Vitamin D Deficiency and Vestibular Disorders
Vitamin D is typically made in our bodies when we are exposed to UVB in sunlight, provided we aren’t covered in long clothing or slathered in sunscreen. As our daylight hours get shorter & the days become cooler, we typically get less sun exposure & produce less vitamin D naturally. Vitamin D is not found naturally in many food sources. In Canada, some food products are fortified with vitamin D in an effort to help counteract this (fortified cereal products, dairy products, and even certain orange juice), however, depending on how much you consume, this may not be meeting your needs.
Should I be taking vitamin D?
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, which means that it’s stored in the fatty tissue of the body and in the liver. The best way to know if you should be supplementing for vitamin D is to have bloodwork done to check what your vitamin D levels are. This can be easily added in with other bloodwork that you’re having run, so talk to your family doctor about adding this the next time that you’re having testing completed.
Vitamin D’s role in the body
You may be thinking: why is a physiotherapist talking about vitamin D in a blog? Vitamin D plays a really important role in the body! Vitamin D helps with the absorption and retention of calcium and phosphorus (which are important for the health of our bones and muscles), effects immune function, and may have impacts on heart health, Type II diabetes, and certain types of cancer (3).
Research into vitamin D and vestibular health is growing. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with:
higher fall risk (1)
increased risk of recurrence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo aka BPPV (2,4,5)
residual dizziness after BPPV is treated (6)
and is found with a higher frequency in people with vestibular neuritis vs controls (7)
While the role of vitamin D in the vestibular system isn’t fully understood, the research suggests that getting bloodwork to check for vitamin D deficiency if you’ve been having vestibular symptoms is important.
Have questions about a vestibular disorder or want to know more about vestibular physiotherapy? Click here to contact me or book a free consult call using the button below.
Resources:
Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Dawson-Hughes B, Staehelin HB, Orav JE, Stuck AE, Theiler R, Wong JB, Egli A, Kiel DP & Henschkowski J. Fall prevention with supplemental and active forms of vitamin D: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ. 2009; 339:b3692. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.b3692
Ding J, Liu L, Kong W-K, Chen X-B, & Liu X. Serum levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D correlate with idiopathic benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Bioscience Reports (2019) 39:BSR20190142. DOI: 10.1042/BSR20190142
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (2022, July). Vitamin D. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/vitamin-d/
Sheikhzadeh M, Lotfi Y, Mousavi A, Heidari B, & Bakhshi E. The effect of serum vitamin D normalization in preventing recurrences of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: A case-control study. Caspian J Intern Med 2016; 7(3):173-177.
Sheikhzadeh M, Lotfi Y, Mousavi A, Heidari B, Monadi M, & Bakhshi E. Influence of supplemental vitamin D on intensity of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: A longitudinal clinical study. Caspian J Intern Med 2016; 7(2):93-98.
Wu Y, Han K, Han W, Fan Z, Zhou M, Lu X, Liu X, Li L and Du L. Low 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels Are Associated With Residual Dizziness After Successful Treatment of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. Front. Neurol. 2022; 13:915239. DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022.915239
Wu Y, Hu Z, Cai M, Fan Z, Han W, Guan Q, Zhou M, Li L, Yan W, & Lu X. Decreased 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels in Patients With Vestibular Neuritis. Front. Neurol. 2019; 10:863. DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2019.00863
