Ultraviolet irradiation corrects vitamin D deficiency and suppresses secondary hyperparathyroidism in the elderly.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in the context of hyperparathyroidism.

The objective of this study was to compare the effect of ultraviolet radiation (UV) and oral vitamin D3 on the vitamin D status and parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentration in elderly nursing home patients.

Why It Was Studied

The design of the study was a randomized clinical trial.

The setting was a psychogeriatric nursing home.

Who Took Part

The study group was 45 patients.

The age groups tagged for this paper are older adults and people over 80, women only.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized.

The patients were allocated by chance, so the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group and the comparison group should start out alike.

PTH(1-84) was measured at 0 and 12 weeks.

What Was Measured

Main outcome measures were change in fasting serum levels of vitamin D metabolites at 0, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks in the treatment groups, compared with the control group.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Calcium, Cholecalciferol, Hyperparathyroidism, Secondary, Netherlands, Nursing Homes, Parathyroid Hormone and Ultraviolet Rays.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 45 patients in people with hyperparathyroidism.

The publication is from 1998 (Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research), a journal based in England.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, Hyperparathyroidism research.