

The amount of vitamin D needed for correction of vitamin D insufficiency in a reasonable duration of time has generally been available only by prescription in the United States as ergocalciferol (vitamin D 2) ( 14). The recommended adequate intakes of vitamin D published by the Institute of Medicine (400 to 600 IU or 10 to 15 μg daily) for most adults are inadequate to maintain or correct vitamin D status in vitamin D-insufficient adults ( 14). Furthermore, there are limited data to evaluate the efficacy of various methods of correction of vitamin D status in adults. Some examples of published regimens for the correction of vitamin D status in healthy adults include 50,000 IU of ergocalciferol once a week for 8 weeks ( 12) or 50,000 IU of ergocalciferol twice a week for 5 weeks ( 13).

Nevertheless, no universally accepted method has been advocated for correction of vitamin D insufficiency in healthy ambulatory adults. Several protocols have been published for correction of the vitamin D status in specific patient populations, including those with cystic fibrosis ( 7), chronic kidney disease ( 8), hyperparathyroidism ( 9), osteoporosis ( 10), and pregnancy ( 11). Vitamin D insufficiency is associated with an increased risk for several medical conditions, including osteoporotic fractures ( 1), falls ( 2), cancer ( 3, 4), diabetes ( 5), and hypertension ( 6). There is increased awareness for the high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in the general population of the United States.
