Clinical aspects of vitamin D in the management of rheumatoid arthritis.\nLeventis P, Patel S.\nRheumatology (Oxford). 2008 Nov;47(11):1617-21. Epub 2008 Aug 5. Review.\nPMID: 18682414 \ndoi:10.1093/rheumatology/ken296 \n

Vitamin D may not just be good for you, it may help save your life. Recent research from Johns Hopkins University suggests that higher amounts of vitamin D in your diet decreases your likelihood of dying. Studies found that a vitamin D deficiency increases your risk of death by 26 percent, and vitamin D decreases the mortality rate from almost every type of cancer including breast, colon and prostate. Research also suggests that vitamin D helps prevent diabetes, kidney disease and cardiovascular disease.

Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentration and Cognitive Impairment.\nLlewellyn DJ, Langa K, Lang I.\nJ Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2009 Feb 4. [Epub ahead of print]\nPMID: 19073839 \ndoi:10.1177/0891988708327888\n

Low blood levels of vitamin D may be associated with an increased risk for dementia, a British study has found.

Use of vitamin D in clinical practice. Cannell JJ, Hollis BW. Altern Med Rev. 2008 Mar;13(1):6-20. PMID: 18377099 The recent discovery--from a meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials--that supplemental cholecalciferol (vitamin D) significantly reduces all-cause mortality emphasizes the medical, ethical, and legal implications of promptly diagnosing and adequately treating vitamin D deficiency. Not only are such deficiencies common, and probably the rule, vitamin D deficiency is implicated in most of the diseases of civilization. Vitamin D's final metabolic product is a potent, pleiotropic, repair and maintenance, seco-steroid hormone that targets more than 200 human genes in a wide variety of tissues, meaning it has as many mechanisms of action as genes it targets. One of the most important genes vitamin D up-regulates is for cathelicidin, a naturally occurring broad-spectrum antibiotic. Natural vitamin D levels, those found in humans living in a sun-rich environment, are between 40-70 ng per ml, levels obtained by few modern humans. Assessing serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25(OH)D) is the only way to make the diagnosis and to assure treatment is adequate and safe. Three treatment modalities exist for vitamin D deficiency: sunlight, artificial ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, and vitamin D3 supplementation. Treatment of vitamin D deficiency in otherwise healthy patients with 2,000-7,000 IU vitamin D per day should be sufficient to maintain year-round 25(OH)D levels between 40-70 ng per mL. In those with serious illnesses associated with vitamin D deficiency, such as cancer, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, autism, and a host of other illnesses, doses should be sufficient to maintain year-round 25(OH)D levels between 55 -70 ng per mL. Vitamin D-deficient patients with serious illness should not only be supplemented more aggressively than the well, they should have more frequent monitoring of serum 25(OH)D and serum calcium. Vitamin D should always be

Vitamin D supplementation to prevent infections: a sub-study of a randomised placebo-controlled trial in older people (RECORD trial, ISRCTN 51647438).\nAvenell A, Cook JA, Maclennan GS, Macpherson GC.\nAge Ageing. 2007 Sep;36(5):574-7. Epub 2007 Aug 15. No abstract available.\nPMID: 17702768 \ndoi:10.1093/ageing/afm091

An evaluation of the vitamin D3 content in fish: Is the vitamin D content adequate to satisfy the dietary requirement for vitamin D?\nLu Z, Chen TC, Zhang A, Persons KS, Kohn N, Berkowitz R, Martinello S, Holick MF.\nJ Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 Mar;103(3-5):642-4. Epub 2007 Jan 30.\nPMID: 17267210 \ndoi:10.1016/j.jsbmb.2006.12.010 \n

Factors that influence the cutaneous synthesis and dietary sources of vitamin D.\nChen TC, Chimeh F, Lu Z, Mathieu J, Person KS, Zhang A, Kohn N, Martinello S, Berkowitz R, Holick MF.\nArch Biochem Biophys. 2007 Apr 15;460(2):213-7. Epub 2007 Jan 8.\nPMID: 17254541\ndoi:10.1016/j.abb.2006.12.017\n

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

This web site is dedicated to vitamin D and cancer. This is because exciting new research indicates that vitamin D-whether produced in the skin as a result of exposure to ultraviolet radiation (from sunlight or sun lamps) or obtained from supplementation with cholecalciferol (vitamin D3)-may help cancer patients. However, the research is far from complete.

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

Autism and vitamin D. Cannell JJ. Med Hypotheses. 2008;70(4):750-9. Epub 2007 Oct 24. PMID: 17920208

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

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.

Ecological Studies Of Ultraviolet B, Vitamin D And Cancer Since 2000. Grant WB, Mohr SB. Ann Epidemiol. 2009 Mar 6. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19269856

The vitamin D craze has been building over the last few years, with low levels of the supplement being the blamed as a source of many of our ills. Depression? D can ease it. Chronic pain? Take D. It is said to prevent kidney disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, colon and breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, or even the common cold. Recently, a study linked low vitamin D levels to the rise in Caesarean births.

In April of 2000 a clinical observation published in Archives of Internal Medicine caught my attention. Dr. Anu Prabhala and his colleagues reported on the treatment of five patients confined to wheelchairs with severe weakness and fatigue. Blood tests revealed that all suffered from severe vitamin D deficiency. The patients received 50,000 IU vitamin D per week and all became mobile within six weeks.1\n\nDr. Prabhala's research sparked my interest and led to a search for current information on vitamin D, how it works, how much we really need and how we get it. The following is a small part of the important information that I found.

The American diet circa 2007 is a disaster - but positive change has begun. Those were the twin themes of the "Fourth Annual Nutrition and Health Conference" held in San Diego, Calif., May 14-16, 2007. The conference was sponsored by the University of Arizona's College of Medicine in conjunction with the Program in Integrative Medicine (PIM); PIM was founded and is co-directed by Dr. Weil. \n\nThe three-day event brought together leading nutrition researchers from around the world, bearing plenty of both bad and good news. Some highlights:

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