Cause-Specific Outcomes Associated with Hypovitaminosis D: Part 2

Program Description:

Nutritional vitamin D deficiency (measured as serum 25OH vitamin D) is very common in both the general population and in patients with all stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD). In the latter group, nutritional vitamin D deficiency is compounded by the deficient 1-alfa hydroxylation of 25OH vitamin D, which results in an often profound deficiency in serum 1,25(OH)2 vitamin D levels. Besides the known role of vitamin D in the regulation of bone and mineral homeostasis, it is now clear that this molecule also has pleiotropic roles that affect a variety of physiologic processes such as blood pressure regulation, cell proliferation, and the modulation of inflammation. Epidemiologic studies have been very important in discovering the many roles of vitamin D. Robust associations between low vitamin D levels and all-cause and cause-specific mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension, cancer incidence, and various metabolic disturbances have indicated the need to better characterize the role of vitamin D and to explore the possible role of vitamin D replacement in the treatment of these abnormalities.

INTENDED AUDIENCE:

This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of nephrologists involved in the care of patients with chronic kidney disease.

Activity Objectives:

After completing the activity, the participant should be better able to:

• Review studies that describe the incidence and prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in various populations and the adverse outcomes that have been linked to low serum vitamin D.


• Describe the role that low vitamin D plays in cause-specific mortality—cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer incidence, and various metabolic disturbances.



Credits	Type	Accreditation Statement	Designation Statement
1.00	AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM	This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of Medical Education Resources (MER) and Haymarket Media, Inc. MER is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.	Medical Education Resources designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Faculty:

Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD
Chief of Nephrology
Salem VA Medical Center
Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA

Disclosures:

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
Medical Education Resources insures balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all our educational programs. In accordance with this policy, MER identifies conflicts of interest with its instructors, content managers, and other individuals who are in a position to control the content of an activity. Conflicts are resolved by MER to ensure all scientific research referred to, reported, or used in a CME activity conforms to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis. MER is committed to providing its learners with high-quality CME activities that promote improvements or quality in health care and not a commercial interest.

Faculty Disclosures
The faculty reported the following financial relationships with commercial interests whose products or services may be mentioned in this CME activity:

Csaba P. Kovesdy, MD reported a financial relationship with Abbott Laboratories for Grants/Research Support.

Publishing Staff Disclosures
The content managers Jody A. Charnow, Haymarket Media, Inc., Marina Galanakis, Haymarket Media, Inc., and Julie Johnson, PharmD, Medical Education Resources, have disclosed that they have no relevant financial relationships or conflicts of interest relating directly or indirectly to this educational activity.

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use
This educational activity may contain discussion of approved and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. Medical Education Resources, Inc. (MER), and Haymarket Medical Education (HME) do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications.

The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of MER and HME. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer
The content and views presented in this educational activity are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Medical Education Resources or Haymarket Media, Inc. The authors have disclosed if there is any discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA in their presentations. The opinions expressed in this educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of Medical Education Resources, or Haymarket Media, Inc. Before prescribing any medicine, primary references and full prescribing information should be consulted. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient’s conditions and possible contraindications on dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management.

Accredited Provider:

This program is sponsored by Medical Education Resources, Inc., and produced by Haymarket Medical Education.

                 


If you have any questions relating to the accreditation of this activity, please contact:

Medical Education Resources, Inc.
1500 West Canal Court
Littleton, CO 80120-5615
Tel: 1-800-421-3756
E-mail: info@mer.org

Instructions:

To obtain credit, a post-test score of 70% or better is required. This CME is offered at no cost to participants. Please proceed with the activity until you have successfully completed this program, answered all test questions, completed the post-test survey, and have received a digital copy of your credit certificate. Your online certificate will be saved on myCME.com within your Profile/Exam History, which you can then access at any time.

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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

WINDOWS PC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
266-MHz Pentium II; Windows 98 or higher; 64 MB RAM; 800 x 600 screen resolution set for “High Color (16-Bit)”; Macromedia Flash Player 6 or higher.

MACINTOSH^® SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Power Mac g3 at 300 MHz; System 8.5 or higher (excluding Mac OSX); 96 MB RAM; 20 MB minimum hard disk space available; 800 x 600 screen resolution set to “Thousands of Colors”; Macromedia Flash Player 6 or higher.