Research appearing in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (Volume 56 Issue 5, Pages 785 – 791) examined whether the association between pain and vitamin D status differed by sex. The subjects of the study were 958 men and women over the age of 65. Of the group, 58% of the women and 27% of the men had at least moderate pain in either the low back or lower extremity. Serum vitamin D levels were measured in the subjects. Low vitamin D levels were associated with low back pain in the women; in fact, low vitamin D levels represented a 96% increase in the risk of back pain. The low levels were not associated with accompanying lower extremity pain and this relationship was not present in the men participating in the study.