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Suboptimal Vitamin D Status: a Risk Factor for Osteoporosis?

  • P. Lips
Chapter
Part of the Advances in Nutritional Research book series (ANUR, volume 9)

Abstract

Severe vitamin D deficiency of long duration leads to osteomalacia, characterized by bone pain, muscle weakness, fractures and pseudofractures or Looser zones (Frame and Parfitt, 1978). Osteomalacia is relatively rare and occurs mainly in certain risk groups, e.g., patients with malabsorption and immigrants to Northwestern Europe from Asian and African countries. About 25 years ago it was recognized by Chalmers et al. (1967) that elderly women also were at risk for osteomalacia. They described 37 patients, 34 women and 3 men, mean age 72 years, of whom 19 had previously undergone gastric surgery. Looser zones, indicating gross osteomalacia, were present in 30 patients. Chalmers et al. (1969) found an association between osteomalacia and hip fractures. Later on, the measurement of vitamin D metabolites became feasible and low serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) were reported in institutionalized elderly and geriatric patients (Preece et al., 1975; Corless et al., 1975).

Keywords

Bone Loss Elderly People Elderly Subject Femoral Neck Fracture Parathyroid Function 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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© Springer Science+Business Media New York 1994

Authors and Affiliations

  • P. Lips
    • 1
  1. 1.Afdeling Endocrinologie, Academisch ZiekenhuisVrije UniversiteitAmsterdamNetherlands

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