Vitamin D

"Lisa is one of early success stories: a heart scan score of 447 in her early 40's, modest reduction of CT heart scan score three years ago.

However, Lisa had a difficult time locating oil-based vitamin D. There has, in fact, been a national run on vitamin D and I'm told that even manufacturers are scrambling to keep up with the booming demand. So, she bought tablets instead and was taking 3000 units per day.

She came in for a routine check. Lisa's 25-OH-vitamin D3: 17 ng/ml, signifying severe deficiency, the same as if she were taking nothing at all. (Recall that we aim for 50 ng/ml.)

In other words, vitamin D tablets do not work. It is shameful. I see numerous women taking calcium tablets with D--the vitamin D does not work. I've actually seen blood levels of zero on these preparations. "

Multiple Sclerosis Blog
By Julie Stachowiak, Ph.D.,

"Powerful new evidence about the ability of vitamin D to stem a wide range of diseases has brought the prospect of a nationwide programme to prescribe it in Scotland as a dietary supplement significantly closer.

Reports at the weekend suggested that experts were increasingly convinced that the so-called sunshine drug - whose significance was first revealed in detail by The Times last year - could make a difference to the country's appalling health record.

New research suggests that high doses of vitamin D could dramatically cut the relapse rate in people with multiple sclerosis. According to scientists in Canada, more than a third of sufferers taking high levels of supplement

"April 28, 2009 (Seattle) -- High doses of vitamin D dramatically cut the relapse rate in people with multiple sclerosis, a study shows.

Sixteen percent of 25 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) given an average of 14,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day for a year suffered relapses, says Jodie Burton, MD, a neurologist at the University of Toronto. In contrast, close to 40% of 24 MS patients who took an average of 1,000 IU a day -- the amount recommended by many MS specialists -- relapsed, she says.

Also, people taking high-dose vitamin D suffered 41% fewer relapses than the year before the study began, compared with 17% of those taking typical doses.

People taking high doses of vitamin D did not suffer any significant side effects, Burton tells WebMD."

Safety of vitamin D3 in adults with multiple sclerosis.
Kimball SM, Ursell MR, O'Connor P, Vieth R.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Sep;86(3):645-51.
PMID: 17823429

Conclusions: Patients' serum 25(OH)D concentrations reached twice the top of the physiologic range without eliciting hypercalcemia or hypercalciuria. The data support the feasibility of pharmacologic doses of vitamin D3 for clinical research, and they provide objective evidence that vitamin D intake beyond the current upper limit is safe by a large margin.

"In 1995 my son received the devastating diagnosis of MS. Having been a research scientist for 30 years, I decided to plunge into the scientific literature for MS to determine the most likely factors which cause MS and to use this information to develop an effective therapy for my son.

Notably, many people are having great success in halting or greatly slowing MS with nutritional strategies; many Testimonials are available. I am most pleased to report that my son remains in excellent health with no MS symptoms.

I discovered abundant scientific evidence that indicates that various nutritional factors potentially play major roles in the onset and progression of MS. Strangely, this information was not being made available to persons with MS by doctors nor by established MS charities."

"This website is about Vitamin D and MS

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system (CNS), with an uncertain cause. Colleen Hayes and Donald Achaeson have suggested that insufficient sunlight exposure and chronic viral infections might be unrelated environmental risk factors for MS. These risk factors may act synergistically to enable the pathogenic autoimmune response.

The prevalence of MS is highest where environmental supplies of vitamin D are lowest. Sunshine enables the production of vitamin D3 (VD3) in the skin. Epidemiological studies have shown that higher vitamin D blood levels are associated with lower risk, less relapses and a slower progression of multiple sclerosis. Higher vitamin D levels can be achieved in part by increased oral intake of VD3.

Optimal health requires serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D levels higher than 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L) P Lips, 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L) P Heaney or at least 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L) R Vieth. "

Professor Departments of Nutritional Sciences, Laboratory Medicine, and Pathobiology, Bone and Mineral Laboratory, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine,
University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada M5S 3E2
Mount Sinai Hospital, 600 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

"Dr. Jodie Burton is the acting principal investigator (PI) of the dose-escalation trial of oral vitamin D3 with calcium supplementation in patients with multiple sclerosis with Dr. O'Connor. She started the trial as his fellow, while doing an additional 2 years of training in MS specifically after she received her neurology certification. She completed her fellowship training in 2007. Now she is staff doing clinical research and continuing with the vitamin D trial. As of August 2009, she will be Assistant Professor in Neurology in the Department of Clinical Neuroscience in Calgary and at the University of Calgary. She will be part of the MS team there with Dr. Luanne Metz and the MS group.

Please scroll down for an abstract of the trial:
A Phase I/II dose-escalation trial of oral vitamin D3 with calcium supplementation in patients with multiple sclerosis."

Conclusions:
High-dose VD3 (~10 000 IU/day, possibly higher) in MS is safe and tolerable, with evidence of clinical improvement."

Effectiveness and safety of vitamin D in relation to bone health.
Cranney A, Horsley T, O'Donnell S, Weiler H, Puil L, Ooi D, Atkinson S, Ward L, Moher D, Hanley D, Fang M, Yazdi F, Garritty C, Sampson M, Barrowman N, Tsertsvadze A, Mamaladze V.
Evid Rep Technol Assess (Full Rep). 2007 Aug;(158):1-235. Review.
PMID: 18088161

Vitamin D and cognitive performance in adults: a systematic review.
Annweiler C, Allali G, Allain P, Bridenbaugh S, Schott AM, Kressig RW, Beauchet O.
Eur J Neurol. 2009 Oct;16(10):1083-9. Epub 2009 Jul 29.
PMID: 19659751
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2009.02755.x

This systematic review shows that the association between serum 25OHD concentrations and cognitive performance is not yet clearly established. The inconclusive results of the reviewed studies could be due to methodology, types of the cognitive tasks used and/or the cellular mechanisms of vitamin D.

Vitamin D-Related Changes in Physical Performance: A Systematic Review.
Annweiler C, Schott AM, Berrut G, Fantino B, Beauchet O.
J Nutr Health Aging. 2009;13(10):893-898.
PMID: 19924350

Conclusions: The findings show that the association between vitamin D and physical performance remains controversial. Observational studies and clinical trials yielded divergent results, which highlights the complex and to date still poorly understood association between serum vitamin D concentration or vitamin D supplementation and physical performance.

"(NaturalNews) Treatment with vitamin D supplements may slow the progress of , according to a study published in the journal BJU International.

In the United States, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among men, after lung cancer. Approximately 240,000 new cases are diagnosed every year, leading to 30,000 deaths.

Researchers have suspected for nearly two decades that the so-called "sunshine vitamin" may play a role in the risk and progression of prostate cancer, but no studies have previously been conducted on its usefulness as a treatment."

"In a prospective study involving 6,937 men and women, higher levels of vitamin D were associated with a significantly lower risk of lung cancer in women and younger participants. During a maximum follow-up of 24 years, 122 cases of lung cancer were identified. After adjusting for potential confounders, higher serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were associated with reduced risk of lung cancer risk in women (84% reduced risk) and younger participants (66% reduced risk). No association was observed between vitamin D status and lung cancer risk in men and older participants. "

"Vitamin D may be more important to colon cancer prevention than previously believed, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 290, No. 22: 2959-2967).

The study examined people with no symptoms of colon cancer to determine what role diet, exercise, smoking, and other behaviors played in the development or not of colon polyps, small growths in the colon that can turn into cancer if they aren't removed."

Circulating vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D in humans: An important tool to define adequate nutritional vitamin D status.
Hollis BW, Wagner CL, Drezner MK, Binkley NC.
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 Mar;103(3-5):631-4. Epub 2007 Jan 10.
PMID: 17218096

In the present study, we sought to investigate what circulating 25(OH)D levels would result in populations exhibiting no substrate limitations to the vitamin D-25-hydroxylase. To perform this, we chose two distinct populations. The first were individuals from a year-found sunny environment who spent a good deal of time outdoors. The second were a group of lactating women receiving a substantial daily oral dose of vitamin D3. Surprisingly, a study such as this previously had not been undertaken. There are several reasons for this. First, finding a group of sun-exposed individuals is not an easy task; in fact, we had to go to Hawaii to find them. Secondly, very few studies have been performed where subjects actually received adequate vitamin D3 supplementation to make them replete. Finally, it is very difficult and costly to measure circulating vitamin D3 and relate it to circulating 25(OH)D. The results of our study are far-reaching.

This study also demonstrates that individuals can be vitamin D deficient with significant sun exposure if the skin area exposed is limited as was suggested several years ago (19). Finally, whether one receives their vitamin D3 orally or through UV exposure, the vitamin D-25-hydroxylase appears to handle it in an equivalent fashion with respect to maintaining circulating 25(OH)D levels. Thus, we believe that the relationship between circulating vitamin D and 25(OH)D may define adequate nutritional vitamin D status.

Nutritional vitamin D status during pregnancy: reasons for concern.
Hollis BW, Wagner CL.
CMAJ. 2006 Apr 25;174(9):1287-90.
PMID: 16636329
doi:10.1503/cmaj.060149.

Assessment of dietary vitamin D requirements during pregnancy and lactation.
Hollis BW, Wagner CL.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 May;79(5):717-26. Review.
PMID: 15113709

We found that high-dose maternal vitamin D supplementation not only improves the nutritional vitamin D status of breastfeeding infants but also elevates the maternal concentrations into the mid-normal range. Thus, a dual benefit is achieved from high-dose maternal supplementation. It is noteworthy that in the Finnish study, the authors added a disclaimer, "A sufficient supply of vitamin D to the breastfed infant is achieved only by increasing the maternal supplementation up to 2000 IU/d. Such a dose is far higher than the RDA [DRI] for lactating mothers [and therefore] its safety over prolonged periods is not known and should be examined by further study." This point of concern was valid when this study was conducted in 1986 (92); however, on the basis of the current findings of Vieth et al (2) and of Heaney et al (3)-which showed that vitamin D intakes <= 10 000 IU/d (250 µg) are safe for prolonged periods (up to 5 mo)-we believe that it is time to reexamine the understated DRI of vitamin D for lactating mothers. This work is now being conducted in our clinics and laboratory.

Vitamin D requirements during lactation: high-dose maternal supplementation as therapy to prevent hypovitaminosis D for both the mother and the nursing infant.
Hollis BW, Wagner CL.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Dec;80(6 Suppl):1752S-8S.
PMID: 15585800