Higher Vitamin D Status Protects Against Crohn Disease

Previous studies have suggested that lower levels of vitamin D are associated with increased risk for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Now, researchers have examined the risk for IBD in 72,719 women who were participating in the Nurses' Health Study. All had previously completed an assessment of diet and lifestyle, from which each participant's predicted 25-hydroxy vitamin D status was derived using a previously validated regression model.

During 1,492,811 person-years of follow-up, Crohn disease was diagnosed in 122 women and ulcerative colitis in 123. Compared with women in the lowest quartile of predicted 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels (median, 22.9 ng/mL), those in the highest quartile (median, 31.8 ng/mL) had adjusted hazard ratios of 0.5…