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.
Vitamin D production in human skin occurs only when UV radiation exceeds a threshold. From simulations of UV irradiances, the VitD www page ( http://zardoz.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD.html) computes the daily duration of dermal vitamin D production at midday when UV radiation exceeds the required threshold. The daily duration depends on latitude, time, total ozone, clouds, aerosols, surface reflectivity and altitude all of which can be specified by the user
Vitamin D production in human skin occurs only when UV radiation exceeds a threshold. From simulations of UV irradiances, the VitD-ez www page ( http://zardoz.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD-ez.html) computes the daily duration of dermal vitamin D production at midday when UV radiation exceeds the required threshold. The VitD-ez www page is a simplified version of the more complex VitD web page ( http://zardoz.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD.html). The simplified VitD-ez www page is convenient for users unfamiliar to radiative transfer modelling, because the model input is limited and more intuitive.
Daily duration of vitamin D synthesis in human skin with relation to latitude, total ozone, altitude, ground cover, aerosols and cloud thickness.
Engelsen O, Brustad M, Aksnes L, Lund E.
Photochem Photobiol. 2005 Nov-Dec;81(6):1287-90.
PMID: 16354110
Vitamin D production in human skin occurs only when incident UV radiation exceeds a certain threshold. From simulations of UV irradiances worldwide and throughout the year, we have studied the dependency of the extent and duration of cutaneous vitamin D production in terms of latitude, time, total ozone, clouds, aerosols, surface reflectivity and altitude. For clear atmospheric conditions, no cutaneous vitamin D production occurs at 51 degrees latitude and higher during some periods of the year. At 70 degrees latitude, vitamin D synthesis can be absent for 5 months. Clouds, aerosols and thick ozone events reduce the duration of vitamin D synthesis considerably, and can suppress vitamin D synthesis completely even at the equator. A web page allowing the computation of the duration of cutaneous vitamin D production worldwide throughout the year, for various atmospheric and surface conditions, is available on the Internet at http://zardoz.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD.html and http://zardoz.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD-ez.html. The computational methodology is outlined here.
Vitamin D deficiency is the cause of common obesity.
Foss YJ.
Med Hypotheses. 2009 Mar;72(3):314-21. Epub 2008 Dec 2.
PMID: 19054627
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2008.10.005
Common obesity and the metabolic syndrome may therefore result from an anomalous adaptive winter response. The stimulus for the winter response is proposed to be a fall in vitamin D. The synthesis of vitamin D is dependent upon the absorption of radiation in the ultraviolet-B range of sunlight. At ground level at mid-latitudes, UV-B radiation falls in the autumn and becomes negligible in winter. It has previously been proposed that vitamin D evolved in primitive organisms as a UV-B sensitive photoreceptor with the function of signaling changes in sunlight intensity. It is here proposed that a fall in vitamin D in the form of circulating calcidiol is the stimulus for the winter response, which consists of an accumulation of fat mass (obesity) and the induction of a winter metabolism (the metabolic syndrome). Vitamin D deficiency can account for the secular trends in the prevalence of obesity and for individual differences in its onset and severity. It may be possible to reverse the increasing prevalence of obesity by improving vitamin D status.
The solar UV radiation level needed for cutaneous production of vitamin D3 in the face. A study conducted among subjects living at a high latitude (68 degrees N).
Edvardsen K, Brustad M, Engelsen O, Aksnes L.
Photochem Photobiol Sci. 2007 Jan;6(1):57-62. Epub 2006 Nov 10.
PMID: 17200737
Explaining multiple sclerosis prevalence by ultraviolet exposure: a geospatial analysis.
Beretich B, Beretich T.
Mult Scler. 2009 Aug;15(8):891-8.
PMID: 19667017
DOI: 10.1177/1352458509105579
Conclusion
This analysis suggests a strong association between UV radiation and MS distribution, and an increase in risk for MS in those areas with a low UVI.
Robert P. Heaney is John A. Creighton University Professor, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, United States.
Hominid evolution took place in an environment (equatorial East Africa) that provided a superabundance of both calcium and vitamin D, the first in available foods and the second through conversion of 7-dehydrocholesterol to pre-vitamin D in the skin, a reaction catalysed by the intense solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Seemingly as a consequence, the evolving human physiology incorporated provisions to prevent the potential of toxic excesses of both nutrients. For vitamin D the protection was of two sorts: skin pigmentation absorbed the critical UV wavelengths and thereby limited dermal synthesis of cholecalciferol; and slow delivery of vitamin D from the skin into the bloodstream left surplus vitamin in the skin, where continuing sun exposure led to its photolytic degradation to inert compounds. For calcium, the adaptation consisted of very inefficient calcium absorption, together with poor to absent systemic conservation. The latter is reflected in unregulated dermal calcium losses, a high sensitivity of renal obligatory calcium loss to other nutrients in the diet and relatively high quantities of calcium in the digestive secretions.
Today, chimpanzees in the original hominid habitat have diets with calcium nutrient densities in the range of 2 to 2.5 mmol per 100 kcal, and hunter-gatherer humans in Africa, South America and New Guinea still have diets very nearly as high in calcium (1.75 to 2 mmol per 100 kcal) (Eaton and Nelson, 1991). With energy expenditure of 3 000 kcal per day (a fairly conservative estimate for a contemporary human doing physical work), such diets would provide substantially in excess of 50 mmol of calcium per day. By contrast, median intake in women in North America and in many European countries today is under 15 mmol per day.
Two factors altered the primitive situation: the migration of humans from Africa to higher latitude
An ecologic study of dietary and solar ultraviolet-B links to breast carcinoma mortality rates.
Grant WB.
Cancer. 2002 Jan 1;94(1):272-81.
PMID: 11815987
CONCLUSIONS
It is hypothesized that animal products are associated with risk for breast carcinoma because they are associated with greater amounts of insulin-like growth factor-1and lifetime doses of estrogen. Vegetable products contain several risk reduction components including antioxidants and phytoestrogens. The association with latitude is very likely because of solar UV-B radiation and vitamin D. Alcohol modulates estrogen's effects on breasts. Fish intake is associated with risk reduction through vitamin D and n-3 oils. These results are consistent with those of many case-control and cohort studies but should be assessed in well designed cohort studies.
Low vitamin D status despite abundant sun exposure.
Binkley N, Novotny R, Krueger D, Kawahara T, Daida YG, Lensmeyer G, Hollis BW, Drezner MK.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Jun;92(6):2130-5. Epub 2007 Apr 10.
PMID: 17426097
doi:10.1210/jc.2006-2250
CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that variable responsiveness to UVB radiation is evident among individuals, causing some to have low vitamin D status despite abundant sun exposure. In addition, because the maximal 25(OH)D concentration produced by natural UV exposure appears to be approximately 60 ng/ml, it seems prudent to use this value as an upper limit when prescribing vitamin D supplementation.
Duration of vitamin D synthesis from weather model data for use in prospective epidemiological studies.
Edvardsen K, Engelsen O, Brustad M.
Int J Biometeorol. 2009 Sep;53(5):451-9. Epub 2009 May 15.
PMID: 19444487
An acknowledged benefit of exposure to ultraviolet radiation is synthesis of vitamin D in human skin. Here we have defined a standard vitamin D dose based upon recommended requirements for vitamin D, and present a web-based tool that enables the user to calculate associated exposure times for any time and place ( http://nadir.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD_quartMED.html). The recommended UV exposure times depends on latitude, time, total ozone, clouds, aerosols, surface reflectivity and altitude all of which can be specified by the user. A simpler version for non-experts is available at http://nadir.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD-ez_quartMED.html
Decreased bioavailability of vitamin D in obesity.
Wortsman J, Matsuoka LY, Chen TC, Lu Z, Holick MF.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 Sep;72(3):690-3. Erratum in: Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 May;77(5):1342.
PMID: 10966885
Conclusions: Obesity-associated vitamin D insufficiency is likely due to the decreased bioavailability of vitamin D3 from cutaneous and dietary sources because of its deposition in body fat compartments.