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"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! "

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."

"Researchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the first conclusive evidence in men that the long-term ill effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of the key sex hormone estrogen, but not testosterone. In a national study in 1010 men, to be presented Nov. 15 at the American Heart Association's (AHA) annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando, researchers say the new findings build on previous studies showing that deficiencies in vitamin D and low levels of estrogen, found naturally in differing amounts in men and women, were independent risk factors for hardened and narrowed arteries and weakened bones. Vitamin D is an essential part to keeping the body healthy, and can be obtained from fortified foods, such as milk and cereals, and by exposure to sunlight.

"(NaturalNews) Treatment with vitamin D supplements may slow the progress of , according to a study published in the journal BJU International. In the United States, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among men, after lung cancer. Approximately 240,000 New cases are diagnosed every year, leading to 30,000 deaths. Researchers have suspected for nearly two decades that the so-called "sunshine vitamin" may play a role in the risk and progression of prostate cancer, but no studies have previously been conducted on its usefulness as a treatment."

"Good research is good for medicine. The only thing more important than good research is ethical research. The February 16th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) had a research paper on vitamin D and colon cancer. Was it good research? Was it ethical research? At stake are the lives of 36,000 older American women who agreed to participate in the Women's Health Initiative. "

A vitamin D nutritional cornucopia: new insights concerning the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D status of the US population. Norman AW. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Dec;88(6):1455-6. PMID: 19064502 doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.27049 In summary, the report of Looker et al should be required reading for all nutritionists, clinicians, and vitamin D aficionados who are decision makers with regard to 25(OH)D assays, vitamin D nutritional policy, and the care of patients with vitamin D-related diseases.

Geographic variation of prostate cancer mortality rates in the United States: Implications for prostate cancer risk related to vitamin D. Grant WB. Int J Cancer. 2004 Sep 1;111(3):470-1; author reply 472. No abstract available. PMID: 15221981 10.1002/ijc.20220 The implications of our results and those of Tuohimaa et al.[1] include the following. Vitamin D supplementation should be undertaken in wintertime, a period when it is impossible to produce vitamin D by solar UVB exposure in northeastern states.[13] Given these new results, the optimal vitamin D intake and production and serum 25(OH)-vitamin D3 levels for prostate cancer appear to be lower than for other cancers. However, when developing guidelines for vitamin D fortification, many factors should be included in the analysis, including all of the potential health benefits and possible risks of vitamin D, as well as age, sex, residence, child-bearing status, etc.[14] Also, the suggestion that daily vitamin D3 supplement doses of 100 g (4,000 IU)/day are safe[15] should be reexamined. Finally, in terms of preventing prostate cancer, more attention should be given to diet, which has the greatest environmental impact on risk of prostate cancer, with animal products being important risk factors and vegetable products, especially onions and other allium family members, being important risk-reduction factors.[16]

In the last post, we talked about the new report on vitamin D and cancer from the International Agency for Research into Cancer (IARC). In this one, we'll summarise what the report has to say on the balance between getting enough vitamin D through sun exposure and reducing the risk of skin cancer by being SunSmart. IARC calls for more trials to really pin down the effects of vitamin D supplements - either positive or negative - depending on how much vitamin D people already have in their system. Until then, they feel that there is no solid basis for changing any existing recommendations about vitamin D.

A recent Wall Street Journal article "Defending Against Disease -- With Vitamin D New Studies Suggest It Isn't Just Bones That Might Benefit" by the wonderful Melinda Beck highlights benefits of Vitamin D3. In TYP, we've known the benefits for years :) but it's nice to see the rest of the world catching up. The benefits of Vitamin D3 are potent, powerful immunomodulation -- to the point where autoimmune diseases, viral and bacterial infections and cancer are effectively reduced. What is the value for heart disease and diabetes prevention? In hemodialysis patients, great lessons are can be learned. Nephrologists often describe patients with severe (stage 5) chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients on hemodialysis as having 'hearts of stone, blood vessels of glass.' Unfortunately over 70% of chronic hemodialysis patients have coronary artery disease (and Lp(a)). What medical science shows is that Agatston coronary calcification scores can be dramatically reduced when vitamin D is replenished and calcium is restricted. Sevelamer (Renagel) is a calcium-free, metal-free polymer phosphate binder. In 52-weeks, calcium restriction, a phosphate-binder and vitamin D resulted in one individual in a 21% reduction in Agatston CAC score (from 968 to 756; see Figure 2).

Vitamin D deficiency is a very serious health problem. Most people tend to think of it only in terms of skeletal problems; however, it is much more than that. Vitamin D deficiency has now been linked with a multitude of neoplasms, autoimmune dysfunction, compromised innate immunity and neurodevelopment in utero. Vitamin D is made in huge amounts when we go into intense sun. A fair-skinned individual can produce approximately 20,000 IU in 10 minutes' time with a total body exposure. A person with significant pigmentation will require up to 10 times the exposure to make an equivalent amount. In the winter at the latitude of Chicago, even a fair person cannot photo-produce vitamin D from mid-October through March. Thus, it is VERY important to have a realistic vitamin D recommendation as the current 200 IU/day recommendation is a joke

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of winter-time depression experienced by people those who live in northern latitudes such as those of New York, Seattle, all of Canada, and Northern Europe. I believe it is primarily a disorder of sunlight/vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D, when administered in late winter, produces a positive effect on mood in only five days.[1] One theory for this is that vitamin D stimulates the brain to produce more serotonin. In a wintertime experiment, serum vitamin D levels doubled in six months through supplementation and dramatically increased scores on a wellbeing assessment.[2] Two groups were given either 1,000 IU or 4,000 IU of vitamin D daily. And although both groups improved, the higher dose produced better results.

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

Upper levels of vitamin D intake were set at 50 microg/d (2000 IU/d) for all ages. Some individuals would require higher levels than these to achieve serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations for optimal calcium absorption. So much new information on vitamin D and health has been collected since the requirements were set in 1997 that this nutrient is likely the most in need of revised requirements. Vitamin D requirements: current and future. Weaver CM, Fleet JC. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Dec;80(6 Suppl):1735S-9S. Review. Erratum in: Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Mar;81(3):729. PMID: 15585797

Despite inadequacies in information concerning the minimum prophylactic requirement of vitamin D for all age groups beyond infancy, there is no doubt that a total intake of 400 I.U. per day is adequate to prevent vitamin D deficiency in substantially all normal children from birth through adolescence. Evidence derived from the study of idiopathic hypercalcemia suggests that certain infants excessively sensitive to the toxic action of vitamin D may, on rare occasions, be adversely affected by daily intakes of 3,000 to 4,000 I.U. and sometimes considerably less. Because of the prevalent practice of food fortification in the United States and Canada, there is now a definite possibility that the individual, even the young infant, may ingest considerably more than the recommended vitamin D allowance, and intakes of 2,000 to 3,500 I.U. per day are possible, particularly beyond infancy. Although there has been no specific evidence that intakes of this order produce deleterious effects beyond infancy, it is pointed out that the long-term consequences of this new nutritional situation on older children or adults are entirely unknown.

October 6th, 2008 A study led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine suggests that use of oral Vitamin D supplements bolsters production of a protective chemical normally found in the skin, and may help prevent skin infections that are a common result of atopic dermatitis, the most common form of eczema.

March 11, 2009 -- Low vitamin D levels greatly increase a teenager's risk of diabetes and heart disease, Johns Hopkins researchers find. It is becoming clear that adults who get too little vitamin D are at higher risk for diabetes and heart disease. Now, it appears vitamin D levels also affect these risks earlier in life, say Johns Hopkins researchers Jared P. Reis, PhD, and colleagues.

This is a very long newsletter. I will answer questions about oil versus water-soluble Vitamin D, depression, mental clarity, malignant melanoma, Crohn's disease, an imagist poet, multiple sclerosis, sun-exposure, high-intensity red light and collagen repair in the skin, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, influenza, the 1918 influenza pandemic, statins, the new Food and Nutrition Board, thyroid disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, athletes, the upcoming 14th Vitamin D Workshop, prostate cancer, the wrong blood test, pregnancy, autism, Alzheimer's disease, soap and sebum, asthma, sleep, the co-factors vitamin D needs to work (all contained in spinach), and-my favorite-UVC light and Vitamin D

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.

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: