Can Certain Drugs Contribute to Lower Vitamin D Levels

From The Vitamin D Council

A review of various human clinical and epidemiological studies determined that certain medications communly used by elderly individuals are related to lower vitamin D levels.

Drug-nutrient interactions are the interactions between a food, a nutrient, or nutrition status and a pharmaceutical drug. They are considered to be side effects. For example, deficiencies in calcium, magnesium, or zinc may impair drug metabolism, and certain diuretics and corticosteroids deplete the body of vitamin K.

While polypharmacy, or the use of multiple medications by a patient, is very common among elderly individuals who have multiple conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes, it is associated with decreased quality of life and decreased mobility and cognition.

The use of medications has recently been proposed as a risk factor for vitamin D deficiency. A German review suggested that anti-epileptics, glucocorticoids, and statins, among other drugs, interfere with vitamin D metabolism and may lower vitamin D levels. It has also been suggested that certain blood pressure medications, known as thiazide diuretics, may make the body more sensitive to vitamin D and increase the rate at which it’s metabolized.

Dutch researchers recently decided to gather the available research on the association between vitamin D levels and certain drugs used more often by elderly individuals in order to determine what the general effect of these drugs were on vitamin D status. They found 63 clinical and epidemiological studies that investigated the relationship between 13 groups of medications commonly taken by elderly individuals.

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