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Fatigue fractures in military conscripts : A study on risk factors, diagnostics and long-term consequences Ruohola, Juha-Petri University of Helsinki, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Helsinki University Central Hospital Centre of Military Medicine, Helsinki 2007-03-09 Doctoral dissertation (article-based) It seems likely that low vitamin D levels are related to fatigue fractures, and that an increasing trend exists between TRACP-5b bone resorption marker elevation and fatigue fracture incidence. Though seldom detected by plain radiography, fatigue fractures often underlie unclear lower leg stress-related pain occurring in the distal parts of the tibia. Femoral neck fatigue fractures, when displaced, lead to long-term morbidity in a high percentage of patients, whereas, when non-displaced, they do not predispose patients to subsequent adverse complications. Importantly, an educational intervention can diminish the incidence of fracture displacement by enhancing awareness and providing instructions for earlier diagnosis of fatigue fractures

Vitamin D Status and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Death. Kilkkinen A, Knekt P, Aro A, Rissanen H, Marniemi J, Heliövaara M, Impivaara O, Reunanen A. Am J Epidemiol. 2009 Sep 17. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19762371 doi:10.1093/aje/kwp227 A low vitamin D level may be associated with higher risk of a fatal CVD event, particularly cerebrovascular death. These findings need to be replicated in other populations. To demonstrate a causal link between vitamin D and CVD, randomized controlled trials are required.

Association of vitamin D deficiency with heart failure and sudden cardiac death in a large cross-sectional study of patients referred for coronary angiography. Pilz S, März W, Wellnitz B, Seelhorst U, Fahrleitner-Pammer A, Dimai HP, Boehm BO, Dobnig H. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Oct;93(10):3927-35. Epub 2008 Aug 5. PMID: 18682515 doi:10.1210/jc.2008-0784 Conclusions: Low levels of 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)2D are associated with prevalent myocardial dysfunction, deaths due to heart failure and SCD. Interventional trials are warranted to elucidate whether vitamin D supplementation is useful for treatment and/or prevention of myocardial diseases.

Feb. 23, 2009 -- A walk in the sun may be better than popping a vitamin C tablet for boosting your chances of preventing the common cold or flu.\n\nA new study adds to mounting evidence that vitamin C may have been stealing the spotlight all these years from the real cold fighter, vitamin D.

A large number of new vitamin D studies have appeared in the scientific literature since I wrote my plea to the federal government. These studies don't just confirm what we knew 16 months ago-they show that optimizing vitamin D intake will save even more lives than what we projected. Vitamin D More Effective Than Previously Known For instance, a study published in June 2008 showed that men with low vitamin D levels suffer 2.42 times more heart attacks. Now look what this means in actual body counts.

According to a study conducted by University of Wisconsin researchers, even people who are regularly exposed to sunlight can have low vitamin D levels. The study focused on subjects who lived in sunny Hawaii and spent an average of 11.1 hours in the sun each week. (None of the participants in the study used any type of sunscreen.) Despite the exposure, 51 percent of participants were found to be deficient in vitamin D.

"Women with fertility problems may benefit from taking vitamin D supplements, research has found. A study has found a link between low levels of Vitamin D and problems with ovulation. The research may offer a simple, cheap and safe option for women to try before resorting to drugs."

"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. In the US and Canada, official vitamin D policy is set by the Institute of Medicine. And in the opinion of Vieth, the current recommendations - 200 International Units per day for people under 50, 400 for people aged 51-70, and 600 for those 71 and older - are outrageously low. Bruce Hollis, professor of paediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina, calls 400 IU a day "a joke". That's because the best research suggests that to achieve the higher vitamin D blood levels associated with disease prevention, most adults in the US would need to take 1,000-2,000 IU a day: five to 10 times more than the current official recommendation for adult In 1999, Reinhold Vieth (pictured right) published a review of vitamin D research in response to the IOM conclusions. In it, he argued that there was no evidence that amounts lower than 20,000 IU a day could be toxic. "Throughout my preparation of this review, I was amazed at the lack of evidence supporting statements about the toxicity of moderate doses of vitamin D," Vieth wrote. Studies have since shown 10,000 IU a day of vitamin D to be safe. While any substance will become toxic in excess, vitamin D researchers today accept that the current vitamin D recommendations could be more than quadrupled with no fear of toxicity.!

Vitamin D and calcium insufficiency-related chronic diseases: molecular and cellular pathophysiology. Peterlik M, Cross HS. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009 Dec;63(12):1377-86. Epub 2009 Sep 2. PMID: 19724293 doi:10.1038/ejcn.2009.105 A compromised vitamin D status, characterized by low 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-(OH)D) serum levels, and a nutritional calcium deficit are widely encountered in European and North American countries, independent of age or gender. Both conditions are linked to the pathogenesis of many degenerative, malignant, inflammatory and metabolic diseases. Studies on tissue-specific expression and activity of vitamin D metabolizing enzymes, 25-(OH)D-1alpha-hydroxylase and 25-(OH)D-24-hydroxylase, and of the extracellular calcium-sensing receptor (CaR) have led to the understanding of how, in non-renal tissues and cellular systems, locally produced 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-(OH)2D3) and extracellular Ca2+ act jointly as key regulators of cellular proliferation, differentiation and function. Impairment of cooperative signalling from the 1,25-(OH)2D3-activated vitamin D receptor (VDR) and from the CaR in vitamin D and calcium insufficiency causes cellular dysfunction in many organs and biological systems, and, therefore, increases the risk of diseases, particularly of osteoporosis, colorectal and breast cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus type I, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Understanding the underlying molecular and cellular processes provides a rationale for advocating adequate intake of vitamin D and calcium in all populations, thereby preventing many chronic diseases worldwide.

Vitamin D and mood disorders among women: an integrative review. Murphy PK, Wagner CL. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2008 Sep-Oct;53(5):440-6. Review. PMID: 18761297 Four of six studies reviewed imparted significant results, with all four showing an association between low 25(OH)D levels and higher incidences of four mood disorders: premenstrual syndrome, seasonal affective disorder, non-specified mood disorder, and major depressive disorder. This review indicates a possible biochemical mechanism occurring between vitamin D and mood disorders affecting women, warranting further studies of these variables using rigorous methodologies.

"If you're running low on vitamin D - as an estimated 70 percent of the U.S. population is - your immune system may not be functioning as well as it should. As a result, you may be more vulnerable to infectious diseases than you would if your vitamin D levels were optimal. Worse, you could be at higher than normal risk of a long list of diseases including heart disease and several kinds of cancer. A report recently published journal, Future Microbiology, highlighted research at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, which has shown that vitamin D induces expression of an antimicrobial peptide gene called cathelicidin that is the "first line of defense" in the immune system's response to minor wounds, cuts and bacterial and viral infections. The regulation of cathelicidin by vitamin D could help explain its vital role in immune function. The report noted that vitamin D is a key cofactor in reducing inflammation, in blood pressure control and helping to protect against heart disease. Author Adrian Gombart explains that there is still much to explore about D's mechanisms of action, the potential use of synthetic analogs of it in new treatments, and its duty in fighting infection."

Vitamin D and mortality in older men and women. Pilz S, Dobnig H, Nijpels G, Heine RJ, Stehouwer CD, Snijder MB, van Dam RM, Dekker JM. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2009 Nov;71(5):666-72. Epub 2009 Feb 18. PMID: 19226272 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2009.03548.x Conclusions Low 25(OH)D levels are associated with all-cause mortality and even more pronounced with cardiovascular mortality, but it remains unclear whether vitamin D deficiency is a cause or a consequence of a poor health status. Therefore, intervention studies are warranted to evaluate whether vitamin D supplementation reduces mortality and cardiovascular diseases.

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Too little vitamin D could be bad for more than your bones; it may also lead to fatter adolescents, researchers say.\n\nA Medical College of Georgia study of more than 650 teens age 14-19 has found that those who reported higher vitamin D intakes had lower overall body fat and lower amounts of the fat in the abdomen, a type of fat known as visceral fat, which has been associated with health risks such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and hypertension

According to a recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 75 percent of Americans do not get enough Vitamin D. Researchers have found that the deficiency may negatively impact immune function and cardiovascular health and increase cancer risk. Now, a University of Missouri nutritional sciences researcher has found that vitamin D deficiency is associated with inflammation, a negative response of the immune system, in healthy women.

Serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha concentrations are negatively correlated with serum 25(OH)D concentrations in healthy women. Peterson CA, Heffernan ME. J Inflamm (Lond). 2008 Jul 24;5:10. PMID: 18652680 doi:10.1186/1476-9255-5-10 Conclusion Serum 25(OH)D status is inversely related to TNF-α concentrations in healthy women, which may in part explain this vitamin's role in the prevention and treatment of inflammatory diseases. Results gleaned from this investigation also support the need to re-examine the biological basis for determining optimal vitamin D status.

Albert et al. Vitamin D: The alternative hypothesis. Autoimmunity Reviews, 2009 doi:10.1016/j.autrev.2009.02.011 

Not enough vitamin D: health consequences for Canadians.\nSchwalfenberg G.\nCan Fam Physician. 2007 May;53(5):841-54. Review.\nPMID: 17872747 \n

An association of serum vitamin D concentrations < 40 nmol/L with acute respiratory tract infection in young Finnish men.\nLaaksi I, Ruohola JP, Tuohimaa P, Auvinen A, Haataja R, Pihlajamäki H, Ylikomi T.\nAm J Clin Nutr. 2007 Sep;86(3):714-7.\nPMID: 17823437

In the July 2005 FASEB Journal, Adrian F. Gombart of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and his colleagues reported that vitamin D boosts production in white blood cells of one of the antimicrobial compounds that defends the body against germs.\n\nImmediately, Cannell says, the proverbial lightbulb went on in his head: Maybe the high doses of vitamin D that he had been prescribing to virtually all the men on his ward had boosted their natural arsenal of the antimicrobial, called cathelicidin, and protected them from flu. Cannell had been administering the vitamin D because his patients, like many other people in the industrial world, had shown a deficiency: