Vitamin D Benefits Bone Density in Epileptic Patients

BEIRUT, Lebanon—Two parallel, randomized, controlled trials providing vitamin D to ambulatory patients receiving long-term anti-convulsant therapy showed “significant” improvement in bone mineral density (BMD) at various skeletal sites after one year. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measured bone densities of 78 adults and 72 children receiving low-doses of vitamin D (400 IU/d) or high doses (4,000 IU/d for adults, 2,000 IU/d for children). The study results, published in Neurology (67:2005-2014, 2006), showed BMD increased in the high-dose adult group but not the low-dose group, while BMD and bone mass in the children’s group raised with both high and low dosages of vitamin D. Even with high dosages however, BMD remained below normal for the entire test pool.

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