Vitamin D Deficiency in the Military: It's Time to Act!

Mil Med. 2021 Oct 9:usab402. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usab402. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTVitamin D is critically important to numerous physiologic functions, including bone health. Poor vitamin D status is a common but underrecognized problem that predisposes the military population to stress fracture and completed fracture. This has significant implications for force health protection, warfighter readiness, attrition, and cost. Despite this, vitamin D deficiency is still underdiagnosed and undertreated in the military. This is a major hindrance to military readiness and one that could easily be modified with awareness, prevention, and early treatment. In this commentary, we review the literature on vitamin D deficiency and critically examine the current status of policies and clinical practice related to vitamin D in the military health system. We offer several practical recommendations to increase awareness and readiness while decreasing musculoskeletal injury and the associated costs.PMID:34626466 | DOI:10.1093/milmed/usab402

Source: Military Medicine - October 9, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Sarah A Fogleman Cory Janney Lynn Cialdella-Kam James H Flint Source Type: research