Vitamin D deficiency common in PsA sufferers

Scientists have discovered that vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency is prevalent among sufferers of psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

In a study by the University of Toronto Psoriatic Arthritis Clinic in Canada and published in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), scientists found a high prevalence of low levels of vitamin D in PsA sufferers.

However, it also found that there is no association between the disease and vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D deficiency is more common in individuals living in northern latitudes, suggesting that it is caused as a result of reduced exposure to the sun.

Of the 258 patients evaluated, around half experienced vitamin D deficiency in the winter with around 60 per cent having low levels in the summer.

"Additional research is needed to determine if PsA patients require a greater vitamin D intake to maintain healthy levels than that recommended for the general population," lead study author Dafna Gladman, director of the Psoriatic Arthritis Clinic.