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Vitamin D Blog: Cutting Edema in Athletes' Bones

— Vitamin D supplementation might help professional athletes who are being treated for bone marrow edema with bisphosphonates, according to a new study.

by Staff Writer, MedPage Today

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Vitamin D supplementation might help professional athletes who are being treated for bone marrow edema with bisphosphonates, according to a .

Bone marrow edema is swelling due to interstitial fluid accumulation in bone, often tied to a stress fracture. This kind of injury is more common in professional athletes and can cause pain, which sometimes takes them out of the game.

because these can block bone resorption, which should speed healing of the edema. Adding vitamin D would help to foster bone-building.

To apply those findings to top-notch sports pros, , of University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany, and colleagues tested an intravenous infusion of ibandronate (Boniva) in 25 high-performance athletes (60% were European soccer players). They also corrected vitamin D deficiency with high-dose vitamin D, then added daily vitamin D as well as CalciCare D3 (a combination of 600 mg calcium and 400 IU vitamin D).

With that regimen, the majority of players had "excellent pain reduction and improved mobility" within the first 2 weeks of therapy, and that they did better if they reported their pain earlier. The majority waited, on average, 100 days to seek medical care, but those who only waited 40 days reported greater improvements.

The therapy's true benefits are far from settled. Like earlier trials, this one didn't involve a placebo control. In the meantime, bone marrow edema is just another off-label use for bisphosphonates. And whether vitamin D alone can fix the problem remains to be seen.

It seems there's at least one new study of the vitamin published every day, and in the Vitamin D Blog, MedPage Today will monitor that steady stream, offering our take on clinical implications -- or limitations.

Have a tip on a vitamin D study? Email Kristina Fiore at k.fiore@medpagetoday.com. You can also catch our vitamin D feed on Twitter, @vitaminDblog.

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