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The Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) is preparing a vitamin D policy paper it hopes can influence European national associations considering vitamin D medical recommendations. PA International Foundation is hosting an event on the topic in Bruges, Belgium, on October 6, its 14th workshop to be held on the matter. The CPME draft paper will be presented at the convention attended by doctors, scientists, patient groups, media representatives and politicians.

What causes coronary heart disease or coronary atherosclerotic plaque, this thing that we track with heart scans? Well, here are a few little-publicized facts about heart disease that you are unlikely to hear from your When's-the-next-stent? cardiologist or the What is there besides statins? primary care doctor. (Since everybody knows that smoking is a modifiable risk for heart disease that can be readily identified, let's focus on the blood tests that reveal heart disease causes.)

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

Defining Adequate Vitamin D Intake : Cross-sectional and Intervention Studies Viljakainen, Heli Tuulikki University of Helsinki 2008-05-23 Doctoral dissertation (article-based) Vitamin D is required for normal bone growth and maintenance of the skeleton throughout life. In Finland, like in many other Western countries, the population suffers from inadequate or deficient vitamin D status, especially during winter, which is thought to increase the risk of osteoporosis. New strategies to prevent osteoporosis are actively being sought. The main objective of this thesis was to determine whether vitamin D is feasible in the primary prevention of osteoporosis; does it affect bone mineral accrual during the growth period? A second goal was to ascertain whether seasonal variation in calcitropic hormones affects bone remodelling, and to elucidate the vitamin D intake needed to overcome this variation in different age groups. In summary, vitamin D intake remains inadequate among the target groups of this thesis, as reflected by seasonal variation in calcitropic hormones and bone metabolism. Dietary intake of vitamin D should be increased to achieve at least an adequate vitamin D status (S-25-OHD>50 nmol/l) and possibly an optimal vitamin D status (S-25-OHD>80 nmol/l) throughout the year. This could be accomplished by introducing new vitamin D-fortified foods to the market."

Now a new and controversial book by an American doctor suggests that taking even higher levels of the vitamin - 10 to 15 times the recommended amounts - can work wonders. Dr James Dowd, who works at the Arthritis Institute of Michigan, has been prescribing vitamin D to people suffering from chronic disorders such as arthritis, back pain and headaches and the result, he claims, is a huge improvement in their symptoms. In his book, The Vitamin D Cure, Dr Dowd describes a number of success stories using this approach. One of his patients, Barbara, for instance, was obese, and suffered from arthritis in one leg as well as high blood pressure. As Dowd explains: "In the past I would have given her anti-inflammatory drugs, pain medication, a pill to lose weight and drug treatment for hypertension."

For many years, vitamin D was boring--even to doctors. Because it was considered good for bones and not much else, multitaskers like vitamin A, B vitamins and vitamin E hogged all the press. But recent studies have thrust this long-neglected nutrient into the spotlight. Scientists now think vitamin D may affect everything from diabetes to cancer. They're also finding that many people don't have enough of it.

"From 1955 to 1990, all infants in East Germany received 600,000 IU of Vitamin D every three months for a total of 3,600,000 IU at age 18 months. With the 400 IU/day recommendation of the American Pediatric Association in mind, I ran across this amazing paper while surfing Medline for Vitamin D. According to this paper, all infants in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) received dangerously high doses of Vitamin D every three months in their doctors office. The policy was in place for 35 years. The first 600,000 IU dose was given at three months and then every three months until the child was 18 months of age. This works out to an average of 6,000 IU per day (actually, for several technical reasons it is not equivalent) for 18 months. The authors collected blood before the dose and then 2 weeks after the quarterly dose to obtain 25(OH)D, 1,25(OH)D, and calcium levels on a total of 43 infants. Before the first dose, at 3 months of age, the average infant was extremely deficient (median 25(OH)D of 7 ng/ml). Two weeks after the first dose the average 25(OH)D level was 120 ng/ml, the second dose 170 ng/ml, the third dose, 180 ng/ml, the fourth dose, 144 ng/ml, the fifth dose, 110 ng/ml and after the sixth and final dose, 3.6 million total units, at age 18 months, the children had mean levels of 100 ng/ml. That is, by the 15 and 18 month doses, the children were beginning to effectively handle these massive doses. The highest level recorded in any of the 43 infants was 408 ng/ml at age 9 months, two weeks after the third 600,000 IU dose. Thirty-four percent of the infants had at least one episode of hypercalcemia but only 3 had an elevated serum 1,25(OH)D. The authors reported that all the infants appeared healthy, even the infant with a level of 408 ng/ml, that is, no clinical toxicity was noted in any of these infants."

"Women from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka with insulin resistance showed marked improvement after taking vitamin D supplements, says a study. Von Hurst, nutrition lecturer at the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Albany, conducted the study for her doctoral thesis. Insulin resistance is largely symptom-free and sufferers are unaware of their condition. 'Once it has fully developed into type-2 diabetes, it can be treated, but not cured,' says Von Hurst. Von Hurst says that while diet and exercise play a major part in the onset of type-2 diabetes, her findings reinforce the importance of vitamin D from the sun and supplements to prevent type-2 diabetes. She also found evidence of vitamin D increasing bone strength in older women. "

"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."

The Author The author of this site is the British writer, John Davidson. Please note that the author is neither a doctor, nor a qualified health practitioner. Every cancer patient should always consult his or her medical practitioner with regard to the use of complementary remedies or treatments, and nothing on this site should be construed in any way as medical or therapeutic advice. It is simply the result of one person's search for solutions. Please read our disclaimer. About This Site Internet searches trawl up vast amounts of information about cancer, from a broad spectrum of viewpoints. The information and internet links on this site are for those seeking to augment the treatment offered by their hospital oncology (cancer) unit. Of course, a great many other internet sites concerning cancer can be found by keying the requisite search words into any of the major search engines. The content of this site was initially prepared, at the request of medical and nursing staff and others, some weeks after I had had an emergency operation for the removal of a colon cancer, and while undergoing chemotherapy in case any cancer cells had gone AWOL. There had been some escape of cancer cells into associated lymph nodes (3 out of 17, including the most distal), but no other tumours had been picked up by a CT scan. When I returned home from hospital in September 2005, with the help of friends, I started doing some research on cancer. I was amazed to discover that despite the billions of pounds/euros/dollars etc. spent on cancer research, and the many advances in understanding the numerous variants of the disease, the standard treatment for my stage of colon cancer is still a drug (fluorouracil, also called 5FU) that has been in use for more than forty years, has uncomfortable side effects, and which only increases the chances of survival after five years by 5 to 10%.

Good Information

Podiatrists provide medical and surgical care for people suffering foot, ankle, and lower leg problems. They diagnose illnesses, treat injuries, and perform surgery.

Vitamin D, nervous system and aging. P. Tuohimaa, T. Keisala, A. Minasyan, J. Cachat and A. Kalueff. . Psychoneuroendocrinology, Volume 34, Supplement 1, December 2009, Pages S278-S286 NEUROACTIVE STEROIDS: EFFECTS AND MECHANISMS OF ACTION doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.07.003 This is a mini-review of vitamin D3, its active metabolites and their functioning in the central nervous system (CNS), especially in relation to nervous system pathologies and aging. The vitamin D3 endocrine system consists of 3 active calcipherol hormones: calcidiol (25OHD3), 1α-calcitriol (1α,25(OH)2D3) and 24-calcitriol (24,25(OH)2D3). The impact of the calcipherol hormone system on aging, health and disease is discussed. Low serum calcidiol concentrations are associated with an increased risk of several chronic diseases including osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, hypertension, atherosclerosis and muscle weakness all of which can be considered aging-related diseases. The relationship of many of these diseases and aging-related changes in physiology show a U-shaped response curve to serum calcidiol concentrations. Clinical data suggest that vitamin D3 insufficiency is associated with an increased risk of several CNS diseases, including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, seasonal affective disorder and schizophrenia. In line with this, recent animal and human studies suggest that vitamin D insufficiency is associated with abnormal development and functioning of the CNS. Overall, imbalances in the calcipherol system appear to cause abnormal function, including premature aging, of the CNS.

My doctor advised us to give Vitamin D to both our children, though our son is more than 4 year old. I decided to find out more about it. I surfed the Internet, read the description of the vitamin (here Canadian Pharmacy site https://www.canadapharmacy.com/ helped me a lot). Finally, I decided to give it to my children. But I didn't know, it is good for adults. Thanks for sharing this information, it is very useful for me!