Vitamin D deficiency appears to contribute to low bone density in older black men, which puts them at increased risk of osteoporosis and broken bones, according to a new study being presented Saturday, June 2, at The Endocrine Society’s 89th Annual Meeting in Toronto.

Investigators at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Medicine further found that the vitamin deficiency is more common in black men than previously reported. The findings are important because the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its effects are not well known in African-American men, said study co-author Dr. Elena Barengolts.

Barengolts, associate professor of medicine at UIC and chief of the endocrinology section at the Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, and her colleagues tested 70 male black veterans, whose average age was 62. They measured vitamin D levels in the blood, called serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, which depend on nutritional intake and sun exposure. Levels were below normal in 61 percent of the men. In contrast, previously reported data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) showed that only 27 percent of 60-year-old black men had vitamin D levels below normal, Barengolts said.

The researchers also measured bone mineral density using densitometry bone scans. In the hip, bone density was much higher in the men who had normal vitamin D levels than in those with low vitamin D. There was no correlation between vitamin D blood levels and bone density in the spine. Age, body mass index (weight divided by the square of the height) and blood calcium levels did not differ between the men with normal vitamin D levels and those with vitamin D deficiency.

“Vitamin D deficiency is underdiagnosed and undertreated despite its importance for general health and bone health in particular,” Barengolts said. “Yet it can be easily diagnosed and corrected with healthy food choices and supplements.”

The daily recommended intake of vitamin D is 400 to 800 International Units (IU), The Hormone Foundation reports. However, many experts say that amount is not enough.

“Certainly for older African-American men, it [400 to 800 units] is not enough,” Barengolts said. “Doctors should check the blood vitamin D levels in these men. If the levels are low, they should increase their vitamin D intake.”

Barengolts previously found that blacks have a diet low in vitamin D. Another reason why vitamin D deficiency is common among blacks is that their dark skin pigment blocks the sun’s ultraviolet light, which the body uses to produce vitamin D.

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