70% of Europeans suffer from low vitamin D levels
A group of experts has prepared a report on vitamin D supplementation for menopausal women after it was revealed that Europeans have suffered an alarming decrease in their levels of this vitamin. In their opinion, the ideal would be to maintain blood levels above 30 ng/ml. Vitamin D is essential to the immune system and processes such as calcium absorption.[1]
The team of experts analysed the conditions and diseases that are associated with vitamin D deficiency and recommended the intake of supplements in postmenopausal women. As well as stimulating calcium and phosphorus absorption, the vitamin D system has numerous functions. Low vitamin D levels are linked to rickets, osteomalacia, osteoporosis and the risk of bone fracture, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, infections and degenerative diseases.
“In healthy postmenopausal women, we have seen that a good level of vitamin D is linked to good physical fitness and has an effect on body fat mass as well as muscle strength and balance,” state the authors of the article published in the Maturitas journal.
The researcher explains that patients with risk factors associated with hypovitaminosis (obesity, pigmented skin, intestinal malabsorption syndromes and living in regions close to the North and South poles) should increase their intake to up to 4,000 IU per day. There is scientific evidence that a daily dose of 4,000 IU/day is not poisonous in healthy people.
Reference
[1] Faustino R. Pérez-López, Marc Brincat, C. Tamer Erel, Florence Tremollieres, Marco Gambacciani, Irene Lambrinoudaki, Mette H. Moen, Karin Schenck-Gustafsson, Svetlana Vujovic, Serge Rozenberg, Margaret Rees. “Vitamin D and postmenopausal health”. Maturitas, 71, 83-88, Jan 2012. View Full Paper
Cod Liver Oil vs TB
In a feature article in the Christmas 2011 edition of the well-known British Medical Journal, Professor Emeritus Malcolm Green revisited an 1848 study looking at the potential benefits of Cod Liver Oil in the treatment of Tuberculosis.[1]
In the study, carried out by physicians at the Hospital for Consumption, Chelsea (now the Royal Brompton Hospital), 542 patients with consumption (tuberculosis) received standard treatment with cod liver oil. These patients were compared with 535 ‘control’ patients who received standard treatment alone (without cod liver oil).[2]
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Mega Dose Vit D – Really?
Vitamin D supplementation, and what levels to use are common discussions amongst Nutritional Therapists. I have written a number of commentaries and reviews on this subject over the last couple of years and a recent paper published in the Journal: Joint Bone Spine presents a very interesting take on mega supplementation to restore Vit D status.[1]
Rather than looking at the results as a directive for vigorous upfront Vit D supplementation, as there are obvious considerations that make this as a universal approach very questionable, it remains clinically relevant, and may provide a degree of confidence. What is of greater interest is the rapidly declining levels of serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD) after the first month and the differences noted in the weight of the patient.
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Vitamin D and Children
Suggestions for Vitamin D supplementation and children
The need for oral vitamin D supplementation depends on the latitude of the child’s place of residence and the frequency of sunlight exposure as well as the time and timing. This summary chart makes suggestions concerning weight, rather than age to assist with making a clinical decision.
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Vitamin D and Parkinson’s Disease Correlations Identified
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Back in 2008 a team of researchers published a paper in the Archives of Neurology that exposed a striking incidence of Vitamin D deficiency in patients diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease.[1] They compared the Parkinson’s patients with healthy controls and patients with diagnosed Alzheimers disease. In both groups the Parkinson’s patients presented with reduced Vit D status compared to the others.
Gut Flora, Probiotics and Vitamins A+D – Do they influence Allergy and Autoimmunity.
Michael Ash BSc, DO, ND FDipION
The fields of immunology, microbiology, nutrition, epigenetics and metabolism are rapidly converging utilising a systems biology methodology to explain our intimate relationships with our microbial cohabitants. For over 30 years data has been building to scientifically support the hypothesis that intestinal cohabitants operate in a collective manner with macro and micro food intakes to shape and define our immune systems from an early age. The result is a collective impact bound by mutual cooperation that may have unintended consequences including a wide range of pathologies.
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Sunshine & Vit D Reduce Risk of MS
A recent paper out of Australia and published in the Journal Neurology supports the increasing correlative link between Vit D and neurological damage such as demyelination.[1]
In a case-control study, more time spent in the sun — beginning in childhood — independently predicted lower risk of having a first demyelinating event with 30% lower adjusted odds for each 1,000 kJ/m2 of vitamin D-producing ultraviolet rays, according to Robyn M. Lucas, PhD, of the Australian National University in Canberra, and colleagues.
Serum vitamin D levels also independently predicted MS incidence with 7% lower risk of a first event per 10 nmol/L higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D (95% confidence interval 0.86 to 1.00), the group reported in the Feb. 8 issue of Neurology.
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Hyperthyroid Patients Need Vit D
A Dec 2010 paper out in the Journal of Clinical Densiometry which publishes the latest clinical research on the uses of bone mass and density measurements in medical practice, as well as state-of-the-art review articles on critical topics explored the role of Vitamin D in patients with confirmed hyperthyroidism.[1]
An interesting topic for a journal focussed on bone mass as Vit D is an essential nutrient for the management of healthy bone. Patients that have an overactive thyroid secrete too much thyroid hormone. In this case, more of a good thing is definitely not better. The excess thyroid hormone can cause symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, increased basal temperature and substantial weight loss in spite of a healthy appetite. Hyperthyroidism can make a person nervous, emotionally unstable, and unable to sleep.
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Vitamin D3 Better than D2 in Humans – Much Better!
A paper published late Dec 2010 has thrown a spanner in the works regarding Vitamin D availability. The researchers – well known in the world of Vitamin D studies have found that Vitamin D3 is far better absorbed in human subjects than Vit D2.[1] I had recently written on this following an earlier paper that suggested they were of equivalence – how time flies in science!
The nub of the study and the bit that as practitioners we all want to know is this:
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Vit D – Depressing Commentary from IOM
Recently the USA’s Institute of Medicine made a public statement in which the dose of Vitamin D to meet bone health requirements was applied to the entire VitD scientific debate as the determining dose.[1]
“Despite the many claims of benefit surrounding vitamin D in particular, the evidence did not support a basis for a causal relationship between vitamin D and many of the numerous health outcomes purported to be affected by vitamin D intake,” the report stated.
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The immune system is prone to the same grave misfortunes as any defense system handling weapons: collateral damage that comes with the destruction of the enemy on one’s own territory and friendly fire due to mistaken identity. Whereas the collateral damage is the price we pay for clearance of infections, autoimmunity is a pathological process. Nevertheless, the effector mechanisms involved in both processes are the same. Whether environment can be a cause, a trigger or an amplifier of an autoimmune disease are questions that are being intensively investigated.
