Active clinical trials for "Vitamin D Deficiency"

In recent years, skeletal and nonskeletal effects of vitamin D has been studied. One of the effects of it was balance and fall prevention. However, these studies were performed on older patients who had not vitamin D deficiency. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of vitamin D replacement therapy and exercise on balance in 50-70 years-old postmenopausal women.

Vitamin D has a range of biological effects of public health relevance. Vitamin D status is assessed on levels of its metabolite 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], where levels < 50 nmol/L indicate insufficiency. Despite studies indicating that the vitamin D intake among Swedish children are significantly below recommendations, little is known of their vitamin D status. The investigators have recently found inadequate vitamin D status in pre-school children living in northern Sweden, especially in dark-skinned children and during the winter months despite vitamin D intakes meeting the recommendations. Overall, 25% of the light skinned and 40% of the dark skinned children had S-25(OH) D <50 nmol/L (Öhlund I, unpublished data). The aim is to examine which amount of vitamin D is needed to maintain or increase S-25(OH)D to ≥50 nmol/L among 97.5% of the participants regardless of skin color or geographic location (northern or southern Sweden). Furthermore the investigators will examine if vitamin D status affects on health markers as bone density, blood pressure, serum lipids, fatty acids, inflammatory and immunological markers and mental wellbeing. Children aged 5-8 years living either northern (Umeå) or southern Sweden (Malmö) will be recruited to this trial during November-December 2012. They will be randomized to a vitamin D supplement of either 10 or 25 g per day, or in Malmö also placebo to be used for three months. The randomization will be stratified according to skin color (light or dark) according to a method using visual inspection and interviews of parents/guardians. The investigators will use a 2×2×2 factorial design to investigate the effects of two different doses of vitamin D (10 µg and 25 µg) in children with dark and light skin color, living in northern (Umeå) and southern (Malmö), Sweden. In order to achieve a moderate difference between groups (effect size 0.25) 20 children per group are required (power> 87%, alpha = 0.05). With an estimated dropout of 10%, a total of 220 children will be included. At baseline, the participants will undergo blood sampling for S-25(OH)D and other biomarkers, blood pressure and anthropometrical measurements, including bone densitometry and body composition using air displacement pletysmography, and the parents will answer a questionnaire on behavioral and emotional problems in the participating child using the Child Behavior Checklist. These measurements will be repeated at follow-up in February-March 2013.

The purpose of this study is to examine whether a behavioural intervention changes attitudes, knowledge, intake or blood levels of vitamin D in young adults. The hypothesis is that an educational component and use of a mobile smartphone 'app' will increase knowledge and/or intake of vitamin D.

The investigators would like to test the hypothesis that maternal vitamin D supplementation during lactation in dose 1200IU/d (400IU from multivitamins + 800 IU cholecalciferol) is more effective than 400IU/d (400IU from multivitamins + placebo)to built appropriate maternal vitamin D status and could be beneficial for maternal and infants bone mineralization and body composition (proper proportion of muscle and fat tissues in body weight) and is safe for both. The investigators also want to confirm that vitamin D supplementation of exclusively breastfed infants in dose 400IU/d is adequate to build appropriate vitamin D status independently of mother's vitamin D supplementation up to 1200 ID/d. Additionally the investigators hypothesize that because of changes in lifestyle there will be no substantial seasonal differences in vitamin D status of pregnant women at the delivery and their newborn infants.

This is a feasibility double-blind randomised controlled trial in 32 participants. It evaluates the feasibility of a full trial which will examine the efficacy of weekly supplementation of cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) relative to placebo on the subsequent frequency and severity of objectively-verified symptomatic acute respiratory tract infection, overall and as a proportion of detected colonisations of the upper respiratory tract by 9 of the most common aetiologic viral pathogens.

Background: Crohn's disease (CD), a type of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), is a chronic relapsing inflammatory disorder of the digestive system. CD affects ~112,000 individuals in Canada, of whom 20-25% are diagnosed in childhood or adolescence. The specific cause of CD remains unknown; however, it is hypothesized that CD involves a complex interaction of several factors, including a genetically susceptible host, the intestinal mucosal immune system and microbe population. Several dietary factors have been explored for their potential role in the etiology of CD. However, no consensus on the role of diet has emerged. Recent evidence suggests a plausible link between a lack of Vitamin D and CD. Purpose & Hypothesis: The investigators primary hypothesis is that a greater proportion of pediatric CD patients will achieve optimal 25OHD concentration (> 75 nmol/L) on 2000 IU/d than 400 IU/d Vitamin D. Methods: Pediatric Crohn's Disease patients between 8-18 years of age, and have been in remission for at least 4 weeks as indicated by a Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (PCDAI) <10 will be recruited for a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial where they will receive one of two dosages of vitamin D (10 or 50 ug/day) and will be asked to continue the supplementation for 6 months. Vitamin D levels will be measured in blood at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Dietary vitamin D intake will be estimated using a food frequency and lifestyle questionnaire. Data will be analyzed using multiple regression analysis controlling for baseline values. Expected Results and Conclusions: It is expected that a greater proportion of children receiving the 50 ug/day vitamin D supplement will achieve a blood vitamin level >75 nmol/L compared to children receiving 10 ug/day. This data will aid policy makers, parents/children and healthcare workers in recommending an appropriate vitamin D dosage for the pediatric crohn's population.

The investigators proposed a pilot study preparatory to developing a randomized trial of vitamin D for the prevention of TB infection. The specific aims are presented below: To recruit subjects, obtain consent, distribute vitamin D supplements to the children in the schools, obtain blood samples and transport them to the United States. To test the hypothesis that daily vitamin D supplementation will increase plasma levels of 25(OH)D, and restore TLR-induced antimicrobial activity in monocytes/macrophages tested in vitro.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major public health problem .Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is also high i.e. 78-96% in different groups of population in north India. Observational studies find association between low Vitamin D status and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Prediabetes is a condition that progress to diabetes at a rate of 6-10% per year .There is mechanistic support that vitamin D may influence both insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity and subsequently T2DM incidence. In general, cross-sectional and prospective studies support the role of vitamin D in the prevention of T2DM. This study will be a single blind randomized placebo controlled trial to study the effect of oral cholecalciferol in insulin sensitivity and secretion in adults with prediabetes who are also vitamin D insufficient.

Vitamin D has effects on many tissues, and hypovitaminosis D is frequent. In a French survey conducted among 1587 adults, vitamin D insufficiency (<30ng/ml) has been reported in 80% of subjects, including 43% with moderate deficiency (<20ng/ml) and 5% with severe deficiency (<10ng/ml). Because of the possible consequences of hypovitaminosis D (osteomalacia in adults…), the number of vitamin D determination has increased ten-fold since 2005 in France, reaching 4.5 million € in 2011, and with it the costs for health insurance. However, there is currently no consensus on the strategy for detection, diagnosis and treatment of hypovitaminosis D. We propose to develop a predictive clinical score of hypovitaminosis D based on the accurate assessment of solar exposure, vitamin D intakes and hypovitaminosis D risk factors collected through a self-administered questionnaire.

This project aims at proving the efficacy and safety of food based solutions to prevent vitamin D deficiency in high risk populations of Caucasian and South Asian origin living in Denmark.