Introduction

Excerpt

It is a special pleasure for me to introduce to you in this issue eight chapters from the second edition of Vitamin D: Physiology, Molecular Biology and Clinical Applications. In 1996, I asked many of my friends and colleagues and world experts in the field of vitamin D to help me put together a book that would not only feature the multitude of health benefits of vitamin D that was coming to light, but also to make the readers aware that vitamin D deficiency, which was thought to have been conquered in the early 1900s, has been resurrected. The book received recognition from the Doody Rating Service Prize as one of the top 250 best health science books for 2000. In the ensuing past 8 years, there has been an enormous explosion of new information not only about the health benefits of vitamin D, but also how widespread vitamin D deficiency is from a global perspective. In this first volume, chapters were chosen to give a representation of the vast amount of new information that has been collected and observed over the past 8 years. The first chapter not only reviews vitamin D from an evolutionary perspective, but also puts into perspective the most recent data regarding what the vitamin D requirements should be for all age groups and what the safe upper limits should be increased to. Plum and DeLuca in their chapter on Functional Metabolism and Molecular Biology of Vitamin D Actions provide the platform to understand how vitamin D is metabolized and carries out its physiologic functions by interacting with its specific nuclear receptor to regulate calcium, phosphorus, and bone metabolism. The magnitude of the global vitamin D deficiency pandemic and its health consequences are well represented in the contributions of the other six contributors who provide overwhelming and incontrovertible evidence that vitamin D deficiency is not only found within all age groups, but is also a health concern even in the sunniest areas of the world. These contributors also provide detailed and convincing evidence of the negative health consequences that vitamin D deficiency has on pregnant and lactating women and their children as well as children of all ages. Vitamin D deficiency in utero and during early life will not only prevent the maximization of bone mineral density, but also has negative consequences on neuromuscular function. Bibuld reviews in great detail and provides a convincing argument that many of the health disparities seen in people of color may be due to their higher risk of vitamin D deficiency. With our population graying, osteoporosis has also become a global health problem. Bischoff–Ferrari documents that vitamin D deficiency is associated with osteoporosis and that adequate vitamin D is important for maximizing muscle function and fall prevention which ultimately results in reduced risk of fractures. …