A professor of public health in Scotland draws attention to the possible public health ramifications of low vitamin D:
We must waste no time putting the sunshine vitamin to the test

Here’s a quote from his article:

“the best way forward is a large-scale, Scotland-wide trial of the effectiveness and costs of vitamin D supplementation. Fortunately, we have been planning this very study for the past 15 months, with many vitamin D experts and enthusiasts (including Oliver Gillie and Dr Helga Rhein).”

Here’s a good news story about a doctor who’s fire-up about vitamin D:

Doctor preaches wonder cure: Vitamin D

“It reduces pain. It reduces illness. There is almost nothing that vitamin D can’t help, and that’s Dr. Greg Plotnikoff’s point.”

Even though I just made a post I had to post this one since it’s a big story hitting the news wires today (and it looks like my double-header is going to be rained-out!)

Vitamin D Levels Might Predict Risk for MS - Children with lower levels of vitamin D seem to be at a higher risk of being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

One thing that’s really becoming obvious at our clinic these days is how quickly a properly built-up vitamin D level can drop. One example of this is a women who had her levels up to 80 ng/Ml back in June. She did this by taking 10,000 IU’s daily for 2 months. With the start of summer she lowered her dose to 5,000 IU’s daily and just completed her re-check during the middle week of Sept. Her level is now 51 ng/Ml, still good but substantially lower considering we just made it through the high point of our vitamin D season. One of the ways we’re addressing some of these in between dosing challenges is by having patients take 5,000 IU’s Mon-Fri and then 10,000 on Saturday and Sunday.

I’ve found a couple of recent vitamin D headlines and posted them below…

The Sunshine Vitamin May Relieve Diabetic Pain - Vitamin D may help relieve a painful neurological condition in people with diabetes known as neuropathy, according to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Death Rate from Cancer Slashed 55 Percent with High Vitamin D Levels - A higher vitamin D intake can decrease your risk of dying from cancer by 55 percent, new research has shown. After adjusting for a variety of confounding factors, the researchers found that people with the highest blood levels of 25(OH)D had a 55 percent lower risk of dying from cancer than those with the lowest levels.

Disclaimer
VitaminDblog.com is provided for informational purposes only. No doctor/patient relationship is established by your use of this site. No diagnosis or treatment is being provided. No guarantees or warranties are made regarding any of the information contained within this web site. This web site is not intended to offer specific medical advice to anyone. The information provided is not medical advice, not intended as medical advice, and should not be used as medical advice. Under no circumstances should you change your treatment based on the information provided here without the knowledge of you personal physician.

External Links
VitaminDblog.com contains many links to external sites. VitaminDblog.com is not responsible for the content of sites linked to. Links provided to external sites, reading material, or products and services should not be considered an endorsement by VitaminDblog.com.

Here’s a good little article about folks with gut problems and how vitamin D might benefit them:

Vitamin D a Bone Booster for People with Digestive Problems

Happy Reading!

Darcy

It just doesn’t stop, the stories keep pouring in. Can you imagine the number of kids unknowingly suffering from vitamin D deficiency?

“Gordon and fellow researchers discovered that 42 percent of adolescents were vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D deficiency was twice as common in teens as we assumed it would be.”

Another story about a teen with low vitamin D

There are a couple of interesting blog posts over on The Heart Scan Blog. I enjoy reading this blog since the doc running it is on the same page as my wife on several health issues. I’d say anyone with cholesterol problems would do well to read the blog regularly.

Post #1
How much vitamin D should I take

Post#2
Some basic vitamin D issues

It’s turning out to be a very nice sunny September around here. I am noticing a lot of long shadows for the bulk of the day, which some folks use to gauge if it’s a good vitamin D day or not. Long shadows equal poor vitamin D rays since the sun is not high in the sky. Still, after the blink of a summer we had, I’ll take it!

Yet another new study about vitamin D and children

More than 93% of youth in each age and sex group had suboptimal vitamin D concentrations.
Read the entire article - Low Vitamin D Status in a Representative Sample of Youth From Quebec, Canada
CONCLUSIONS: Inadequate vitamin D status is a potentially serious public health problem among children and adolescents in Quebec. Youth living at high latitudes in countries with and without mandatory fortification of vitamin D are likely at heightened risk of 25(OH)D deficiency. These results call for renewed efforts to ensure adequate vitamin D intake among growing children and adolescents.

Here’s more about low vitamin D and kids….

Vitamin D shifts into focus - Research shows that (vitamin D) defect can be troubling, especially among children. (Source Reuters)

The Benefits of vitamin D make Time Magazines Top 10 medical breakthroughs for 2007!

Giving school children very high doses of vitamin D is safe, and may be necessary to bring their blood levels of the nutrient up to the amount necessary for optimum bone growth and health, a new study shows.

Study backs low vitamin D-diabetes link
People with lower levels of vitamin D in their blood may be at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to research published in the journal Epidemiology this month.

One update from our clinic. We see things like this all of the time now, but I thought I would mention it. We just checked a D level on a patient who was having trouble maintaining an adequate vitamin D level on 10,000 IU’s last year. She’s now been on 15,000 IU’s daily for the past 6 months and is maintaining nicely right in the middle of the range at 60ng/ML. This type of finding re-enforces the importance of having your doctor re-check your D levels and not just assume anything about dosing. It certainly appears not to be a one dose fits all nutrient!

I’ve been on vacation!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. We had a week vacation and I decided to stay off of the computer to help refresh my brain a little. I’ve also started coaching fall baseball which tends to take up a fair amount of my free time. Add to this getting our kids ready for a new school year and well, I think you see why I’ve been away. Although I’ve taken a few weeks off, the headlines about vitamin D deficiency have not. Here are some of the headlines since I’ve been away:

New York Times - Vitamin D May Play Larger Role in Health

Johns Hopkins Gazette - Low Vitamin D Levels Pose a Large Threat to Health

U.S. News & World Report - Low Vitamin D Raises Women’s Hip Fracture Risk

The Associated Press - Vitamin D’s wild days: Who to test, what to take?

Times of India - Vitamin D, which the body makes when exposed to sunlight, may help prevent multiple sclerosis (MS), suggests a new study.

New York Times - Vitamin D Deficiency May Lurk in Babies
“we’re finding so many mothers are vitamin D deficient themselves that the milk is therefore deficient, so many babies can’t keep their levels up.”

I thought this was a pretty good list - Top 10 Myths About Vitamin D