RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Many indications are discussed for vitamin D substitution, such as osteoporosis, autoimmune diseases, cancer and psychiatric diseases. Also discussed is the fact that the majority of the German population suffer from a vitamin D deficiency. OBJECTIVE: Review of the study results for these individual diseases and a critical analysis of the currently established therapeutic reference range, which defines a vitamin D deficiency. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A literature search was carried out in the statements of the German Society for Nutrition, in scientific publications and journals. RESULTS: The study results on prevention and therapy of various diseases with vitamin D show inconsistent results. Well-established indications are the prevention of rickets in babies and the supportive therapy for osteoporosis. The currently established reference range for the definition of a vitamin D deficiency came from studies where vitamin D deficiency was correlated to an increase in parathyroid hormone. Different laboratories use different methods for measurement of vitamin D levels. CONCLUSION: More studies are needed to clarify the role of vitamin D in the prevention and treatment of various diseases. Another problem is that different laboratories do not use the same measurement methods to determine vitamin D and the use of different methods leads to widely varying results which cannot be compared. Therefore, a standardization of the methods would be desirable.
