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Vitamin D News:
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What is the Real Cause of Influenza Epidemics? With flu season in full swing here in the United States, you need to be aware that your vitamin D levels play a direct role in your risk of getting the flu. Influenza does not follow the predicted patterns for infectious diseases. In fact, there are several conundrums associated with influenza epidemics, such as:
1. Why is influenza both seasonal and ubiquitous -- and where is the virus between epidemics?
2. Why are influenza epidemics so explosive?
3. Why do epidemics end so abruptly?
4. What explains the frequent coincidental timing of epidemics in countries of similar latitudes?
5. Why did epidemics in previous ages spread so rapidly, despite the lack of modern transport?
A theory gaining weight in the scientific community explains influenza epidemics as a result of a dormant disease, which become active in response to vitamin D deficiency. This theory provides answers for many of the above questions. A disease that remains dormant until vitamin D-producing sunlight exposure is reduced by a winter or rainy season would explain a widespread seasonal disease with a rapid onset and decline.
There is compelling epidemiological evidence that indicates vitamin D deficiency is just such a "seasonal stimulus." Recent evidence confirms that lower respiratory tract infections are more frequent, sometimes dramatically so, in those with low levels of vitamin D. Researchers have also found that 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day abolished the seasonality of influenza, and dramatically reduced its self-reported incidence.
Sources:
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Vitamin D, once linked to only bone diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis, is now recognized as a major player in overall human health.
In a paper published in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Anthony Norman, an international expert on vitamin D, identifies vitamin D's potential for contributions to good health in the adaptive and innate immune systems, the secretion and regulation of insulin by the pancreas, the heart and blood pressure regulation, muscle strength and brain activity.
Access to adequate amounts of vitamin D is also believed to be beneficial towards reducing the risk of cancer. Norman also lists 36 organ tissues in the body whose cells respond biologically to vitamin D, including bone marrow, breast, colon, intestine, kidney, lung, prostate, retina, skin, stomach and uterine tissues.
According to Norman, deficiency of vitamin D can impact all 36 organs. Already, vitamin D deficiency is associated with muscle strength decrease, high risk for falls, and increased risk for colorectal, prostate and breast and other major cancers.
An unrelated study also suggests that low vitamin D is associated with Parkinson’s disease. The majority (55 percent) of Parkinson's disease patients in the study had insufficient levels of vitamin D. Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics has doubled its recommendation for a daily dose of vitamin D in children, in the hopes of preventing rickets and promoting other health benefits. The new guidelines now call for children to receive 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day, beginning in the first few days of life.
“ … Evidence has shown this could have life-long health benefits," said Dr. Frank Greer of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Sources:
Eurekalert October 9, 2008
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition August 2008, Vol. 88, No. 2, 491S-499S
Archives of Neurology October 2008, Vol. 65, No. 10
Reuters October 13, 2008
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In April 2005, an influenza epidemic started sweeping through the maximum-security hospital for the criminally insane where Dr. John Cannell worked.
As the epidemic progressed, he noticed something unusual: although wards all around his became infected, no patients on his ward became ill, despite intermingling of both patients and nurses.
The only difference was that all of the patients on Dr. Cannell's ward had been taking 2,000 units of vitamin D every day for several months or longer.
Shortly after the epidemic, a paper in the journal Nature showed that vitamin D was a potent antibiotic, working by increasing the body's production of proteins called antimicrobial peptides. Antimicrobial peptides destroy the cell walls of bacteria, fungi, and viruses, including the influenza virus.
Dr. Cannell posits that this explains such matters as:
Why the flu predictably occurs in the months following the winter solstice, when vitamin D levels are at their lowest
- Why influenza is more common in the tropics during the rainy season
- Why children exposed to sunlight are less likely to get colds
- Why cod liver oil (which contains vitamin D) reduces the incidence of viral respiratory infections
- Why the elderly who live in countries with high vitamin D consumption, like Norway, are less likely to die in the winter
Epidemic influenza kills roughly a million people every year worldwide, usually by causing pneumonia.
Sources:
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Vitamin D Deficiency-Linked to many serious health conditions...
Vitamin D Deficiency has been associated with heart failure, called "idiopathic cardiomyopathy, asthma in children, osteoporosis, influenza, psoriasis, gout, otosclerosis, interstitial cystitis, decreased pulmonary function, thrombosis, chronic kidney disease, pancreatitis, rheumatology, hepatitis B infections, hemochromatosis, gastrointestinal  diseases, acne, type 1 diabetes, autism, chronic pain, several autoimmune disorders, and many types of cancer. New discoveries of just how beneficial Vitamin D really is are being made all the time.
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The prescription form of vitamin D is nonsense. There's hardly any effect on blood levels of vitamin D3 at all. The body's conversion of this non-human form of D is extremely inefficient and therefore virtually useless. This is because the prescription form is ergocalciferol, or vitamin D2, not the effective human form, vitamin D3 or cholecalciferol. Back To Top
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Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: results of a randomized trial Joan M Lappe, Dianne Travers-Gustafson, K Michael Davies, Robert R Recker and Robert P Heaney From the Osteoporosis Research Center, Creighton University, Omaha, NE Back To Top
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Lack Of Sun Poses Danger In Our Twilight Years, We have all been told the dangers of the sun, but why is no one telling us about the danger of the lack of sunlight? Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to falls and injuries in elderly women living in residential care in Australia, a Melbourne University study has found. This is the first major study to show that vitamin D levels predict the risk of falls among such women. “The solution to vitamin D deficiency may simply be supplying safe and readily available vitamin D supplements,” says  chief investigator in the study, Professor John Wark. The study found that 22 percent of hotel residents and a staggering 45 percent of residents in nursing homes suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is synthesized in the skin during sun exposure. It helps to absorb dietary calcium and is vital in forming and maintaining strong bones. The study was published in the prestigious Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. “Most of us are able to get our daily requirement for vitamin D from sun exposure plus a small amount from our diets. For elderly people in residential care, this is more problematic as most have impaired mobility, therefore more difficulty getting outdoors,” says Professor Wark. Back To Top
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The high rate of natural production of vitamin D3cholecalciferol in the skin is the single most important fact every person should know about vitamin D—a fact that has profound implications for the natural human condition.
Technically not a "vitamin," vitamin D is in a class by itself and having been produced by life forms for over 750 million years. Its metabolic product, calcitriol, is actually a secosteroid hormone that targets over 1000 genes in the human body. Current research has implicated vitamin D deficiency as a major factor in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more.
Vitamin D's influence on key biological functions vital to one's health and well-being mandates that vitamin D no longer be ignored by the health care industry nor by individuals striving to achieve and maintain a greater state of health.
The Institute of Medicine brought experts together recently to explore the question of whether the RDA or recommended daily allowance, of vitamin D has been set too low. The impetus for the occasion was the mounting evidence for this vitamin's role in preventing common cancers, autoimmune diseases, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, chronic pain, and osteoporosis.
The Mayo Clinic quotes, "The major biologic function of vitamin D is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium, helping to form and maintain strong bones. Recently, research also suggests vitamin D may provide protection from osteoporosis, hypertension (high blood pressure), cancer, and several autoimmune diseases.
Rickets and osteomalacia are classic vitamin D deficiency diseases. In children, vitamin D deficiency causes rickets, which results in skeletal deformities. In adults, vitamin D deficiency can lead to osteomalacia, which results in muscular weakness in addition to weak bones. Populations who may be at a high risk for vitamin D deficiencies include the elderly, obese individuals, exclusively breastfed infants, and those who have limited sun exposure. Also, individuals who have fat malabsorption syndromes (e.g., cystic fibrosis) or inflammatory bowel disease (e.g., Crohn's disease) are at risk."
>>>Studies show that vitamin D deficiency is common in the U.S.
According to Michael F. Holick, MD, PhD, of the Boston University School of Medicine, the typical symptoms are aching bones and muscle discomfort, vitamin D deficiency is often misdiagnosed as fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome.
Vitamin D deficiency has been implicated in the cause of various other health disorders including influenza, psoriasis, gout, otosclerosis, interstitial cystitis, decreased pulmonary function, thrombosis, chronic kidney disease, pancreatitis, rheumatology, hepatitis B infections, hemochromatosis, and gastrointestinal diseases.
Autoimmune Illnesses
Autoimmune diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, Reiter’s Syndrome. lupus, asthma, and ulcerative colitis. Researchers are discovering an increasing number of links between the immune, nervous, and endocrine systems. Hormones of the endocrine system, such as vitamin D, help the immune and nervous systems defend the body, with defects in this intricate system leading to autoimmune disorders.
Autism
Research has shown that low maternal vitamin D3 has important ramifications for the developing brain. Vitamin D is a steroid hormone with many important functions in the brain, mediated through the nuclear vitamin D receptor (VDR). Dysfunctional VDR demonstrate altered emotional behavior and specific motor deficits.
Cancer
Vitamin D inhibits inappropriate cell division and metastasis, reduces blood vessel formation around tumors, and regulates proteins that affect tumor growth. It also enhances anti-cancer actions of immune system chemicals and chemotherapy drugs.
A four-year study of 1,179 healthy, postmenopausal women showed that taking calcium, along with nearly three times the U.S. government's recommendation of vitamin D3, showed a dramatic 60 percent or greater reduction in all forms of cancer.
It’s estimated that if vitamin D levels were increased worldwide, a minimum of 600,000 cases of breast and other cancers could be prevented each year. Nearly 150,000 cases of cancer could be prevented in the United States alone.
Multiple Sclerosis
According to mounting research and the Vitamin D Council, Vitamin D supplementation may help prevent the development of MS as well as provide for additional treatment. Vitamin D is a principal regulator of calcium homeostasis. However, recent evidence has indicated that vitamin D can have numerous other physiological functions including inhibition of proliferation of a number of malignant cells including breast and prostate cancer cells and protection against certain immune mediated disorders including multiple sclerosis (MS). The geographic incidence of MS indicates an increase in MS with a decrease in sunlight exposure. Since vitamin D is produced in the skin by solar or UV irradiation and high serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) have been reported to correlate with a reduced risk of MS, a protective role of vitamin D is suggested. Click here to see research articles and reviews
Vitamin D and Parkinson’s
The latest from ongoing research investigating vitamin D’s seemingly limitless effect on health comes from Emory University School of Medicine, where researchers found that Parkinson’s patients are more likely to be deficient than healthy people. What’s more, the Parkinson’s patients were running significantly lower on vitamin D than Alzheimer’s patients tested: 55 percent were deficient, compared to 41 percent of the Alzheimer’s group and 36 percent of healthy controls. Although these findings suggest a deficiency in this vitamin might contribute to neurological problems, we still don’t know if low vitamin D actually increases the risk of Parkinson’s or if taking supplements will ease symptoms. The study was published in the October, 2008, issue of the Archives of Neurology. More on “D” was presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, including two new studies. The first reported that deficiencies are likely to develop among people with inflammatory bowel disease, and the other showed that more than 92 percent of 118 patients with chronic liver disease were deficient, about one-third severely so. Researchers noted that these findings indicate an added risk of osteoporosis in these patients.
Studies show that by taking vitamin D (about 2,000 IU/day) females
can cut breast cancer incidence by half!
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Chronic Pain
In a study involving 150 children and adults with unexplained muscle and bone pain, almost all were found to be vitamin D deficient; many were severely deficient with extremely low levels of vitamin D in their bodies.
Vitamin D deficiency causes muscle weakness and pain in children and adults. Muscle pain and weakness was a prominent symptom of vitamin D deficiency in a study of Arab and Danish Moslem women living in Denmark (20).
In a cross-sectional study of 150 consecutive patients referred to a clinic in Minnesota for the evaluation of persistent, nonspecific musculoskeletal pain, 93% had serum 25(OH)D levels indicative of vitamin D deficiency.
Osteoporosis
Maintenance of serum calcium levels within a narrow range is vital for normal functioning of the nervous system, as well as for bone growth, and maintenance of bone density. Vitamin D is essential for the efficient utilization of calcium by the body.
A recent study found that supplementation of elderly women with 800 IU/day of vitamin D and 1,200 mg/day of calcium for three months increased muscle strength and decreased the risk of falling by almost 50% compared to supplementation with calcium alone.
Mental Function and Moods
Recent research indicates vitamin D deficiency is associated with low mood and cognitive impairment in the elderly. Vitamin D deficiency has been implicated in various psychiatric disorders including anxiety and depression.
Diabetes
Vitamin D helps maintain adequate insulin levels. Preliminary evidence suggests supplementation can increase insulin levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Prolonged supplementation may help reduce blood sugar levels.
Immune Function
There is considerable scientific evidence that 1,25(OH)2D has a variety of positive effects on boosting the immune system. Additionally, there is growing evidence that maintaining vitamin D levels in the body during the winter prevent the flu and other viral infections by strengthening the immune system.
Heart Disease
Activated vitamin D has been shown to increase survival in patients with cardiovascular disease.
Hyperparathyroidism
Low plasma vitamin D3 has been found to be a major risk factor for hyperparathyroidism.
High Blood Pressure
Clinical and experimental data support the view that vitamin D metabolism is involved in blood pressure regulation and other metabolic processes.
Melanoma
An inability to tan is the number one risk factor for melanoma. Those who tan easily or who have darker skin are far less likely to develop the disease. A new theory is that melanoma is actually caused by sunlight (vitamin D) deficiency and that safe sun exposure actually helps prevent the deadly disease.
Multiple Sclerosis
Vitamin D supplementation may help prevent the development of MS as well as provide for additional treatment.
Osteoarthritis
Low intake and low serum levels of vitamin D appear to be associated with an increased risk for progression of osteoarthritis.
Osteoporosis
Vitamin D deficiency is extremely prevalent in the elderly. Most often the first symptoms are muscle pain, fatigue, muscular weakness, and gait disturbances. More severe deficiency causes osteomalacia (bone weakening and loss) with deep bone pain, reduced mineralization of bone matrix, and bone fractures.
>>>How much vitamin D does the average person need?
In the summer, those with at least 15 minutes of sun exposure on their skin most days should take around 1,000 mg of vitamin D3 each day. In the winter, those with dark skin, or those who have little sun exposure on their skin, should take up to 4,000 mg each day. Those who have darker skin, are older, avoid sun exposure or live in the northern US should take the higher amounts, around 2,000mg a day.
>>>Vitamin D is remarkably safe; there have been no deaths caused by the vitamin.
People consuming only government-recommended levels of 200-400 IU/day often have blood levels considerably below 50 ng/ml. This means the government’s recommendations are too low, and should be raised for optimal health function.
>>>Vitamin D Boosts Colon Cancer Survival
The good news about vitamin D continues to roll in. The latest finding is that high blood levels of “D” seem to help prolong survival in colon cancer patients.
Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston analyzed data from two long-running health studies and tracked the cases of 304 men and women diagnosed with colorectal cancer from 1991 to 2002. They found that those with the highest vitamin D levels were almost 50 percent less likely to die during the study from colon cancer or other causes than those with the lowest vitamin D levels.
Patients with the highest vitamin D levels also tended to have lower body-mass index (BMI) and also were more physically active than those with low levels of “D.” However, even after the researchers took into account the benefits of lower BMI and physical activity, as well as other contributing factors, higher vitamin D levels were still independently associated with better survival rates.
Now the same investigators are planning to study whether colon cancer patients do better if they receive supplemental vitamin D in addition to chemotherapy after surgery or with chemo alone. Earlier studies have shown that vitamin D is protective against colon, breast and ovarian cancers. The new study was published in the June 20, 2008 issue of the Journal of Clinical Ecology.
Quality Statement concerning Essential Therapeutics Supplements
We are dedicated to providing you with high quality pharmaceutical grade supplements specially formulated for people who are sensitive to the fillers and other additives that are used in many products. Only the purest amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamin, minerals and herbals, are used in these formulas.
Essential Therapeutics products are produced in licensed manufacturing facilities that strictly adhere to current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP's). Products provided in tablet, capsule, and powder form are made in a manufacturing facility licensed by the State of California as a drug manufacturer and food processor and registered with the Food and Drug Administration as a drug manufacturing establishment. The facility is also approved by governmental agencies in the United Kingdom, the European Community (EC) and Australia to manufacture a drug product. Current GMP's and written standard operating procedures (SOP's) are strictly followed through all stages of production to produce products that meet or exceed United States Pharmacopeia (USP) standards.
Raw Material Specifications
Active ingredients used in Essential Therapeutics products are selected based on their purity, bioavailability, documented actions, and safety characteristics. USP materials, i.e., those meeting USP standards, are used for those nutrients where this standard exists. Raw materials are purchased exclusively from reputable vendors who provide detailed Certificates of Analysis for every lot of material. These certificates certify that active components, toxic elements, and microbial content are within specified acceptable parameters. Purity and potency of selected raw materials are verified through independent testing laboratories. All incoming raw materials undergo quarantine, inspection, and evaluation.
Quality Control Laboratory
On-site laboratory personnel evaluate physical characteristics of each finished product including hardness, disintegration, moisture balance, friability, and pH. Purity and potency of finished product is independently verified through outside commercial laboratories using a randomized ingredient and batch testing program.
Excipients
Essential Therapeutics products are free of artificial flavors, preservatives, and colorings. Naturally-derived, inert excipient materials, including cellulose-based excipients, vegetable-derived magnesium stearate, and silicon dioxide are used in very small amounts as tableting and encapsulation aids. Tableted products are protected with an inert, water-soluble cellulose coating that dissolves readily upon ingestion, thus facilitating tablet disintegration time.
High Dose Vitamin D can be purchased at a number of health food or big name drug stores. However, please be advised that not all vitamin D is equal. I recommend using only pharmaceutical grade, naturally-occurring Vitamin D3.
Vitamin D Info: The Essential Therapeutics High Dose Vitamin D3 provides 1,000 I.U. per capsule, with 100 capsules in a bottle. Free of any additives, fillers, yeast, sugar, colors, gluten, soy, or other impurities.
Sources:
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Garland CF, Gorham ED, Mohr SB, Grant WB, Giovannucci EL, Lipkin M,
Newmark H, Holick MF, Garland FC. Vitamin D and prevention of breast
cancer: pooled analysis. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol, 2007.
Mar;103(3-5):708-11.
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Lappe JM, Travers-Gustafson D, Davies KM, Recker RR, Heaney RP.
Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: results of a
randomized trial. Amer J Clin Nutrition, 2007. Vol. 85, No. 6, 1586-1591,
June. http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/6/1586
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Disclaimer:
All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by your own physician or health care provider. You should not use any information contained in our site to self-diagnose or personally treat any medical condition or disease or prescribe any medication. If you have or suspect you have a medical condition you are urged to contact your personal health care provider immediately. All health supplements or products purchased in this site contain clearly labeled product packaging, which must be read to ensure proper use. All information and statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
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