Hi Docs,
I have read your articles and listened to the podcast on Vitamin D, but. I recently read on Medscape that “reduced vitamin D levels during colder or winter months are linked to “increased disease activity, greater disease severity, and more frequent flare-ups in patients with psoriasis.” So my question is, can supplementation help or is this a sunlight only related benefit.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
As you know, pretty much everything bad is linked to linked to low vitamin D. Whether or not supplementing vitamin D alters the medical condition is a separate question however, with most investigations showing no benefit of supplementation.
The existing evidence on psoriasis does not seem to show a reliable benefit for supplementing vitamin D. Topical treatments are sometimes used, but that’s not something I’m super familiar with outside of knowing it’s done .
Thanks. I thought that might be the answer. That raised a related question that I don’t recall being addressed, although I may have forgotten. Why doesn’t supplementation work? Assume Vitamin D from sunlight is helpful, it’s Winter, less Vit D from sunlight, so why don’t supplements help? Thanks.
We discussed this in some depth here: