Men's Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Chronic Pain

Researchers are suggesting that even a minor vitamin D deficiency may be associated with chronic wide-spread pain in men, according to the preliminary results of an unpublished study.

The results are scheduled to be presented at the Society for Rheumatology's 2014 conference, in Liverpool, U.K. later this week.

According to a preliminary release from the Society for Rheumatology, researchers from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom analyzed data on over 2,300 men to look for a link between widespread pain conditions -- such as fibromyalgia -- and vitamin D deficiency.

The data, taken from a long-term population-based study called the European Male Aging Study, was analyzed alongside a follow-up of data over the course of about 4.3 years.

According to the study, men who had a vitamin D deficiency at the start of the study were more than twice as likely to developed a chronic widespread pain condition, compared to men with healthy to above-average vitamin D levels.

One in 15 men showed who no signs of chronic widespread pain at the start of the study but developed it by the time of the follow-up also frequently showed signs of vitamin D deficiency. However, researchers were quick to point out that these men were more likely to be obese or depressed -- two factors that contribute to sleep deprivation, which in-turn leads to wide-spread pain. When adverse lifestyle factors were taken into account in the analysis of these men's data, the connection between vitamin D deficiency and pain disappeared, the researchers wrote.

The authors of the study suggest that vitamin D may not contribute to widespread pain alone, but rather is a contributing factor towards the condition in a "complex interplay" of adverse factors.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, vitamin D levels have decreased among Americans by increments of about 10% between 1988 to 1994, and again from 2001 to 2006.

In light of this, American's may want to try to get more time soaking in sunlight -- a significant source of vitamin D -- in order to avoid a higher risk of developing wide-spread pain.

Results of the aforementioned study are scheduled to be presented later this week at the Society for Rheumatology's 2014 conference, in Liverpool, U.K.

As these results have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, it is recommended that they be viewed as preliminary results until the time of official publication.