Dr. Michael Holick has a special interest in vitamin D and its interactions with our bones. That includes lack of interaction due to vitamin D deficiency. One problem that can arise from being vitamin D deficient is called osteomalacia. This causes severe pain and is often misdiagnosed. But if the patient has osteomalacia the good news is, within three to six months of starting treatment of the vitamin D deficiency, things should begin to improve.
(Transcribed from video interview)
Dr. Holick:
Osteomalacia is what we call a mineralization defect of the skeleton, which simply means that the collagen that’s laid down in your bone is like jello, that the cement can’t get in, and as a result, often women complain of throbbing, aching bone pain, and if you press on their bone, they wince in pain, thinking it’s a trigger point, and they often are misdiagnosed as having fibromyalgia. But these patients often are vitamin D deficient and have osteomalacia, and I tell these patients that it usually takes three to six months to see significant improvement in your symptoms if indeed they’re due to vitamin D deficiency.
About Dr. Holick, Ph.D., M.D.:
Michael Holick, Ph.D., M.D., is the Professor of Medicine of Physiology and Biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and performed his residency and fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Holick specializes in vitamin D, calcium, bone metabolism, photobiology of vitamin, and osteoporosis. Dr. Holick is also the recipient of the American Skin Associations Psoriasis Research Achievement Award, the American College of Nutrition Award, the Robert H. Herman Memorial Award in Clinical Nutrition from the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, and more.
Visit Dr. Holick at http://www.vitamindhealth.org
Video:
https://www.empowher.com/osteomalacia/content/osteomalacia-and-vitamin-d-what-connection-dr-holick-video