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Vitamin D protects bone, preserves muscle strength, and regulates cell growth and energy metabolism. It also offers some protection against cancer and other disease, but are these effects really important for health and life expectancy? The answer seems to be a resounding yes.

Immunosteroid as a regulator for Th1/Th2 balance: its possible role in autoimmune diseases. Matsuzaki J, Tsuji T, Imazeki I, Ikeda H, Nishimura T. Autoimmunity. 2005 Aug;38(5):369-75. Review. PMID: 16227152

Add vitamin D to achieve our target serum level . . . HDL jumps to 50, 60, 70, even 90 mg/dl. The first few times this occurred, I thought it was an error or fluke. But now that I've witnessed this effect many dozens of time, I am convinced that it is real. Just today, I saw a 40-year old man whose starting HDL was 25 mg/dl increase to 87 mg/dl. Responses like this are supposed to be impossible. Before vitamin D, I had never witnessed increases of this magnitude.

Back to the future: a new look at 'old' vitamin D. Chun RF, Adams JS, Hewison M. J Endocrinol. 2008 Aug;198(2):261-9. Epub 2008 May 21. PMID: 18495944 DOI: 10.1677/JOE-08-0170

Cutting edge: vitamin D-mediated human antimicrobial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis is dependent on the induction of cathelicidin.\nLiu PT, Stenger S, Tang DH, Modlin RL.\nJ Immunol. 2007 Aug 15;179(4):2060-3.\nPMID: 1767546

25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the risk of mortality in the general population. Melamed ML, Michos ED, Post W, Astor B. Arch Intern Med. 2008 Aug 11;168(15):1629-37. PMID: 18695076

Vitamin D in pregnancy and lactation: maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes from human and animal studies. Kovacs CS. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Aug;88(2):520S-528S. Review. PMID: 18689394 Dosing recommendations for women during pregnancy and lactation might be best directed toward ensuring that the neonate is vitamin D-sufficient and that this sufficiency is maintained during infancy and beyond. A dose of vitamin D that provides 25(OH)D sufficiency in the mother during pregnancy should provide normal cord blood concentrations of 25(OH)D. Research has shown that during lactation, supplements administered directly to the infant can easily achieve vitamin D sufficiency; the mother needs much higher doses (100 µg or 4000 IU per day) to achieve adult-normal 25(OH)D concentrations in her exclusively breastfed infant. In addition, the relation (if any) of vitamin D insufficiency in the fetus or neonate to long-term nonskeletal outcomes such as type 1 diabetes and other chronic diseases needs to be investigated.

The high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency across Australian populations is only partly explained by season and latitude. van der Mei IA, Ponsonby AL, Engelsen O, Pasco JA, McGrath JJ, Eyles DW, Blizzard L, Dwyer T, Lucas R, Jones G. Environ Health Perspect. 2007 Aug;115(8):1132-9. PMID: 17687438 doi: 10.1289/ehp.9937. Conclusion Vitamin D insufficiency is common over a wide latitude range in Australia. Season appears to be more important than latitude, but both accounted for less than one-fifth of the variation in serum 25(OH)D levels, highlighting the importance of behavioral factors. Current sun exposure guidelines do not seem to fully prevent vitamin D insufficiency, and consideration should be given to their modification or to pursuing other means to achieve vitamin D adequacy.

Seasonality of UV-radiation and vitamin D status at 69 degrees north. Brustad M, Edvardsen K, Wilsgaard T, Engelsen O, Aksnes L, Lund E. Photochem Photobiol Sci. 2007 Aug;6(8):903-8. Epub 2007 Jun 27. PMID: 17668121 The generally high dietary intakes of vitamin D, especially in winter, mask largely the effect of seasonal variation in UV-exposure, causing an atypical seasonal variation in vitamin D status. The UV-hour variable significantly predicted 25(OH)D levels in blood when adjusted for intakes and artificial UV-radiation exposure and sun holidays abroad.

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and the risk of ovarian cancer. Toriola AT, Surcel HM, Agborsangaya C, Grankvist K, Tuohimaa P, Toniolo P, Lukanova A, Pukkala E, Lehtinen M. Eur J Cancer. 2009 Aug 25. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19713101 doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2009.08.002 Conclusion Overall, we did not observe a significant association between serum 25-OHD concentrations and the risk of ovarian cancer. However, we found evidence suggestive of an increased risk among women with low to insufficient serum 25-OHD concentrations.

Measuring 25-hydroxyvitamin D in a clinical environment: challenges and needs. Hollis BW. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Aug;88(2):507S-510S. Review. PMID: 18689391 In this article, I provide an overview of the techniques available for measuring 25(OH)D, compare these techniques with one another, and assess their clinical utility. I also briefly discuss the stability of 25(OH)D in biological media and present an overview of the Vitamin D External Quality Assessment Scheme.

African Americans, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and osteoporosis: a paradox. Aloia JF. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Aug;88(2):545S-550S. Review. PMID: 18689399

Plasma vitamin D and 25OHD responses of young and old men to supplementation with vitamin D3. Harris SS, Dawson-Hughes B. J Am Coll Nutr. 2002 Aug;21(4):357-62. PMID: 12166534 Conclusions: There appears to be no age-related impairment among men in the absorption or metabolism of 20 µg/day of vitamin D3 taken orally for at least eight weeks.

"A study conducted by Cedric Garland and other prominent vitamin D researchers determined that women with vitamin D levels above 52 ng/ml have half the risk of developing breast cancer as those with 13 ng/ml! Garland (et al) estimates that 58,000 new cases of breast cancer in the U.S. could be prevented per year by raising vitamin D levels to 52 ng/ml. Imagine what the global impact could be! "

25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the risk of mortality in the general population. Melamed ML, Michos ED, Post W, Astor B. Arch Intern Med. 2008 Aug 11;168(15):1629-37. PMID: 18695076 Conclusion The lowest quartile of 25(OH)D level (<17.8 ng/mL) is independently associated with all-cause mortality in the general population.

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

Low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are associated with greater all-cause mortality in older community-dwelling women. Semba RD, Houston DK, Ferrucci L, Cappola AR, Sun K, Guralnik JM, Fried LP. Nutr Res. 2009 Aug;29(8):525-30. PMID: 19761886 doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2009.07.007 Older community-dwelling women with low 25(OH)D levels are at an increased risk of death.

"Let's shine some sunlight on these knowledge deficiencies: * Serum vitamin D levels have been dropping (as chronic inflammation has been increasing) over the last three decades -- has something changed in our diets? * Vitamin D deficiencies occur globally (not restricted to Northern latitudes or winter) -- related to diet? * Women are more vulnerable, because of cultural modesty in some countries, but males are still D-deficient. * A subset of people exposed to ample sunshine are still D-deficient. * Vitamin D deficient individuals also have elevated TNF. * Vitamin D deficiency and inflammation are risk factors in the same diseases. It seems that the simplest conclusion is that chronic inflammation leads to vitamin D deficiency, even though vitamin D deficiency may also contribute to inflammation."