with stress fracture of the tibia or fibula and 600 matched controls, a monotonic inverse dose-response gradient was found between 25(OH)D level and risk of stress fracture. Comparing the highest to the lowest quintiles of serum 25(OH)D concentration, there was approximately half the risk of stress fracture (OR=0.51), with a range of serum 25(OH)D from 1.5-19.7 in the lowest quintile (mean: 13.9) ng/ml, to 39.9-112 (mean: 49.7) ng/ml in the highest quintile. The authors state, "There was double the risk of stress fractures of the tibia and fibula in women with serum 25(OH)D concentration < 20 ng/ml, compared to those with >= 40 ng/ml. A target for prevention of stress fractures would be a serum 25(OH)D concentration of > 40 ng/ml, achievable with 4000 IU/day vitamin D(3) supplementation."