For obvious reasons the tanning industry is doing all that they can to promote healthy tanning, including running a full page ad in the NY Times. Clearly they have a monetary interest in saying that tanning is good for people. Are they wrong? With what seems to be an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency, they are obviously onto something and may just be an industry positioned in the right place at the right time. The indoor tanning association has created this web site called sunlightscam.com where they make a pretty good case about how people are being scared away from the sun by the sunscreen and cosmetics industry. They also point out some lucrative ties between those industries and some dermatologists.
So, have dermatologists been wrong for all these years? Of course not! People are out there being stupid and irresponsible, frying themselves in the sun (or in tanning beds), damaging their skin and increasing their risk of skin cancer. On the flip side, we all know people who shun the sun right? Slathering sun screen on before even leaving the house, and avoiding the sun like the plague. Combine this with most of us working indoors and or living in a higher latitude, and you have a great recipe for vitamin D deficiency. In addition, there’s some evidence that healthy sun exposure may actually help your body prevent skin cancer. As with so many health related issues there’s got to be a middle ground.
From what we can tell at our clinic, it sure seems like there is something to the whole idea of responsible tanning. In some of my earlier posts I had mentioned that a few of our patients have only been able to maintain good D levels with a combination of oral vitamin D and limited tanning (twice per week for 10-15 minutes). By the way, good tanning salons do rigorous pre-tanning interviews with their clients to help them determine a non-burning tanning plan. That being said, I’m not suggesting you do this to get a fashionable tan, the goal is good vitamin D levels.
Even though most of us don’t seem able to get adequate UVB hear in the Pacific NW, we can still certainly get a bad sunburn thanks to the sun’s UVA. I’m toying with the idea of my own personal sun plan this summer, perhaps it might be the “middle ground” the experts will eventually meet at:
I do a fair amount of outdoor activities so I do have to be careful since I burn easily. As usual, I’ll slather on the sunscreen before I go outside. I’ll keep wearing my sun hat and look for shade when I can. In combination with this I’ll go tan twice per week for 10 minutes and continue on with my vitamin D supplements. In other words, I just get my quality sun rays from the tanning beds and make sure I’m protected while playing in the real sun.
I’d like to hear from you. What do you think about tanning beds? I know many people who are afraid of them for a variety of reasons. I’m starting to think that the tanning industry is a great friend in this whole vitamin D crisis.
Results of a new study gives a great reason for expectant mothers to figure out their vitamin D status!
Vitamin D Deficiency May be to Blame for Soft Bones in Baby’s Skull:
Description
Softening of the skull bones in normal-looking babies might reflect vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy, according to a new study accepted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). Furthermore, breast-feeding without vitamin D supplementation could prolong the deficiency which might lead to a risk of serious health problems later in life.
This is the first doctor I’ve found (other than my wife) who has acknowledged that we don’t get enough vitamin D in the Pacific NW even in the middle of summer! Apparently there’s just not adequate UVB rays this far north of the equator…
“Seattleites need more vitamin D. We don’t get enough sunshine, says a Kirkland rheumatologist. The levels weren’t only low in winter, though, when the sun rarely peeks through the clouds in Seattle. Patients weren’t building levels during summer, either when maximum sunlight shines here, Neiman said. (He suggested vitamin D should be added to the water.)” (read more)
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Also, here’s a new video news story about Vitamin D deficiency - nothing earth-shattering, but always great to see more publicity!
MUSC doctors look at vitamin D’s effect on early-stage prostate cancer
Vitamin D kills prostate cancer cells in the laboratory. Now, specialists at the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina are studying whether vitamin D will halt the cancer’s progression in early-stage patients. (read more)
A Ray Of Sunshine In The Fight Against Cancer: Vitamin D May Help
“As time has gone by, Vitamin D has raised its head as a sort of ambrosia for cancers,” says Dr. Louise Parker, an epidemiologist and a world expert in the environmental exposures that can lead to cancer. Or, in the case of Vitamin D, the lack of exposure. (read more)
There’s a new study out that is shows some promising correlations between kids getting enough vitamin D and preventing type 1 diabetes later in their lives. It wasn’t a clinical trial, but it will probably help inspire one.
On another note, one of our patients mentioned that his nephew asked her doctor to check her vitamin D, which he did. When the result came back at an 8 (normal range starts at 32), she was told not to worry about it! Huh? Is that strange or what? Why run the test if you’re not going to do anything about it being abnormally low?
I just finished reading a fantastic article on vitamin D. Surprise surprise, it’s out of Canada. The Canadians have been doing such an awesome job of giving this subject excellent exposure. The article is called The vitamin D miracle: Is it for real? It’s 4 pages long so don’t miss the links to click to the next page at the bottom of each page. I particularly liked reading the last page where there’s discussion of some of the theories behind how exactly vitamin D might be playing a roll in preventing cancer at the cellular level.
In other vitamin D news, there was an interesting study headed up by Michael Holick, comparing the effectiveness of D2 and D3. This particular study concludes that they both work equally well at maintaining serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. There have been a couple of other studies that show D2 to be less effective. You can see the details here: Vitamin D2 Is as Effective as Vitamin D3 in Maintaining Circulating Concentrations of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D. We’ll be sticking with the D3 at our clinic, since it’s the natural (bioidentical) variety of the supplement, and we have seen the D2 not maintain the levels as well as the D3.
Man, this was a surprise…..Check out this quote from the conclusion of recent vitamin D study in Arizona “Despite residing in a region with high chronic sun exposure, adults in southern Arizona are commonly deficient in vitamin D deficiency, particularly blacks and Hispanics.” You can read the details of the study here - Vitamin D insufficiency in southern Arizona
A representative from one of the local laboratories (NW Regional lab) stopped by today with some literature about their new in-house vitamin D testing. So now instead of them having to ship the blood out and wait several days for results, they will now conduct the vitamin D tests locally and be able to rapidly (24 hrs.) provide results. He informed me that the reason they’re doing this is due to the sheer volume of vitamin D test requests they now receive. This is really great news!
Another surprise to me was that the charge for the test will be a mere $70.00. Now, that might sound like a lot, but it was not long ago that these tests ran more in the range of $275.00. I’m guessing other local labs will follow with their own in-house testing which hopefully will drive the price of this test down even more. My opinion is that this test should be readily available and financially accessible to everyone so I hope the price continues to come down!
1. Back in September 07 there was a big vitamin D conference called Vitamin D and Health in the 21st Century — An Update. Just a heads-up, the proceedings from the conference will be published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in the spring of 2008. Should be some very interesting news and information coming out from this conference!
2. This is sort of Vitamin D news……Cod liver oil has long been known to be a good source of vitamin D, so this headline got my curiosity up: Cod liver oil tied to low bone mass in women. Researchers speculate that it might be related to the vitamin A content of the oil. Since the population they studied (Norwegians) already eat a diet very rich in vitamin A, the additional vitamin A in the cod liver oil might be causing the bone density problem for these folks.
3. I just checked the UV forecast for today. We’re holding steady at low here in Bellingham, as we have been for several months now. Hawaii is in the extreme high end of the range at 11 which means it can take less than 10 minutes for skin damage!
