Shinchuk, Leonid M, Holick, Michael F · Nutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition · 2007 · DOI
Vitamin D deficiency is very common in people undergoing rehabilitation and can cause bone pain, muscle weakness, and poor balance. This review explains that maintaining healthy vitamin D levels (measured as 30–60 ng/mL in the blood) through sunlight exposure, diet, or supplements can help prevent fractures and improve muscle function. Because vitamin D deficiency can mimic or worsen symptoms of ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, and other conditions, doctors should check vitamin D levels in patients with these problems.
ME/CFS patients frequently experience musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and functional decline that can overlap with vitamin D deficiency symptoms. This review highlights that vitamin D status should be part of differential diagnosis in ME/CFS, and correction of deficiency may improve bone health and muscle function—domains often compromised in ME/CFS. Ensuring adequate vitamin D is a low-cost, accessible intervention that may support rehabilitation and functional recovery.
This review does not prove that vitamin D deficiency causes ME/CFS or that supplementation cures the illness. It is a narrative synthesis without randomized controlled trials or ME/CFS-specific cohorts, so cause-and-effect relationships cannot be established. The article does not provide evidence that vitamin D supplementation uniquely improves ME/CFS outcomes distinct from general musculoskeletal function.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
Spotted an error in this entry? Report it →