Vitamin D changes everything

[motorway]

Do you work for a co that sells Vitamin D motorway?

Seriously though i have always thought a light tan is healthy

No Prawn ( and I realize your joking )

I have seen what difference this makes in me and several others
In one case
life long psoriasis ------GONE

Others just amazing

So just sharing with the ASF community

I luvs yual allll

as always
DYOR

with lots of love
Motorway

 

[motorway]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=another-reason-vitamin-d-is-importa-2010-03-07

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a rapidly expanding inventory of ailments””including heart disease, cancer and the common cold. A new discovery demonstrates how the vitamin plays a major role in keeping the body healthy in the first place, by allowing the immune system's T cells to start doing their jobs.

In order for T cells to become active members of the body's immune system, they must transition from so-called "naive" T cells into either killer cells or helper cells (which are charged with "remembering" specific invaders). And, if ample vitamin D is not around, the T cells do not make that crucial transition, a group of researchers led by Carsten Geisler, head of the Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Copenhagen, found. They draw this conclusion based on their experiments with isolated naïve human T cells.

"When a T cell is exposed to a foreign pathogen, it extends a signaling device of 'antenna' known as a vitamin D receptor, with which it searches for vitamin D," Geisler said in a prepared statement. If there is an inadequate vitamin D level, he noted, "they won't even begin to mobilize."

Heany's quote is key to understanding Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is "THE KEY THAT UNLOCKS THE DNA LIBRARY"

It turns genes on and off at a dizzying rate.

The T cell Discovery reveals again Vitamin D in action

Before cells act they seek out vitamin D..

Such quotes as this start to make sense

Vitamin D truly is the center of the universe.
~ Dr. Russell Chesney, professor and chairman of pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.

Motorway

 

[motorway]

Question earlier in the thread about

Higher latitudes Vitamin D and Health...

What has changed is DIET

The Inuit (primal Diets ) and Original Tasmanians
( Seafood is only real good source of Vitamin D.. esp SEALS )
Did not have Vitamin D problems or need such pale white skins

Even so our genes still "think" they are in the Tropics
and need both adequate and stable vitamin D levels

Vitamin D is used once and then more is needed
It seems Every Time a cell needs to do something
It looks for Vitamin D



http://www.vitamind3uk.com/VitaminD_Scotland_deficiency.html

The citizens of Scotland have a very poor health record and a life expectancy that is one of the lowest in the Western world. This poor health record holds true for all social classes. It is now known that living in Scotland also results in extreme Vitamin D deficiency due to chronic lack of sunlight. (164) While deficiency in the UK is widespread the situation in Scotland is worse than for the rest of the country.

Scotland receives 30-50% less ultraviolet radiation (UVB) from the sun than the rest of the UK due to its high latitude and persistent low cloud cover. Vitamin D levels are consistently found to be even lower in Scotland than the rest of the UK. (168)(165)(166) (167)

Indeed, Glasgow, with one of most cloudy climates receives a similar amount of UVB as Kiruna in Northern Sweden which is way above the Arctic Circle.

Experts in Vitamin D now suggest that Scotland's poor health record is a direct consequence of Vitamin D deficiency particularly in childhood.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5663483.ece

Multiple sclerosis could be prevented through daily vitamin D supplements, scientists told The Times last night.

The first causal link has been established between the “sunshine vitamin” and a gene that increases the risk of MS, raising the possibility that the debilitating auto-immune disease could be eradicated.

The incidence of MS in Scotland is one of the highest in the world where as many as 1:300 people suffer from the disease. This is a least twice the rate seen farther south in England. (110) Scotland is exposed to at least 50% less UV radiation than Southern regions of the UK, resulting in significantly lower Vitamin D levels.

http://www.shineonscotland.org.uk/



Motorway

 

[Julia]

Motorway, to therefore deduce that Scotland's poor health record is purely attributable to lack of Vit D is surely stretching a very long bow?

When we are passionate about something, we find it easy to attribute what is correlation to causality when they are actually not at all interchangeable.

Def:

CORRELATION AND CAUSATION
Correlation and causation, closely related to confounding variables, is the incorrect assumption that because something correlates, there is a causal relationship.

by Martyn Shuttleworth (2008)

Causality is the area of statistics that is most commonly misused, and misinterpreted, by non-specialists. Media sources, politicians and lobby groups often leap upon a perceived correlation, and use it to ‘prove’ their own beliefs. They fail to understand that, just because results show a correlation, there is no proof of an underlying causality.

Many people assume that because a poll, or a statistic, contains many numbers, it must be scientific, and therefore correct.
PATTERNS OF CAUSALITY IN THE MIND
Unfortunately, the human mind is built to try and subconsciously establish links between many contrasting pieces of information. The brain often tries to construct patterns from randomness, so jumps to conclusions, and assumes that a relationship exists.

Overcoming this tendency is part of academic training of students and academics in most fields, from physics to the arts. The ability to evaluate data, subjectively, is absolutely crucial to academic success.

It may well be that the lack of Vit D does contribute to reduced overall good health, but the suggestion that the two factors imply causality is superficial and unrealistic.

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

Question earlier in the thread about

Higher latitudes Vitamin D and Health...

What has changed is DIET

The Inuit (primal Diets ) and Original Tasmanians
( Seafood is only real good source of Vitamin D.. esp SEALS )
Did not have Vitamin D problems or need such pale white skins

Even so our genes still "think" they are in the Tropics
and need both adequate and stable vitamin D levels

Vitamin D is used once and then more is needed
It seems Every Time a cell needs to do something
It looks for Vitamin D



Motorway

Show us some evidence mate instead of wooly headed dreamtime assumptions.

gg

 

[motorway]

Show us some evidence mate instead of wooly headed dreamtime assumptions.

gg

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19197344

PLoS Genet. 2009 Feb;5(2):e1000369. Epub 2009 Feb 6.
Expression of the multiple sclerosis-associated MHC class II Allele HLA-DRB1*1501 is regulated by vitamin D.
Ramagopalan SV, Maugeri NJ, Handunnetthi L, Lincoln MR, Orton SM, Dyment DA, Deluca GC, Herrera BM, Chao MJ, Sadovnick AD, Ebers GC, Knight JC.
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex trait in which allelic variation in the MHC class II region exerts the single strongest effect on genetic risk. Epidemiological data in MS provide strong evidence that environmental factors act at a population level to influence the unusual geographical distribution of this disease. Growing evidence implicates sunlight or vitamin D as a key environmental factor in aetiology. We hypothesised that this environmental candidate might interact with inherited factors and sought responsive regulatory elements in the MHC class II region. Sequence analysis localised a single MHC vitamin D response element (VDRE) to the promoter region of HLA-DRB1.

Sequencing of this promoter in greater than 1,000 chromosomes from HLA-DRB1 homozygotes showed absolute conservation of this putative VDRE on HLA-DRB1*15 haplotypes. In contrast, there was striking variation among non-MS-associated haplotypes. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed specific recruitment of vitamin D receptor to the VDRE in the HLA-DRB1*15 promoter, confirmed by chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments using lymphoblastoid cells homozygous for HLA-DRB1*15. Transient transfection using a luciferase reporter assay showed a functional role for this VDRE. B cells transiently transfected with the HLA-DRB1*15 gene promoter showed increased expression on stimulation with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (P = 0.002) that was lost both on deletion of the VDRE or with the homologous "VDRE" sequence found in non-MS-associated HLA-DRB1 haplotypes. Flow cytometric analysis showed a specific increase in the cell surface expression of HLA-DRB1 upon addition of vitamin D only in HLA-DRB1*15 bearing lymphoblastoid cells. This study further implicates vitamin D as a strong environmental candidate in MS by demonstrating direct functional interaction with the major locus determining genetic susceptibility.

These findings support a connection between the main epidemiological and genetic features of this disease with major practical implications for studies of disease mechanism and prevention.

Not for me to prove anything
anyone interested will look into this

For example Julia how far through the research links are you ?
and Garpal is this Study Proof

I mean
This Study
States

That 1) Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex trait in which allelic variation in the MHC class II region exerts the single strongest effect on genetic risk

And 2) That IT IS

is regulated by vitamin D.

The T cell research above is that Proof ?

I can only guess you did not listen to the last Heany vid
where he details some of the Random Control Trials
Mentions many others . And explains the importance of the epidemiology evidence


Again Heany in that Vid goes through the mechanism

I apologize But you are missing the point of the Thread

It is a summary of some of the exciting findings
That anyone Interested can pursue..

yes ,Julia , Your point is addressed in the literature,

You are saying that eg cancer causes low vitamin D levels, not the other way around. The problem is that Professor Joanne Lappe directly disproved that theory in a randomized controlled trial when she found that baseline vitamin D levels were strong and independent predictors of who would get cancer in the future. The lower your levels, the higher the risk. Furthermore, increasing baseline levels from 31 to 38 ng/ml (77.5 to 95 nmol/L) reduced incident cancers by more than 60% over a four year period. Therefore, advising patients to become vitamin D deficient, will cause some patients to die from cancer.

But you should have seen that already ?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17556697

Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jun;85(6):1586-91.
Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: results of a randomized trial.
Lappe JM, Travers-Gustafson D, Davies KM, Recker RR, Heaney RP.
Osteoporosis Research Center, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68131, USA. jmlappe@creighton.edu
Erratum in:
Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Mar;87(3):794.
Comment in:
Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Dec;86(6):1804-5; author reply 1805-6.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Nov;86(5):1549; author reply 1549-50.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Mar;87(3):792-3; author reply 793-4.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Mar;87(3):792; author reply 793-4.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Numerous observational studies have found supplemental calcium and vitamin D to be associated with reduced risk of common cancers. However, interventional studies to test this effect are lacking.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this analysis was to determine the efficacy of calcium alone and calcium plus vitamin D in reducing incident cancer risk of all types.
DESIGN: This was a 4-y, population-based, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. The primary outcome was fracture incidence, and the principal secondary outcome was cancer incidence. The subjects were 1179 community-dwelling women randomly selected from the population of healthy postmenopausal women aged >55 y in a 9-county rural area of Nebraska centered at latitude 41.4 degrees N. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive 1400-1500 mg supplemental calcium/d alone (Ca-only), supplemental calcium plus 1100 IU vitamin D3/d (Ca + D), or placebo.

RESULTS: When analyzed by intention to treat, cancer incidence was lower in the Ca + D women than in the placebo control subjects (P < 0.03). With the use of logistic regression, the unadjusted relative risks (RR) of incident cancer in the Ca + D and Ca-only groups were 0.402 (P = 0.01) and 0.532 (P = 0.06), respectively.

When analysis was confined to cancers diagnosed after the first 12 mo, RR for the Ca + D group fell to 0.232 (CI: 0.09, 0.60; P < 0.005) but did not change significantly for the Ca-only group. In multiple logistic regression models, both treatment and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were significant, independent predictors of cancer risk.

CONCLUSIONS: Improving calcium and vitamin D nutritional status substantially reduces all-cancer risk in postmenopausal women. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00352170.
------------------------------------------


I really do not see the point of your comments.
WHAT IS PROOF

If it is Not Random Controll Trialls + Intervention Studies + Observational Studies
and test tube Science all pointing in the same Direction ?

Either you have not read anything or you have a level of evidence above what Science
Requires ?

Everyone who is interested
DYOR
This is just a bringing to attention thread

Those not interested -- Ignore .

Others plenty of feedback and discussion by all means
but Do some research
before you say something like there is no Proof
or at least define what you mean..


Motorway

 

[motorway]

“Our research has married two key pieces of the puzzle. The interaction of vitamin D with the gene is very specific and it seems most unlikely to be a coincidence of any kind.”

If it was one disease well it would be nice
But it is many ( maybe all ) and the evidence in several others is even much stronger.

Garpal .. I see nothing woolly here Our research has married two key pieces of the puzzle

Julia ... They are talking about Causation

a shortage of the “sunshine vitamin” is established as a factor

With Other diseases the RCTs are already In in any case..


And has stated in the HEANY VID
Vit D regulates many genes ( GARPAL you could not have listened to it ?

Julia ?

So there is likey to be many other mechanisms identified
and not just the one...

It turns genes on and off at a dizzying rate.

Motorway




http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5663483.ece

A five-year research project by Oliver Gillie, a scientist and writer, demonstrates extensive and remarkable parallels between Scotland’s dull weather and indices of disease.

It suggests that the “Scottish effect”, the country’s hitherto unexplained high mortality rate compared with other industrial countries, is in large part down to lack of sun. Crucially, a shortage of the “sunshine vitamin” is established as a factor in higher rates of multiple sclerosis (MS), diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, several types of cancer, cardiovascular disease and other ailments that together give Scotland one of the worst health records and highest premature mortality rates in Western Europe.

Dr Gillie’s study – Scotland’s Health Deficit: An Explanation and a Plan – echoes world-wide research on vitamin D deficiency but goes further, showing how the higher rates of disease in Scotland mirror closely the lower amount of available sunlight.

A lack of sunshine in Glasgow and the West of Scotland reflects levels of chronic illness that which cannot be explained by deprivation alone. A lack of sunshine on Orkney and Shetland – only 24 per cent of the maximum number of hours possible – corresponds to the highest prevalence of MS in the world.

I think it offers the potential for treatment which might prevent MS in the future,” Professor Ebers said.

“Our research has married two key pieces of the puzzle. The interaction of vitamin D with the gene is very specific and it seems most unlikely to be a coincidence of any kind.”

Warnings over sun exposure could now also be called into question – sunlight allows the body to produce the vitamin.

Professor Ebers said: “Serious questions now arise over the wisdom of current advice to limit sun exposure and avoid sunbathing. We also need to give better advice and help to the public on vitamin D supplements, particularly pregnant and nursing mothers.”

The news has momentous implications for Scotland and other northern countries, where the incidence of multiple sclerosis is the highest in the world. It will give added urgency to recent moves by Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer to consider recommending vitamin D supplements.

Deficiency in vitamin D, caused by lack of exposure to sunshine, has been increasingly linked to the cloudier climate in Scotland and other northern latitudes. The deficiency is twice as common among the Scots as it is amongst the English – and Orkney and Shetland have among the highest rates.

Studies have also shown that fewer people with MS are born in November and more in May, implicating a lack of sunshine during pregnancy.

The breakthrough comes after a groundswell of expert belief in the importance of vitamin D. Last November, at a conference organised by the Scottish Government, international experts urged vitamin D supplements for Scots to be tested “sooner rather than later” to find whether they could improve the nation’s health.

Researchers for the World Health Organisation said there should be large, randomised trials as there was strong evidence that increased daily intake of vitamin D could significantly improve health.

The seminar followed evidence, revealed in The Times, that Scotland’s poor health record has close links to vitamin D deficiency. Last September this newspaper reported evidence from scientists in Canada that children with early symptoms of multiple sclerosis have low levels of vitamin D.

Until now there has been no scientific proof of the links. However, Professor Ebers and his team have shown that vitamin D affects a particular genetic variant, identified as the one that increases the risk of developing MS threefold.

They suggest that a shortage of the vitamin alters this variant, thus preventing the immune system from functioning normally.

Professor Ebers said: “Whether it’s at the core of MS is going to take some further work, but it does look like a reasonably good chance.”

Last October Professor Ebers, in an article in The Times, backed the idea of distributing vitamin D supplements in Scotland to guard against conditions that may be linked to a deficiency, including MS.

“It is plausible that some 200 cases a year of MS might be prevened in Scotland alone by giving vitamin D to mothers and children,” he wrote.

 

[Julia]

Motorway, the ABC's Radio National, in "The Health Report", broadcast Monday mornings and evenings, had an interesting discussion today on many so called randomised controlled trials. It is enlightening.

I happen to have a background in the area, and am only too aware of some of the very dodgy 'science' that is presented.

And no, I'm not going to spend hours trawling through dozens of links.

If I were to consider taking exogenous Vit D I would be discussing it with my doctor.

 

[motorway]

As you should

I would not tell anyone to do anything else

And no, I'm not going to spend hours trawling through dozens of links.

ahhh ! I see now .

Motorway

 

[motorway]

Motorway, to therefore deduce that Scotland's poor health record is purely attributable to lack of Vit D is surely stretching a very long bow?

Yes I agree seeing you have not read any of the material !
You would need a very long BOW indeed !


Motorway

 

[motorway]

Motorway, the ABC's Radio National, in "The Health Report", broadcast Monday mornings and evenings, had an interesting discussion today on many so called randomised controlled trials. It is enlightening.

I happen to have a background in the area, and am only too aware of some of the very dodgy 'science' that is presented.

And no, I'm not going to spend hours trawling through dozens of links.

If I were to consider taking exogenous Vit D I would be discussing it with my doctor.

You mean the one about India ?
and a small mention of some pharmaceutical RCT's

what is the relevance ?

If you had looked at any of the material I think you would have to say NONE ?

I happen to have a background in the area

Find that hard to believe
How can you comment with Authority about something without reading the material first ?
That does sound like the research in India mentioned in the Heath Report.
What I believe Garpal would call Woolly .


http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2010/3077627.htm

Australians don't realise that many of the medications they'll be consuming in the future will have been trialled in India. The reasons drug companies are going there are that it's cheap and ethical controls are weak or non-existent. Indian researchers are sounding warnings. Also, an eminent statistician talks about problems in reporting of medical trials.

1) We are not talking about a Pharmaceutical that anyone can PATENT
and make lot's of $$$ ( nothing to be gained from fudging )
2) I do not think any of the studies are from India

I mean is Nebraska in India for example ?

The subjects were 1179 community-dwelling women randomly selected from the population of healthy postmenopausal women aged >55 y in a 9-county rural area of Nebraska centered at latitude 41.4 degrees N. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive 1400-1500 mg supplemental calcium/d alone (Ca-only), supplemental calcium plus 1100 IU vitamin D3/d (Ca + D), or placebo.

If it is another Health matters
appreciate the Link

I will read it !

Motorway

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

The sewers of the developed world are awash with vitamins excreted by the worried well, who keep large national and multinational snake oil vitamin companies in business.

I believe that excess vitamin D has affected the Great Barrier Reef and led to the Crown of Thorns infestation.

As regards the Scottish nation, they drink to excess, are brainless to let a Libyan mass murderer free for a litre of fuel, fight at football matches and queue to watch a foreign monarch attend church every Christmas in inclement weather.

They need more than Vitamin D mate.

gg

 

[Julia]

The sewers of the developed world are awash with vitamins excreted by the worried well, who keep large national and multinational snake oil vitamin companies in business.

I believe that excess vitamin D has affected the Great Barrier Reef and led to the Crown of Thorns infestation.

As regards the Scottish nation, they drink to excess, are brainless to let a Libyan mass murderer free for a litre of fuel, fight at football matches and queue to watch a foreign monarch attend church every Christmas in inclement weather.

They need more than Vitamin D mate.

gg

 

[motorway]

Fine GG

Julia

It may well be that the lack of Vit D does contribute to reduced overall good health, but the suggestion that the two factors imply causality is superficial and unrealistic.

I think your inquiry into the subject is superficial and hence Your comments unrealistic.

If you read the Health Matters link
This is near the bottom

Doug Altman: Well if we're thinking of randomised clinical trials in particular evaluating new treatments in terms of methodology the most crucial aspect of a randomised trial is the way in which it's decided which patient receives which treatment and that should be done using a random process.

So one would look for reassurance in the journal article that this was done in an accepted method. But often we find in a ridiculous proportion, maybe three quarters of publications they just don't say how they did it. They say oh, we randomised but there's no detail, we're being asked to take it on trust that these people did what they say they did.

And I'd like to do that but we know when we look at some publications where they've used the term randomised we know sometimes the detail shows that they didn't actually do it properly. In terms of the results what we're hoping to see is that the researchers had pre-specified what they were most interested in looking at and that they had then analysed that and reported that.

If you look at the trials on Vitamin D

They are either Government Studies like the

National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is a division of the United States federal agency the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As such, NCHS is under the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Its headquarters is located at University Town Center in Hyattsville, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.

Or They are from leading Research Universities

eg Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.

eg Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Just the two mentioned above

They are not trying to get to market some dubious drug to make a fast buck
I doubt very much if these type of Studies are what Altman is talking about.

Anyone providing proof that Vitamin D is important... Will
not profit from the research.
Because there are NO PATENTS....

But his comments are useful in a warning to beware Vitamin D analogues that some Pharmaceutical Companies are trying to Develop ) And Patent ...

The example of Tamiflu is pertinent ( In the Health Matters ) considering
The research on Vitamin D and Influenza


Here is a link to what began the Scottish initiative
It is dated 2008... The research has already moved on.

http://www.healthresearchforum.org.uk/reports/scotland.pdf

This thread hasn't really touched on many of the intriguing connections
Between Vitamin D and Health

As Heany stated in the Vid ( the one I posted ) it is not possible to have conflicts of interest in this field .....

Motorway

 

[Julia]

If you look at the trials on Vitamin D

They are either Government Studies like the

Or They are from leading Research Universities

eg Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Motorway, I don't have sufficient interest in this topic, certainly insufficient to match your messianic zeal about it, to be bothered arguing.

However, you seem unaware that before merging with Glaxo Smith Kline, Burroughs Wellcome was one of the world's largest and most successful pharmaceutical companies.

If you think universities, particularly in these cash strapped days, are not prepared to add their name to pharmaceutical company inspired research, you are naive.

And your comments do not address the remarks you have quoted from "The Health Report".

There is absolutely no guarantee that because some research says it was done under the auspices of a university or government (!) it will have enjoyed proper protocols.

I read an interesting book a few months ago, the title and author of which, regrettably I have now forgotten.

He made the absolutely simple suggestion that ALL clinical trials when commenced should be entered on an international register, with all the protocols clearly outlined before commencement, so that there is absolute transparency about the final results.

A favourite trick of the drug companies is to institute multiple trials but to simply bury those which do not produce an outcome favourable to what they are trying to represent.

If they were forced to report all findings, it would eliminate much of the sort of misrepresentation that occurs.

This is a generic suggestion and not necessarily related to Vit D.

I'd suggest not being gullible enough to think that because no patent applies to a substance, drug companies are ipso facto not interested. There are infinite possibilities for them, e.g. combining Vit D with a bone building compound such as occurs in Fosamax Plus.

Pharmaceutical companies deal in billions. They are not altruistically disposed.
If they are putting money into any sort of research, ethical or dodgy, you can be sure they are anticipating eventually reaping back their investment many times over.

 

[motorway]

Motorway, I don't have sufficient interest in this topic, certainly insufficient to match your messianic zeal about it, to be bothered arguing.

I think that is a fitting closure to the thread
At least for my part


Motorway

 

[roland]

Low Vitamin D in Newborns Linked to Wheezing
Study Shows Link Between Low Levels of Vitamin D in Cord Blood and Respiratory Infection Risk
By Katrina Woznicki
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD


Dec. 27, 2010 -- Infants at age 3 months who had newborn blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D -- a measurement of vitamin D -- below 25 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L) were twice as likely to develop respiratory infections as infants who had levels at 75 nmol/L or higher, according to an international study.

from: http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/news/20101227/low-vitamin-d-in-newborns-linked-to-wheezing

 

[tech/a]

I read an interesting book a few months ago, the title and author of which, regrettably I have now forgotten.

"Dealing with Alzheimer's"
By
Dr Who?

Sorry Julia had to do it!

 

[Broadway]

Nice post Julia.
The drug companies will throw 'out there' all kinds of 'advantages' to products, proven or not, until everyone 'believes' they should be on it - 'just in case'.
This is how the entire vitamin industry works. And it does work for them.

Let me give you guys a hint - IT'S ALL BS.

Anecdotal stories of benefit of xyz do not come close to representing truth.
You can go through your entire life without any supplements. Just eat normally.
Cavemen did it for 100000+ years.(antibiotics and hygeine and clean water extend life expectancy-not vitamins)
eg. Centrum - 'Are you feeling 100% today?'
Nobody ever feels 100% - its not in human nature to feel 100%.
'Hence we all need vitamins.'
Same goes for 'fish oil' - alot of elderly take this. Nothing proven.
Same goes for 'glucosamine' - there is NO proven benefit for glucosamine, no effect on cartilage at all.
In fact it has been disproven.
Same goes for viagara, the american middle age male population now believe they cant have sex without it. And pfizer think its their constitutional right to advertise it.
Same for echinacea and colds - not proven. Vit C and colds - not proven.
And so on.
My point is, that vitamin D is the next big thing we should all be taking, according to drug companies.
Roland if you read that article further it says - 'the findings do not establish cause and effect'. Links (such as vitamin D to wheezing in newborns) should not be interpreted as truth, although to the uneducated the difference is minimal. And how can it 'therefore' be good for adults?

Vitamin D is an important chemical, no doubt. It's involved in alot of cellular functions, but our body automatically handles it. Has been for 100,000+ years.

And there are likely a half a billion elderly people on this planet who are deficient in vitamin D, but are leading normal lives and will do so till they die. And they will never know the difference. Just because a level of vit D is called - deficient - does not mean it needs a treatment.

The entire supplement industry could fall into a black hole, and NOTHING would change.
Now go for a 5 minute walk in the sun, its a nice day.

 

[tech/a]

I tend to agree Broadway.
There was a time when I was firmly a believer of "Natural therapies"
While I still believe an holistic approach is best and all in moderation,I am now firmly in Julia and Your court.

A very good friend of mine owned a health food store.
At 50 she was amazing--looked late 30s.
Was a feak with health from juicing to exercise to avoiding pesticides---you name it!
At 53 diagnosed with breast cancer and needed a small lump of around the size of a thumb nail removed.
She declared that she would beat the cancer naturally.
My exact words to her were that she was gambling a very high price--her life.
2 yrs later she died. Would still be alive today had she had the initial lump removed.

Of the 8 people I know who have been diagnosed with terminal cancer only one is surviving and he did not go down the "natural' therapies road.
All the others did.