Vitamin D For Better Health & Longer Life, Research Review & Digest

Death rates surge with inadequate vitamin D

2010-01-09T06:17:00.000-05:00

Insufficient levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) appear to be a major contributor to deaths in older adults, as shown in a study showing vitamin D levels to be inversely proportional to mortality risk in these individuals (J Am Geriatr Soc. 2009;57:1595-1603).

“The association was strong (two times greater odds of mortality for 25[OH]D level <25.0 nmol/L) and appeared linear within the range of the data and independent of common CVD [cardiovascular disease] and mortality risk factors,” researchers note.

The team looked at the vitamin D levels of 3,408 men and women aged 65 years and older upon their enrollment in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). After a median 7.3 years of follow-up, 1,493 (44%) of the cohort had died. Slightly more half the deaths (767) were CVD-related.

Compared with participants who had optimal vitamin D status, those who had low vitamin D levels were three times more likely to die from heart disease and 2.5 times more likely to die from any cause. Individuals with baseline 25(OH)D levels <50.0 nmol/L seemed to be at highest risk for mortality, “but levels of 100.0 nmol/L or greater may be necessary for better survival,” researchers observe.”

232 Toxins Found In Babies

2010-01-04T06:27:00.004-05:00

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Laboratory tests commissioned by the Environmental Working Group have detected bisphenol A (BPA), a plastic component and synthetic estrogen, in umbilical cord blood of American infants.
Nine of 10 randomly selected samples of cord blood tested positive for BPA, an industrial petrochemical.

BPA has been implicated in a lengthening list of serious chronic disorders, including cancer, cognitive and behavioral impairments, endocrine system disruption, reproductive and cardiovascular system abnormalities, diabetes, asthma and obesity.

In all, the tests found as many as 232 chemicals in the 10 newborns, all of minority descent. The cord blood study has produced hard new evidence that American children are being exposed, beginning in the womb, to complex mixtures of dangerous substances that may have lifelong consequences.

And in a separate study, researchers found that complications of pregnancy, such as preterm labor, preterm birth, and infection were lowest in women with the highest vitamin D levels.

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Vitamin D and Diabetes-Can We Prevent it?

2010-01-02T13:21:00.002-05:00

Vitamin D may help in the battle with diabetes

2009-12-30T15:09:00.003-05:00

Discussion
By SUZY COHEN - For the Herald & Review | Posted: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:00 pm

Dear Suzy: I read your Facebook post about vitamin D and how it works better than diabetic medications. I have diabetes, and no one has ever told me this. Would you share more information?
- L.N. Denver, Colo.
A: Diabetes is an inflammatory condition; it is not just about high blood sugar, as most people think. If left to run its devastating course, diabetes could steal your vision, destroy your kidneys and cause nerve pain, heart attack, stroke or amputation. So we have to take diabetes seriously and do all that we can to reduce blood sugar (glucose) and make our cells happier to see insulin (improve insulin sensitivity).
Doctors have many medications at their disposal to reduce blood glucose. I think natural vitamin D can help, too, so I posted that comment on Facebook and Twitter. I was trying to help people with diabetes because they may not know that it's an inexpensive, over-the-counter dietary supplement.
My comment was based in clinical science - more specifically, on a 2004 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that found that raising a person's blood levels of vitamin D (from 25 to 75 nmol/l) could improve insulin sensitivity by a whopping 60 percent. Compare that to metformin, one of our pharmaceutical gold standards, which can dispose of blood sugar by a meager 13 percent according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Autism Therapy: Vitamin D and Autism

2009-12-30T15:06:00.003-05:00

I’ve notice lately that Vitamin D seems to be the “latest” thing people are buzzing about in the autism community. Vitamin D as an autism therapy. Seems reasonable. Children with autism present with muscular weakness, which is a symptom of Vitamin D deficiency. Children with autism also have intestinal absorption issues, which makes it difficult for them to properly digest their food. Making it nearly impossible to get the proper nutrients and vitamins from their food. Vitamin D as autism therapy? Plausible. Let’s explore what the experts are saying.

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More Evidence Supports the Importance of Vitamin D in Heart Disease Prevention

2009-12-28T06:32:00.003-05:00

Researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin analysed genetic data from 617 individuals stored at the Marshfield Clinical Personalized Medicine project, a DNA databank. They separated the group equally into a healthy control group, those with high blood pressure and those with high blood pressure and congestive heart failure, and it became clear that there was a striking correlation between those who suffered from both ailments and a deviation in the CYP27B1 gene, which reduces the rate that the body converts stored vitamin D into its active form.

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Reduce breast cancer risk with Vitamin D

2009-11-23T08:47:00.014-05:00

Summary of Findings in Breast Cancer.

Breast cancer patients with low levels of vitamin D and followed for up to eleven years had a 70% greater chance of dying and twice the rate of developing metastasis than did patients with high levels of vitamin D

Click HERE to read abstract of this research.

Vitamin D Dramatically Cuts Cancer Risk: Study

2009-11-21T07:09:00.005-05:00

CTV.ca News Staff
Jun. 7 2007

A landmark new study is raising the tantalizing spectre that a simple and cheap vitamin supplement may offer a highly effective way of preventing cancer.

The research, published in the online edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, finds that a combination of vitamin D3 and calcium has a substantially marked effect on reducing cancer incidence.

The four-year study out of Creighton University in Nebraska found that women who regularly took vitamin D3 had a 60 percent reduction in cancer infections compared to a group taking placebos.

The study followed 1,179 healthy, women 55 years and older from rural eastern Nebraska between 2000 and 2005. Participants were randomly assigned to receive 1400-1500 mg of calcium alone, or supplemental calcium plus 1,100 IU vitamin D3, or placebo.

Among the 288 women taking placebo, 20 developed breast, colon, lung or another form of cancer. Among the 445 women taking just calcium, 17 developed cancer. But among the largest group -- the 446 women taking vitamin D daily -- just 13 developed cancer.

"What we found is that a vitamin D supplement decreased the cancer incidence in postmenopausal women by about 60 percent," lead investigator Joan Lappe, an associate professor of both medicine and nursing at Creighton University, told CTV News.

Click HERE to read the rest of this article.

Why Governments Are Selling Vitamin D Short

2009-11-19T06:43:00.003-05:00

Reinhold Vieth is frustrated. A thin, bald professor at the University of Toronto's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Patho-biology, Vieth is among the most knowledgeable people in the world on the subject of vitamin D...So why is Dr Vieth so frustrated? You might think he'd have cause for celebration. But for him and other vitamin D researchers around the world, the good news comes with a bitter aftertaste. They believe they can prove vitamin D could help millions live longer and be healthier and yet they have not been able to convince their own governments.

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MAYO CLINIC PROCEEDINGS: VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY UNIVERSAL AMONG MINORITES WITH CHRONIC PAIN

2009-11-17T07:11:00.004-05:00

This month’s Mayo Clinic Proceedings have two important articles about vitamin D deficiency and chronic pain. Both the lead article and the lead editorial discuss the association of vitamin D deficiency and chronic pain. For reasons that are not clear, neither article has yet been posted to PubMed by the National Library of Medicine, nor reported in the media.
Dr. Plotnikoff, of the University of Minnesota Medical School, measured calcidiol [25(OH)D] levels on 150 patients who presented to an outpatient university clinic with nonspecific musculoskeletal pain. They discovered that 100% of the Black, Hispanic, East African and American Indian patients with chronic pain were vitamin D deficient. 93% of all the patients were vitamin D deficient with young women in their childbearing years being at the greatest risk for misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis. Dr. Plotnikoff (along with co-author, Ms. Quigley) recommended that screening calcidiol [25(OH)D] levels become standard practice is all such clinics. (Plotnikoff, GA and Quigley BA; Prevalence of Severe Hypovitaminosis D in Patients With Persistent, Nonspecific Musculoskeletal Pain; Mayo Clin Proc. 2003:78:1463-1470

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Eradicate Breast Cancer With Vitamin D?

2009-11-16T10:50:00.003-05:00

Breast cancer risk 'virtually eradicated' by elevated vitamin D levels, researchers suggest.

Reprinted with permission from CNW Group

TORONTO, Nov. 4 /CNW/ - Breast cancer is a disease so directly related to vitamin D deficiency that a woman's risk of contracting the disease can be 'virtually eradicated' by elevating her vitamin D status to what vitamin D scientists consider to be natural blood levels.

That's the message vitamin D pioneer Dr. Cedric Garland delivered in Toronto Tuesday as part of the University of Toronto School of Medicine's "Diagnosis and Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency" conference - the largest gathering of vitamin D researchers in North America this year. More than 170 researchers, public health officials and health practitioners gathered at the UT Faculty club for the landmark event.

Garland's presentation headlined a conference that reviewed many aspects of the emerging vitamin D research field - a booming discipline that has seen more than 3,000 academic papers this calendar year alone, conference organizers said. That makes vitamin D by far the most prolific topic in medicine this year, with work connecting it with risk reduction in two dozen forms of cancer, heart disease, multiple scleroses and many other disorders.

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H1N1 Swine Flu Deadly in All Age Groups

2009-11-14T14:50:00.002-05:00

When Swine Flu Is Bad, It's Really Bad, Data Confirm
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Nov. 3, 2009 - H1N1 swine flu isn't always severe, but when it's bad, it's really bad. Patients hospitalized with pandemic flu have an 11% fatality rate, data from California suggest.

The pandemic flu bug is far more likely to strike younger people. But when people aged 50 and older get hospitalized with H1N1 swine flu, their case-fatality rate is the highest of any group: 18% to 20%.

The findings come from an analysis of data collected from California hospitals during the first 16 weeks of the U.S. H1N1 swine flu pandemic (April 23 to Aug. 11) by Janice K. Louie, MD, MPH, of the California Department of Health and colleagues.

"In contrast with the common perception that pandemic 2009 influenza A (H1N1) causes only mild disease, hospitalization and death occurred at all ages, and up to 30% of hospitalized cases were severely ill," Louie and colleagues report in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In a news conference, CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, said the California data show that H1N1 swine flu is just as deadly as seasonal flu.

"What we have seen in that article and in our own data from around the country and around the world is the level of severity among those who become ill is similar to seasonal flu," Frieden said. "Although a much, much lower proportion of people over 65 get H1N1 compared with seasonal flu, if they get it, it can be every bit as severe."

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Research Shows Why Diabetics Should Avoid Vitamin D Deficiency

2009-11-11T11:19:00.002-05:00

November 9, 2009 by Personal Liberty News Desk

Research shows why diabetics should avoid vitamin D deficiency Based on new research, scientists are beginning to understand why people with diabetes should be particularly wary of vitamin D deficiency.

Anyone with low levels of the vitamin may be at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, but a team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has found vitamin D deficiency causes diabetics to be unable to process cholesterol normally.

As a consequence, cholesterol builds up in their blood vessels, which leads to an elevated risk of heart attack and stroke.
Click HERE to read the rest of this article.

Vitamin D and Breast Cancer

2009-11-10T07:09:00.003-05:00

MOST COMMON MALIGNANCY FOR WOMEN
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy of women in the western world. Many factors contribute to causing breast malignancy (it is multifactorial), though heredity is a major one. Certain diets help to prevent it, such as diets high in vegetables and fruit and low in fat. Adequate calcium is very important. The role of vitamin D in both the prevention and treatment of breast cancer is being intensively explored by scientists, and the results thus far have been promising.

Click HERE to read the rest of this article.

Spray Vitamins: An Amazing Breakthrough!

2009-11-08T07:09:00.005-05:00

As illustrated in the Physician's Desk Reference. Age is a major factor in absorption, because as we age, it becomes impossible for the body to have adequate uptake. Although absorption problems exist in younger people, persons over the age of 35 are more likely to have absorption problems. The unfortunate thing is that as we get older, digestive problems tend to increase, while at the same time, proper absorption becomes even more important. Age presents a problem that dramatically increases the "odds" against us in the gamble for optimum nutrition.
There is now an easy and convenient way to supplement your nutritional needs. Spray vitamins, using the patent protected, oral spray delivery method, now makes it easy for you to get what your body needs, when it needs it. This unique delivery system is supported by the prestigious Physicians' Desk Reference for Non-Prescription Drugs & Dietary Supplements, as the best way to achieve the nutritional supplement levels your body demands.

Doctors start to include vitamin D in fight against cancer

2009-11-06T14:03:00.003-05:00

Oncology treatments

With new studies showing the sun vitamin may slow come cancers, some physicians are eager to add it to treatment programs.

Responding to research indicating that vitamin D may slow the progression of breast, colon and other common cancers, some doctors have begun adding the supplement to their tool kit of cancer therapies alongside more conventional treatments such as radiation, surgery and chemotherapy.

Click HERE to read the rest of this article.

Use Vitamin D As Flu Medicine

2009-11-05T11:52:00.001-05:00

Vitamin D is growing in popularity as a way to prevent flu. Current medical research has identified a correlation between seasonal Vitamin D levels and influenza. The more sun, the less illness. The less sun, the more flu. Research has also shown that vitamin D prevents respiratory infections in adults and children. Lots of flu remedies provide flu relief, but Vitamin D actually prevents flu. It is especially effective at preventing respiratory illness making it a perfect flu medicine.

The Vitamin D Newsletter: H1N1 Flu and Vitamin D

2009-11-02T10:06:00.005-05:00

Dr. Cannell:
I have received hundreds of emails from readers, asking what they should do about the possibility of an H1N1 flu pandemic.

1. Should I take Vitamin D to prevent the H1N1 flu? If so, how much?
2. What role did Vitamin D play in the 1918 pandemic, when 600,000 Americans died?
3. If I get this flu, should I take very high doses of vitamin D? Is so, how much?
4. Should I take the special flu vaccine the CDC and others are developing?
5. What are you going to do for your family about the 2009 flu?
6. Why does the CDC and NIH ignore the Vitamin D studies?

November is Vitamin D Awareness Month in Canada

2009-10-31T11:51:00.002-04:00

"Diagnosis and Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency"
TORONTO, Oct. 29 /CNW/ - Vitamin D Deficiency - linked to significantly higher rates of most cancers, heart disease, autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, and even flu - affects 97 per cent of Canadians. Yet fewer than 3 per cent of Canadians say they know their vitamin D blood levels.

The world's most renowned vitamin D researchers will be joined by public health officials from across Canada on November 3 for "Diagnosis and Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency" - a symposium hosted by Grassroots Health and the University of Toronto School of Medicine. The event will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University of Toronto's Faculty Club.

Vitamin D can save half million babies each year: study

2009-10-31T08:48:00.004-04:00

Friday Oct 16, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- Results of a new trial presented at an international research conference in Bruges suggest that vitamin D supplementation can reduce the risk of premature births and boost the health of newborn babies, the Times reported Oct 10.

Vitamin D deficiency, which is common everywhere, has been linked in many previous studies to a variety of illnesses from heart disease, cancers, multiple sclerosis and many others.

Intra-Oral Spray Nutrient Delivery System

2009-10-27T07:19:00.002-04:00

Ronald M. Lawrence, M.D., Ph.D. *

"The Intra-Oral Spray nutrient delivery system is the wave of the future. In my experience as a practicing physician, I find that Spray delivery not only guarantees that the patient gets most of the nutrient delivered faster and more efficiently into the blood stream, but it also avoids gastrointestinal tract problems present with so many oral capsules, tablets, and liquids."

"The Intra-oral Spray method of delivery ensures that you get the full amount of the nutrient. This is especially important not only with older adults, but also many younger people who often fail to absorb the nutrients they ingest."

* Dr. Lawrence is a former member of the National Advisory Council on Aging, National Institutes of Health, former Co-Chairman of the Sports Medicine council of the AAU, and author of 35 medical textbooks, research papers, and the consumer book, 'Goodbye Pain'. Dr Lawrence has appeared on over 300 radio and TV shows, as well as hosting the Ask the Doctor show. In 1976, he was awarded the prestigious Phillip Noel Baker Research Award by U.N.E.S.C.O. at the Montreal Olympics. His other accomplishments as a medical scientist would fill several pages.

Vitamin D Deficiency Common in Breast Cancer

2009-10-25T05:57:00.004-04:00

Researchers from the University of Rochester have reported that 69% of women with localized breast cancer receiving adjuvant therapy were deficient in vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency was corrected with high-dose, as opposed to low-dose, vitamin D supplementation. The details of this study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology breast cancer symposium on October 8, 2009 in San Francisco.[1]

Estimated Proportion Of Cancer Preventable

2009-10-21T11:37:00.012-04:00

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Determine Your OPTIMAL Level of Vitamin D

2009-10-19T11:02:00.009-04:00

Click on image to open in new window.

Keeping your level in this range, and even erring toward the higher numbers in this range, is going to give you the most protective benefit। And the way you maintain your levels within this range is by getting tested regularly – say two to four times a year in the beginning, and adjusting your vitamin D intake accordingly.

CHANGE 'Breast Cancer Awareness Month' to 'Breast Cancer PREVENTION Month'

2009-10-19T10:58:00.001-04:00

It's time. The tools are at hand. It just takes our combined efforts. Drs Cedric Garland, UCSD School of Medicine and Tracey O'Connor, Roswell Park Cancer Institute will present information on how prevention can work with vitamin D and, what a cancer treatment protocol would look like. Save your daughters!--your wives, your friends, your patients from this disease.

Don't stop with breast cancer--infectious diseases, type 1 diabetes, hypertension, colon cancer, falls in the elderly are just a few more diseases that are affected by vitamin D serum levels. The objective of the seminar will be to provide all health care professionals with the information needed to take action NOW. It is estimated that 25-50% of any healthcare budget could be saved with vitamin D serum levels between 40-60 ng/ml (100-150 nmol/L).

Reduce All Cancer Incidence by 77% with Vitamin D? - Seminar

2009-10-19T10:55:00.000-04:00

The Grassroots Health organization has announced a seminar on the health impact of solving the vitamin D deficiency epidemic. The seminar will be held on November 3, 2009 at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The price is $55, and includes a free vitamin D test for those registering by October 15.

While directed at health professionals, the mere existence of the seminar should underscore the potential health benefits of everyone getting enough vitamin D. Among the statistics cited in the seminar announcement are a 77% reduction in all cancer incidence, a 80% reduction in breast cancer, and a 78% reduction in type-1 diabetes.

Vitamin D Can Save Your Life

2009-10-18T07:21:00.002-04:00

"It is estimated that 25 to 50 percent of any healthcare budget could be saved with adequate vitamin D serum levels."

This is an amazing statement! Read on and listen to the videos in the following links for a low cost supplement that could save your life.

"When it comes to the benefits of optimizing your vitamin D levels, the evidence is simply overwhelming. Research shows you can drastically reduce your risk of cancer and countless other chronic diseases by getting safe sun exposure, using a safe tanning bed, or taking a high-quality supplement.

Yet, a great deal of people around the world have heard nothing of this great “discovery.” It’s even likely that your doctor is among them, which is why it’s so important to educate yourself.

*Recommended Daily Intake for Optimal Health*

Based on the most recent research, the current recommendation is 35 IU’s of vitamin D3 per pound of body weight.

So for a child weighing 40 pounds, the recommended average dose
would be 1,400 IU’s daily, and for a 170-pound adult, the dose would
be nearly 6,000 IU’s.

However, it’s important to realize that vitamin D requirements are
/highly individual/, as your vitamin D status is dependent on
numerous factors, such as the color of your skin, your location, and
how much sunshine you’re exposed to on a regular basis."