(HealthDay News) — Vitamin D supplements do not 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 Journal of the American Medical Association.
Changhai Ding, MD, PhD, 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 IU of vitamin D a month or a placebo.
Over 2 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,” Dr Ding told HealthDay.
