Covid myth leads to 'toxic' levels of Vitamin D

High levels of vitamin D can cause hypercalcemia.

Healthy people are taking "toxic" levels of Vitamin D supplements due to a pandemic myth and are putting themselves at increased risk of breaking their bones, according to a study.

The warning, from a top bone specialist, comes as new Irish data also shows that 35% of over-40s, men and women, may be at risk of osteoporosis, having broken a bone in a simple fall.

The study involved 1,000 people. Specialist in osteoporosis, metabolic bone disorders and calcium metabolism at the Galway Clinic, Dr Miriam Delaney, helped design the questions put to the participants.

“Some fractures are traumatic and some are fragility. Clearly, if you are hit by a bus it is not unreasonable that you have a fracture,” she said.

“But if you stumble and fall, and break your hip, your spine or even your wrist, those are called fragility fractures.” 

One in five (22%) adults have broken or fractured a bone since they turned 40 years of age. Among these, over a third (35%) reported this was a fragility fracture. The rate of these fractures was high among 40-54-year-olds, with almost one in five (18%) surveyed having experienced this.

“When we see people just over 40, between 40 and 45, have as high a risk of fracture as the over-65s, this is very interesting,” she said. “We would expect it to be higher in the older age-groups. It would be worrying, and it is interesting because it is not what we expect.” 

 There has been an increased awareness of Vitamin D since the pandemic hit.

“There was this question of 3,000 units of vitamin D helping prevent people getting covid, which wasn’t shown to be true,” Dr Delaney said.

“We have a lot patients still taking in excess of 3,000 units a day, and they have toxic levels of vitamin D when you check it.” 

A healthy level of Vitamin D is above 50 in the metric used for measurement.

“We are seeing people coming with levels of 180 or 200,” she said. “If you have a very high vitamin D level, and you are taking lots of calcium, you can become hypercalcemic, so your bloods can became abnormal. 

There is also research showing that very high levels of vitamin D can increase your fractures.

The survey found 85% also did not know the correct calcium supplementation.

“People talk about supplements, they are inclined to forget there is calcium in your diet,” she said. “A lot of people are taking 1,200mg of calcium a day, which might be what you need. But if you are also getting three glasses of milk, a yoghurt, a portion of cheese and your leafy greens, you may already be getting 2,000mg.” 

She added: “I see a lot of patients in my clinic who are taking far too much calcium.” 

Dr Delaney, spokeswoman for Athena Pharmaceuticals, which commissioned the study, welcomed the findings as educational.