Vitamin D deficiency 'common in irritable bowel disease and liver disease'
Vitamin D deficiency that leads to bone loss is common in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and chronic liver disease, according to two new studies presented at the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology.
Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin studied 504 IBD patients and found almost 50 per cent were vitamin D deficient at some point, while 11 per cent were severely deficient.
Lead researcher Dr Alex Ulitsky advised: "All IBD patients, irrespective of their disease, disease location or nature should have their vitamin D levels checked regularly and corrected aggressively when insufficiency is found."
Meanwhile, researchers from the University of Tennessee in Memphis measured the vitamin D levels of 118 chronic liver disease patients. They found that 92.4 per cent of chronic liver patients had some degree of vitamin D deficiency and at least one third were severely deficient.
"Since deficiency is common among these patients, vitamin D replacement may hopefully prevent osteoporosis and other bone complications related to end-stage liver disease," commented lead researcher Dr Satheesh Nair.
A spokesman for the Arthritis Research Campaign said that vitamin D deficiency was also a major cause of osteoporosis because it affected the body's ability to absorb calcium.
The charity is running a trial to find out if giving supplements to vitamin D-deficient pregnant women increases the bone density of their babies' bones at birth, and reduces the risk of osteoporosis in later life. 
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