PARIS, August 24 (EDITIONS) –
The role of vitamin D in our body is not limited to playing an essential role in bone metabolism, as we all think. Vitamin D goes beyond and also has effects on a person’s innate and acquired immunity, the cardiovascular system, gene expression, as well as cell development and function, and the inflammation and the experience of pain.
This is affirmed by María Hernández Bascuñana, university graduate in human nutrition and dietetics, expert in immunonutrition and holder of a master’s degree in health education, in an interview with Infosalus, which has just published an authentic guide to this what is vitamin D, in “Vitamin D. Enjoy a healthier life with vitamin D” (Alienta Editorial).
We must start from the idea that Physical pain is subjective, each of us experiences it differently, with relief coming when it stops and goes away. But what if the pain becomes chronic? Pain is one of the most distressing symptoms of any disease and one of the most common in the world. Chronic pain is the leading cause of disability and morbidity worldwide. The good news is that vitamin D may contribute to the relief and remission of certain types of painand therefore also influences the greater or lesser craving and dependence on opioids,” she says.
CAN MODULATE PAIN
In this context, Hernández Bascuñana points out that Chronic pain has been linked to vitamin D and magnesium deficiency, two nutrients that he says are closely related: “What is interesting about the treatment of chronic pain with vitamin D is that a clinical benefit is observed without the side effects of painkillers currently available. Also, painkillers may be inadequate, as about 20% of people with chronic pain do not benefit from them.
Thus, he notes that musculoskeletal pain, neuropathic pain, menstrual pain, pain in cancerous processes, sickle cell disease, osteoarthritis, intestinal and visceral pain, headache, lower back pain and pain during daily activities in the elderly. are some examples of painful manifestations that may improve or disappear with vitamin D treatment, especially if there is an underlying hypovitaminosis.
Additionally, he argues that several studies have reported a gradual increase in pain with decreasing serum vitamin D levels and vice versa, so that increasing serum vitamin D levels through adequate vitamin D supplementation results in better chronic pain relief.
« As a mediator of inflammatory processes, it plays an important role in the experience of pain.because ultimately it is produced by inflammation, which is sometimes necessary for tissues to protect and repair themselves; but, on other occasions, the pain becomes chronic and that is where vitamin D helps to make the pain less intense and to prevent it from becoming chronic,” says this immunonutrition expert.
TAKING VITAMINS AND OPIOIDS
In fact, he points out that in pain patients who take opioids to calm or relieve them, it has been found that when vitamin D is low, opioid consumption increases, whereas when vitamin D is replenished at good levels, pain can be relieved. However, he cautions against “It’s not a magic pill,” and that taking these supplements doesn’t immediately make the pain go away, but rather is a gradual process.it’s getting better little by little.
“Sometimes vitamin D is not enough, but it has been observed that people who take opioids, when given vitamin D therapy, also decrease their intake of opioids.or that they are not as dependent on it. It is therefore increasingly recommended that if a patient requires opioid treatment, they should also receive vitamin D, and that serum vitamin D levels should always be monitored,” he adds.
On the other hand, this nutrition expert points out that there is a growing interest in vitamin D supplementation for patients who have undergone surgery because, although she acknowledges that the studies are not numerous, “those that exist are interesting “: “We observed that inflammatory markers are reduced and also that people have a more positive healing experience, mainly because they feel less pain, compared to patients who did not receive this vitamin D treatment.