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Vitamin D supplementation: what do we know? Volume 18, issue 9, November 2022

Authors
Société Française de Documentation et de Recherche en Médecine Générale, 43 avenue Émile Cossonneau, 93160 Noisy-le-Grand
Correspondance : Y. Le Noc

Vitamin D plays a major role in phosphocalcic metabolism: intestinal absorption of calcium and fixation of calcium in the bone. Deficiency causes rickets in children and adolescents and osteomalacia or osteopenia in adults. For the past twenty years, associated with taking calcium, it has been widely prescribed to the elderly and postmenopausal women as part of the prevention of osteoporosis, sometimes in combination with other drugs. More recently, other virtues have been found to encourage frequent dosages and supplements: prevention in the development of certain infectious diseases, certain autoimmune diseases or diseases with an autoimmune component, metabolic syndrome in children and in adults, type 2 diabetes, possible role in cell differentiation in relation to the appearance of certain cancers. But recent data encourage us to remain cautious. What about bone and muscle health? Is there a link with cardiovascular risk? How to prescribe?