Sorting fact from fiction on vitamin D

by William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.

The clock is running out on 2011, but it looks like there’s still time to squeeze in one last phony vitamin panic.

In this one, researchers claim high levels of vitamin D will boost your risk of serious heart problems — despite what their own study REALLY found: that LOW levels of the sunshine vitamin will up your odds of heart failure, high blood pressure, kidney failure, and diabetes.

Of course, they didn’t want to talk about any of that.

Instead, the presentation at a recent American Heart Association meeting focused on the most freakish conclusion of the entire study: Patients with the highest blood levels of vitamin D — 100 ng/ml or higher — had a bump in the risk of atrial fibrillation.

Why is it freakish? Because I’ve been called an extremist for recommending blood levels of HALF that — 50 ng/ml — and even people who live in the tropics and get constant sun exposure all day long generally hover at around 60 ng/ml.

In other words, these just aren’t optimal or even realistic levels of vitamin D3 — and I’d bet that very few of the 132,000 participants in the new study actually fell into this category.

We don’t know for sure, because the researchers didn’t actually break it down for us.

We also don’t know how many patients fell into the next-highest category, between 80 and 100 ng/ml, but I’d bet this was the next-smallest group — yet these patients actually had the LOWEST A-fib risk of anyone in the study.

That means we’re supposed to believe that 100 ng/ml will prevent the condition — but 101 ng/ml will cause it.

PUH-leaze!

Ignore the panic and take your vitamin D3. Not only are “high” levels safe, but studies have repeatedly found that the sunshine vitamin will boost everything from your cardiovascular health to your immune system.

Winter is here, the sun is low — and you need your D now more than ever.

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Just another example of the main stream supporting what Bob Barefoot has been teaching for over 30 years.

Just take your Vitamin D each and every day.

 

Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Asthma

Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Asthma

Study Shows Asthmatic Kids With Vitamin D Insufficiency Have Poorer Lung Function

By Charlene Laino
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

March 3, 2010 (New Orleans) — Many children with asthma have low blood levels of vitamin D, and the insufficiency seems to place them at risk for more severe disease.

In a study of 99 kids with asthma, 47% had vitamin D insufficiency. Compared with children with normal levels of vitamin D levels, those with vitamin D insufficiency:

* Had poorer lung function
* Had higher levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE), an immune system protein the body makes in response to allergens that tells you the likelihood that you’re allergic
* Were more likely to need inhaled and oral steroid medications to reduce airway inflammation and mucus production
* Were more likely to need long-acting beta-agonist drugs that relax muscles in the lung’s airways, improving a patient’s ability to breathe freely and reducing asthma symptoms.

Further studies in the lab showed that vitamin D has an anti-inflammatory effect on cells and enhances the activity of inhaled steroids.

About 21 million Americans suffer from asthma, which is caused by inflammation and swelling of the airways. The inflammation, in turn, can cause excessive mucus production and narrowing of the airways, resulting in asthma symptoms such as shortness of breath, coughing, and wheezing.

The findings were presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology annual meeting.

The study doesn’t prove cause and effect. And it’s not clear whether low vitamin D causes more severe asthma that requires treatment or whether more severe asthma lowers vitamin D levels, says study researcher Daniel A. Searing, MD, of National Jewish Health in Denver.

Also still unknown is whether vitamin D supplements would improve asthma control and lower the need for medication, he tells WebMD.

Still, a number of studies now suggest that low vitamin D levels are associated with allergies and asthma, says James Gern, MD, vice chair of the committee that chose which studies to highlight at the meeting and professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

If a person has vitamin D insufficiency, “we need to correct it anyway. So it will be interesting to see if the supplements help improve asthma symptoms,” he tells WebMD. Gern was not involved with the work.

In the study, vitamin D insufficiency was defined as levels below 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood.

A daily dose of Bob’s Best Vitamin D3 (5000 iu) provides the human body with the positive benefits of exposure to natural sunlight, without the reported potential risk associated with exposure to UV Rays.