Vitamin D

"Äidin D-vitamiinin puute raskauden aikana heikentää lapsen luontaisen immuunivasteen kehittymistä ja voi altistaa syntyvän lapsen muun muassa autoimmuunitaudeille, kuten ykköstyypin diabetekselle. Raskaana olevien ja hedelmällisessä iässä olevien naisten tulisikin kiinnittää erityistä huomiota D-vitamiinin riittävään saantiin, suomalaisasiantuntijat muistuttavat. Valtion ravitsemusneuvottelukunnan D-vitamiinityöryhmän puheenjohtaja ja ravitsemustieteiden dosentti Christel Lamberg-Allardt Helsingin yliopistosta sanoo, että D-vitamiinilla näyttää olevan vaikutusta sekä aikuisiässä hankitun että synnynnäisen immuunivasteen muodostumiseen. - Tutkimusten valossa kaikkien hedelmällisessä iässä olevien naisten olisi hyvä kiinnittää erityistä huomiota riittävään D-vitamiinin saantiin jo raskautta suunniteltaessa, jotta äidin elimistön D-vitamiinipitoisuus olisi riittävä sikiön immuunivasteen kehittymiselle, Lamberg-Allardt toteaa. "

Vitamin D supplementation during the first year of life and risk of schizophrenia: a Finnish birth cohort study. McGrath J, Saari K, Hakko H, Jokelainen J, Jones P, Järvelin MR, Chant D, Isohanni M. Schizophr Res. 2004 Apr 1;67(2-3):237-45. PMID: 14984883 Conclusion: Vitamin D supplementation during the first year of life is associated with a reduced risk of schizophrenia in males. Preventing hypovitaminosis D during early life may reduce the incidence of schizophrenia.

Intake of vitamin D and risk of type 1 diabetes: a birth-cohort study. Hyppönen E, Läärä E, Reunanen A, Järvelin MR, Virtanen SM. Lancet. 2001 Nov 3;358(9292):1500-3. PMID: 11705562 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(01)06580-1 INTERPRETATION: Dietary vitamin D supplementation is associated with reduced risk of type 1 diabetes. Ensuring adequate vitamin D supplementation for infants could help to reverse the increasing trend in the incidence of type 1 diabetes.

Concentrations of vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in raw and cooked New Zealand beef and lamb. Roger Purchas, Maggie Zoua, Philip Pearcea and Felicity Jackson- Journal of Food Composition and Analysis Volume 20, Issue 2, March 2007, Pages 90-98 For lamb, the highest levels of vitamin D3 were in the shoulder chop both before and after cooking, while levels were lowest in the rack muscle. Similar cut differences were shown for 25OHD3 concentrations. For beef there were no significant differences between the cuts for vitamin D3, but concentrations of 25OHD3 were lower in the striploin before and after cooking, Vitamin D3 levels tended to be higher in beef cuts than in lamb cuts, but the opposite held for 25OHD3. Concentrations of vitamin D3 were similar to those in other reports, but the 25OHD3 levels were at the high end of reported ranges. With 25OHD3 being more potent than vitamin D3, it is concluded that meat can make a useful contribution of this vitamin to the human diet.

Vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in raw and cooked pork cuts. Ina Clausen, Jette Jakobsen, Torben Leth and Lars Ovesen. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis Volume 16, Issue 5, October 2003, Pages 575-585 doi:10.1016/S0889-1575(03)00064-4 Meat 25OHD3 contributes significantly to vitamin D activity. Food databases should include concentrations of both vitamin D and 25OHD.

"Pohjoisen ihmisen iho muuttui valkoiseksi, jotta voisimme hyödyntää niukan auringon. Pohjoisella pallonpuoliskolla on kuitenkin sairauksia, jotka voivat johtua D-vitamiinin puutteesta Hermostovaikutuksia Myös kaikilla niin sanotuilla autoimmuunisairauksilla uskotaan olevan yhteys D-vitamiinin kanssa. Niissähän elimistön immunologia häiriintyy ja elimistö hyökkää omia kudoksiaan vastaan. Allergiat ja astma lienevät näistä tunnetuimpia ja yhä lisääntyviä. D-vitamiini lamaa tulehdusta aiheuttavia sytokiineja ja vahvistaa tulehdusta vastustavia sytokiineja. Reuma on yksi tällä hetkellä vilkkaasti tutkituista "pohjoisista" taudeista ja jotkut reumalääkärit ovat ehdottaneet D-vitamiinisuositusten roimaa korotusta. Nivelrikon kipuihinkin D-vitamiinin arvellaan auttavan. - Ei ole ihme, että keskushermosto on D-vitamiinin tärkeä kohde-elin. Keskushermosto on kehittynyt samasta alusta kuin iho, sanoo Pentti Tuohimaa. MS-taudissa on selvää näyttöä, että D-vitamiinin vajaus voi olla riski. Sairautta ei esiinny päiväntasaajalla, eikä sitä esiinny korkeilla Alpeilla, vaikka samassa väestössä laaksoissa sairautta löytyy. Australialaisen tutkimuksen mukaan MS-taudin esiintyvyys on kääntäen verrannollinen lapsuudessa etenkin talviaikaan saadun auringon määrään. Sen suurin esiintyvyys maailmassa on tällä hetkellä Pohjanmaalla. D-vitamiinihoidoilla on saatu kohtauksia vähenemään. Pahimmillaan tauti johtaa halvaantumiseen."

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

Diagnosis and treatment of vitamin D deficiency. Cannell JJ, Hollis BW, Zasloff M, Heaney RP. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2008 Jan;9(1):107-18. PMID: 18076342 The recent discovery - in a randomised, controlled trial - that daily ingestion of 1100 IU of colecalciferol (vitamin D) over a 4-year period dramatically reduced the incidence of non-skin cancers makes it difficult to overstate the potential medical, social and economic implications of treating vitamin D deficiency. Not only are such deficiencies common, probably the rule, vitamin D deficiency stands implicated in a host of diseases other than cancer. The metabolic product of vitamin D is a potent, pleiotropic, repair and maintenance, secosteroid hormone that targets > 200 human genes in a wide variety of tissues, meaning it has as many mechanisms of action as genes it targets. A common misconception is that government agencies designed present intake recommendations to prevent or treat vitamin D deficiency. They did not. Instead, they are guidelines to prevent particular metabolic bone diseases. Official recommendations were never designed and are not effective in preventing or treating vitamin D deficiency and in no way limit the freedom of the physician - or responsibility - to do so. At this time, assessing serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D is the only way to make the diagnosis and to assure that treatment is adequate and safe. The authors believe that treatment should be sufficient to maintain levels found in humans living naturally in a sun-rich environment, that is, > 40 ng/ml, year around. Three treatment modalities exist: sunlight, artificial ultraviolet B radiation or supplementation. All treatment modalities have their potential risks and benefits. Benefits of all treatment modalities outweigh potential risks and greatly outweigh the risk of no treatment. As a prolonged 'vitamin D winter', centred on the winter solstice, occurs at many temperate latitudes, ≤ 5000 IU (125 μg) of vitamin D/d

Low vitamin D status, high bone turnover, and bone fractures in centenarians. Passeri G, Pini G, Troiano L, Vescovini R, Sansoni P, Passeri M, Gueresi P, Delsignore R, Pedrazzoni M, Franceschi C. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003 Nov;88(11):5109-15. PMID: 14602735 We conclude that the extreme decades of life are characterized by a pathophysiological sequence of events linking vitamin D deficiency, low serum calcium, and secondary hyperparathyroidism with an increase in bone resorption and severe osteopenia. These data offer a rationale for the possible prevention of elevated bone turnover, bone loss, and consequently the reduction of osteoporotic fractures and fracture-induced disability in the oldest olds through the supplementation with calcium and vitamin D.

Vitamin D, nutritional deficiency, and the medical paradigm. Heaney RP. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003 Nov;88(11):5107-8. Review. No abstract available. PMID: 14602734

"Pohjolan kitsas aurinko tarjoaa D-vitamiinia seuraavan kerran maaliskuussa. Talvella luustovitamiinit pitää tankata ruoasta tai purkista. Kala on D-vitamiininlähteistä parhaita. D on se aurinkovitamiini, jota jokainen muistaa lapsena napsineensa - onnekkaimmat Vitol-helmien tai peräti suklaan muodossa, karskimpien perheiden kasvatit kalanmaksaöljynä. Ilman D-vitamiinia ihmisen elimistö ei kykene käyttämään hyväkseen ruoasta tulevaa kalsiumia, ja se näkyy luustossa. Riisitauti on puutostautien klassikko, jota tavataan meillä yhä. Joka vuosi siihen sairastuu muutama pikkulapsi, jolle ei ole annettu D-vitamiinilisää. D-vitamiinin puute pehmentää aikuistenkin luustoa, mutta silloin taudin nimi on osteomalasia. D:n puutteen katsotaan olevan myös yksi osteoporoosin riskitekijöistä. - D-vitamiinin vajaus ei tunnu olossa eikä näy päälle, ennen kuin luut tosiaan alkavat pehmentyä. Omaa vitamiinitilannettaan kannattaa miettiä, jos ei syö lainkaan kalaa ja käyttää vain vähän D-vitaminoituja maitovalmisteita, toteaa dosentti Christel Lamberg-Allardt Helsingin yliopistosta."

The Diet-Heart Hypothesis: Subdividing Lipoproteins Two posts ago, we made the rounds of the commonly measured blood lipids (total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides) and how they associate with cardiac risk. It's important to keep in mind that many things associate with cardiac risk, not just blood lipids. For example, men with low serum vitamin D are at a 2.4-fold greater risk of heart attack than men with higher D levels. That alone is roughly equivalent to the predictive power of the blood lipids you get measured at the doctor's office. Coronary calcium scans (a measure of blood vessel calcification) also associate with cardiac risk better than the most commonly measured blood lipids. Lipoproteins Can be Subdivided into Several Subcategories In the continual search for better measures of cardiac risk, researchers in the 1980s decided to break down lipoprotein particles into sub-categories. One of these researchers is Dr. Ronald M. Krauss. Krauss published extensively on the association between lipoprotein size and cardiac risk, eventually concluding (source): The plasma lipoprotein profile accompanying a preponderance of small, dense LDL particles (specifically LDL-III) is associated with up to a threefold increase in the susceptibility of developing [coronary artery disease]. This has been demonstrated in case-control studies of myocardial infarction and angiographically documented coronary disease. Krauss found that small, dense LDL (sdLDL) doesn't travel alone: it typically comes along with low HDL and high triglycerides*. He called this combination of factors "lipoprotein pattern B"; its opposite is "lipoprotein pattern A": large, buoyant LDL, high HDL and low triglycerides. Incidentally, low HDL and high triglycerides are hallmarks of the metabolic syndrome, the quintessential modern metabolic disorder. Krauss and his colleagues went on to hypothesize that sdLDL promotes atherosclerosis because of its ability to penetrate the artery wall more easily

Benefits of Vitamin D Supplementation Joel M. Kauffman, Ph.D. Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 14 Number 2 - Summer 2009 Clinical trials show that vitamin D supplementation at higher levels than previously recommended is beneficial for many conditions. It decreases the frequency of falls and fractures, helps prevent cardiovascular disease, and reduces symptoms of colds or influenza. Benefits are also seen in diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis, Crohn disease, pain, depression, and possibly autism. Sunlight does not cause an overdose of vitamin D production, and toxicity from supplementation is rare. Dose recommendations are increasing, but appear to be lagging the favorable trial results. A number of common drugs deplete vitamin D levels, and others may limit its biosynthesis from sunlight. People with adequate levels from sun exposure will not benefit from supplementation. While dietary intake is helpful, supplementation is better able to raise serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D , the major circulating metabolite, to the level now thought adequate, 30-50 ng/mL. Where there is inadequate daily sun exposure, oral doses of 1,000-2,000 IU/d are now considered routine, with much higher doses (up to 50,000 IU) for rapid repletion now considered safe.

"THURSDAY, Dec. 3 (HealthDay News) -- New research points to the possibility of a genetic link between vitamin D and heart disease. People with high blood pressure who had a gene variant that reduces vitamin D activation in the body were found to be twice as likely as those without the variant to have congestive heart failure, the study found. The finding may lead to a way to identify people at increased risk for heart disease, according to Robert U. Simpson, an assistant professor of pharmacology at the University of Michigan Medical School and his research colleagues. They analyzed the genetic profiles of 617 people. One-third had hypertension, one-third had hypertension and congestive heart failure, and the remaining third served as healthy controls. The researchers found that a variant in the CYP27B1 gene was associated with congestive heart failure in people with hypertension. The study is in the November issue of Pharmacogenomics."

Vitamin D for cancer prevention: global perspective. Garland CF, Gorham ED, Mohr SB, Garland FC. Ann Epidemiol. 2009 Jul;19(7):468-83. Review. PMID: 19523595

"Juuri julkaistun tutkimuksen mukaan optimaalinen D-vitamiinin saanti sijoittuu haarukkaan 1800-4000 IU/vrk (45-100 mcg/vrk). Tätä määrää ei kannata edes uneksia saavansa tavallisesta ruoasta, joten purkilla on käytävä. Suomessa D-vitamiinin saanti on keskimäärin naisilla 5,2 mcg/vrk ja miehillä 7,1 mcg/vrk. Tutkimusta johtivat Zürichin yliopistosairaalan tutkijat, mutta mukana oli myös muun muassa kuuluisa ravitsemusepidemiologi Walter Willett Harvardin yliopistosta. "

Benefit-risk assessment of vitamin D supplementation. Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Shao A, Dawson-Hughes B, Hathcock J, Giovannucci E, Willett WC. Osteoporos Int. 2009 Dec 3. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19957164 Conclusion Our analysis suggests that mean serum 25(OH)D levels of about 75 to 110 nmol/l provide optimal benefits for all investigated endpoints without increasing health risks. These levels can be best obtained with oral doses in the range of 1,800 to 4,000 IU vitamin D per day; further work is needed, including subject and environment factors, to better define the doses that will achieve optimal blood levels in the large majority of the population.

ScienceDaily (Dec. 5, 2009) - A new study has found that the amount of vitamin D in patients being treated for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was strongly associated with cancer progression and overall survival. The results will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in New Orleans. Also, several recent reports have concluded that vitamin D deficiency is associated with poor outcomes in other cancers, including breast, colon and head and neck cancer. This is the first study to look at lymphoma outcome

How to optimize vitamin D supplementation to prevent cancer, based on cellular adaptation and hydroxylase enzymology. Vieth R. Anticancer Res. 2009 Sep;29(9):3675-84. Review. PMID: 19667164

"D-vitamiini ja verenpainetauti liittyvät toisiinsa, osoitti suuri amerikkalainen sairaanhoitajien terveysseuranta. Nyt Connecticutin yliopiston professorit William White ja Pooja Luthra aloittavat uuden 3-vuotisen tutkimuksen selvittääkseen D-vitamiinin puutteen merkityksestä verenpainetaudin synnyssä ja hoidossa. "Potilaat eivät useinkaan ymmärrä, että heillä on puutetta D-vitamiinista tai he eivät osaa yhdistää D-vitamiinia muuhun kuin luuston sairauksiin", sanoo sisätautiopin professori William B. White. "