Group items tagged

Calcium Associated With Lower Risk Of Cancer In Women\nScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2009) - Women with higher intake of calcium appear to have a lower risk of cancer overall, and both men and women with high calcium intakes have lower risks of colorectal cancer and other cancers of the digestive system, according to a report in the February 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: results of a randomized trial. Lappe JM, Travers-Gustafson D, Davies KM, Recker RR, Heaney RP. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jun;85(6):1586-91. Erratum in: Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Mar;87(3):794. PMID: 17556697 Conclusions: Improving calcium and vitamin D nutritional status substantially reduces all-cancer risk in postmenopausal women.

Meta-analysis of vitamin D, calcium and the prevention of breast cancer. Chen P, Hu P, Xie D, Qin Y, Wang F, Wang H. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009 Oct 23. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19851861 These results provide strong evidence that vitamin D and calcium have a chemopreventive effect against breast cancer.

The vitamin K2 story, though still preliminary, is becoming increasingly interesting from the perspective of CT heart score reduction. The origin of this concept came from some unexpected observations. One, the observation that osteoporosis (lack of bone calcium that leads to fractures) arises from deficiency of vitamin K2. Two, deficiency of K2 leads to unrestrained calcium deposition in animal models, leading to heart attack in just weeks.

Calcium absorption varies within the reference range for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D. Heaney RP, Dowell MS, Hale CA, Bendich A. J Am Coll Nutr. 2003 Apr;22(2):142-6. PMID: 12672710

Vitamin K has been known as the coagulation vitamin, because of its role in the blood-clotting process. However, research over the last few decades has shown that the role of K Vitamins - and natural Vitamin K2, the menaquinones, in particular - has been greatly expanded. Of note, K Vitamins activity outside the liver is required for calcium utilization, the key factor in maintaining both bone and cardiovascular health.\n\nVitamin K2 helps to activate vitamin K-dependent proteins responsible for healthy tissues. In bone, it activates osteocalcin, a protein required to bind calcium to the mineral matrix, thus strengthening the skeleton. In circulation, Vitamin K2 participates in carboxylation of Matrix Gla Protein (MGP), the most potent inhibitor of arterial calcification known, lowering the risk of vascular damage.

Pittas AG, Lau J, Hu FB, Dawson-Hughes B. \nThe role of vitamin D and calcium in type 2 diabetes. A systematic review and meta-analysis.\nJ Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Jun;92(6):2017-29. Epub 2007 Mar 27. Review.\nPMID: 17389701 [PubMed - indexed for MEDL

Lappe JM, Travers-Gustafson D, Davies KM, Recker RR, Heaney RP. \nVitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: results of a randomized trial.\nAm J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jun;85(6):1586-91.\nPMID: 17556697 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Heaney RP. \nLong-latency deficiency disease: insights from calcium and vitamin D.\nAm J Clin Nutr. 2003 Nov;78(5):912-9. Review.\nPMID: 14594776 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is essential for maintaining normal calcium metabolism (1). Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) can be synthesized by humans in the skin upon exposure to ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation from sunlight, or it can be obtained from the diet. Plants synthesize ergosterol, which is converted to vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) by ultraviolet light. Vitamin D2 is less active in birds than vitamin D3 and may also be less active in humans (2). When exposure to UVB radiation is insufficient for the synthesis of adequate amounts of vitamin D3 in the skin, adequate intake of vitamin D from the diet is essential for health.

Strong correlations have been noted between cardiovascular diseases and low bone density / osteoporosis-connections so strong that the presence of one is considered a likely predictor of the other. This relationship has led to the hypothesis that these conditions share core pathophysiological mechanisms. Recent advances in our understanding of the complimentary roles played by vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 in vascular and bone health provide support for this hypothesis, along with insight into key metabolic dysfunctions underlying cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Part II, The Vitamin K Connection to Cardiovascular Health, reviews the ways in which vitamin K regulates calcium utlization, preventing vascular and soft tissue calcification while complimenting the bone-building actions of vitamin D, and also discusses vitamin K safety and dosage issues, and the necessity of providing vitamin K and vitamin A along with vitamin D to preclude adverse effects associated with hypervitaminosis D.

Vitamin D deficiency an important, common, and easily treatable cardiovascular risk factor?\nLee JH, O'Keefe JH, Bell D, Hensrud DD, Holick MF.\nJ Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Dec 9;52(24):1949-56. Review.\nPMID: 19055985

Does nutritional intake differ between children with autism spectrum disorders and children with typical development? Herndon AC, Diguiseppi C, Johnson SL, Leiferman J, Reynolds A. J Autism Dev Disord. 2009 Feb;39(2):212-22. Epub 2008 Jul 4. PMID: 18600441 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-008-0606-2

Long-term effects of giving nursing home residents bread fortified with 125 {micro}g (5000 IU) vitamin D3 per daily serving. Mocanu V, Stitt PA, Costan AR, Voroniuc O, Zbranca E, Luca V, Vieth R. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Feb 25. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19244376

Dietary linolenic acid is inversely associated with calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries: the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Family Heart Study. Djoussé L, Arnett DK, Carr JJ, Eckfeldt JH, Hopkins PN, Province MA, Ellison RC; Investigators of the NHLBI FHS. Circulation. 2005 Jun 7;111(22):2921-6. Epub 2005 May 31. PMID: 15927976 doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.104.489534