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Happy new year to all I thought I would post the latest guidelines on Vitamin D from the Osteoporosis Society as Vit D deficiency is cropping up again and again in case management and more wider health promotion in workplaces. Highlights are below: * Vitamin D levels do not need to be checked routinely, and can take 3-6 months to reach a steady state after treatment has started recheck vitamin D levels 6 months after a loading regimen of vitamin D has been given. If levels are still sub-optimal, compliance with medication should be discussed. Alternatively, consider referral to an appropriate specialist. * recommended daily intake of vitamin D in the UK is around 400IU (10mcg) for an adult, 280IU (7mcg) for children aged 6 months to 3 years and 340IU (8.5mcg) per day for infants under 6 months. * WARNING: NUT/SOYA ALLERGIES - vitamin D preparations such dekristol and Fultium D3 contain peanut oil; Drisdol, Calceos and Adcal D3 contain soybean oil. For full details of excipients, refer to individual SPCs * vitamin D supplementation is contraindicated in patients with hypercalcaemia or metastatic calcification relative contraindications include primary hyperparathyroidism, renal stones and severe hypercalciuria * patients with mild to moderate renal failure or known to have mild hypercalciuria should be supervised carefully when taking vitamin D In patients with a history of renal stones, urinary calcium excretion should be measured to exclude hypercalciuria, a problem which requires specialist referral * the following should be borne in mind: supplements should be taken with food to aid absorption, calcium/vitamin D combinations should not be used as sources of vitamin D for the above regimens, given the resulting high dosing of calcium, maintenance regimens may be considered 1 month after loading with doses equivalent to 800 to 2000 IU daily (occasionally up to 4,000 IU daily), given either daily or intermittently at a higher equivalent dose. * specialist supervision in vitamin D supplementation need to be considered if a patient has tuberculosis or sarcoidosis as patients with granulomatous disease are at risk of hypercalcaemia. Karen ******************************** Please remove this footer before replying. OCC-HEALTH ARCHIVES: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/occ-health.html CONFERENCES AND STUDY DAYS: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/filearea.cgi?LMGT1=OCC-HEALTH