“Rheumatoid arthritis is caused by inflammation that causes tissue damage in the joints,” explains emergency room physician Kathy Golden, MD. “Research shows that vitamin D deficiency can contribute development of rheumatoid arthritis5and also correlate with the severity of the disease.”

According to the 2016 review Clinical and experimental rheumatologyabout 55% of patients with RA6 are deficient in vitamin D. Additionally, studies show an inverse relationship between rheumatoid arthritis and vitamin D, as activity increases when D levels decrease.

“Other studies have shown that increasing vitamin D intake can help relieve symptoms,” shares Golden. “This makes sense because vitamin D plays an important role in bone health.” She adds that most of the existing studies investigating the link between rheumatoid arthritis and vitamin D are small, so more research is needed.