All Things Vitamin D – Page 3
Should we fear Vitamin D deficiency more than we fear the sun?
Courtesy of the Vitamin D Council
Vitamin D and Influenza
Dr. Cannell: I have been a follower of the Vitamin D Council for 6 years and continue to be. I take 5,000 IU a day of Vitamin D (I am 60 yrs old and weigh 130 lbs). My blood level is 53 ng/mL and I still came down with the flu. It only lasted a few days, is that why? My husband felt worse but he does not take Vitamin D. I would not like to get it at all, as the coughing scares me. Mary, New York
While others have claimed it, I have never claimed vitamin D will prevent all cases of influenza, if that is what you had. Furthermore, some are claiming vitamin D is all that is needed to prevent the next influenza pandemic. I believe that to be a dangerous belief. Vitamin D will help the innate immune system, but other crucial factors in influenza pathology are the novelty, transmissibility, and virulence of the attacking virus. As we attempted to say in our paper before it was cut by the editor:
“It would be a mistake to overestimate the role of innate immunity. One does not have to go back to 1918 to discover evidence that highly transmissible novel virus can overwhelm innate immunity. Shortly after authorities documented Asian influenza in the USA, 80% of 300 girls attending a 20 June 1957 conference in Davis, California fell ill. It would be irresponsible to hypothesize that 80% of the girls, presumably most from California, were vitamin D deficient, at latitude 38 degrees, the day before the summer solstice—during an era when sun-exposure was common. Although the girls’ illness was relatively mild, the fact that they sickened at all is testament to the vital role of novelty, transmissibility, and virulence.” Cannell JJ, Zasloff M, Garland CF, Scragg R, Giovannucci E. On the epidemiology of influenza. Virol J. 2008 Feb 25;5:29.
In fact, in the 1918 pandemic when 350,000 Americans died, blacks were less likely to be sickened than whites, and the group most likely to have the highest vitamin D levels, young adults, was the group most afflicted. Many of the young adults died of a “cytokine storm,” where the body’s innate immune system attacks the body, in their case the lung. Jordan EO. Epidemic influenza, a survey. Chicago: American Medical Association,1927.
Perhaps having a modest amount of vitamin D in your blood meant the innate immune system was able to mount such an assault, while having very little vitamin D may have protected you from such a death, while high vitamin D protected you. I suspect, but cannot prove, that having levels around 50–80 ng/mL will help protect you against the next pandemic; the innate immune system will temper its self-attack and, in some cases, kill the virus at the same time. I repeat, vitamin D will not protect the world from the next influenza pandemic. However, if I live to face it, it will be with a 25(OH)D level of 70 ng/mL.
Statins and Vitamin D
Dr. Cannell: Do statins—the kind of drugs used everywhere today—deplete your blood of CoQ10, and then affects your muscles and memory capabilities? Thank you for your care and personal commitment on having the site and newsletter. John, Switzerland
Statins deplete coenzyme Q10 levels, which may cause a potentially serious myositis (muscle inflammation) in some patients. Vitamin D reversed this in 92% of the patients. If you take statins, get your 25(OH)D level above 50 ng/mL. If you don’t take statins, do the same. Ahmed W, et al. Low serum 25 (OH) vitamin D levels (<32 ng/mL) are associated with reversible myositis-myalgia in statin-treated patients. Transl Res. 2009 Jan;153(1):11–6.
New Food and Nutrition Board
Dr. Cannell: I research vitamin D3 and UV lighting for reptiles. I always read everything you send, and I am desperately frustrated by the apparent inability of the medical profession here in the UK to even consider the evidence; 25-OH D3 blood testing is almost unheard of.
Three of my friends appear to be suffering severe Vitamin D D3 deficiency, yet I am unable to persuade them to take suitable doses of D3 simply because the RDA on all the supplements states 400 IU/day; they are afraid of “overdosing,” despite my assurances. And none of them can get blood tests because our National Health Service requires the doctor to request the test and they won’t do it; patients have no say in the matter, nor are tests available privately as far as I know. I show your material to everyone I can, especially health professionals. Most regard me as eccentric…. I take 2000 IU/day myself and if I could get a blood test I would take more if I needed it. Please be encouraged. The word is spreading, albeit slowly in this dark climate (pun intended). Thank you for all you do. Robert, England
That is exactly the problem with many doctors here in the United States. However, you can get your blood tested. Our in-home Vitamin D blood test is available to those who live overseas, just add $20.00 extra for shipping. As for the current RDA (actually, Adequate Intake or AI), a new Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) has been convened and let’s hope they do it right. The key problem with the 1997 FNB was they forgot to correct for the sun-scare. As the sun-scare spread, vitamin D levels fell. It was the responsibility of the 1997 FNB to recommend increased vitamin D to make up to sun avoidance. But they didn’t.
Here are the members of the new FNB. Email them all and tell them what vitamin D did for you, and tell them the dose you needed for a full effect.
- Dr. A. Catharine Ross (Chair), Pennsylvania State University
- acr6@psu.edu
- Dr. Steven A. Abrams, Baylor College of Medicine
- sabrams@bcm.tmc.edu
- Dr. John F. Aloia, Winthrop-University Hospital
- jaloia@winthrop.org
- Dr. Patsy M. Brannon, Cornell University
- pmb22@cornell.edu
- Dr. Steven K. Clinton, The Ohio State University
- clinton.8@osu.edu
- Dr. Ramon A. Durazo-Arvizu, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
- rdurazo@lumc.edu
- Dr. J. Christopher Gallagher, Creighton University Medical Center
- jcg@creighton.edu
- Dr. Richard L. Gallo, University of California San Diego
- rgallo@ucsd.edu
- Dr. Glenville Jones, Queen’s University
- gj1@queensu.ca
- Dr. Christopher S. Kovacs, Memorial University of Newfoundland
- ckovacs@mun.ca
- Dr. JoAnn E. Manson, Harvard Medical School
- jmanson@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
- Dr. Susan Taylor Mayne, Yale University School of Medicine
- susan.mayne@yale.edu
- Dr. Clifford J. Rosen, Maine Medical Center Research Institute
- crosen@maine.maine.edu
Vitamin D and Thyroid Disease
Dr. Cannell: My naturopath and endocrinologist both have me on high dose vitamin D, 8,000 IU/day, since last summer. I was tested around October for anti-thyroglobulin antibodies, which I have always showed. In October, they were decreasing and I just had them tested again and they are gone! I feel it’s the vitamin D. I hope in the future you will consider research in this area too. If vitamin D can help lower thyroid antibodies you may help many thyroid sufferers. One reason I considered taking the higher dose was because of all the info on how it can help autoimmune. Keep up the good research and hopefully one day in the near future the government will hear you. I’m here to support you… Jeannette, Boston
Thanks you for your comments. A recent study showed a weak correlation between 25(OH)D levels and thyroid antibodies, but get this, in India, the average 25(OH)D level was only 17.5 nmol/L or 7.5 ng/mL! Of course the association they found was weak, no one had high enough levels to find the true association. It appears no one in India takes vitamin D or bares their skin. Again, our 25(OH)D in-home tests are available overseas and Bio-Tech Pharmacal should ship Vitamin D overseas. If you have thyroid disease, get your 25(OH)D levels up above 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L). If you don’t have thyroid disease, do the same. Goswami R, et al. Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its relationship with thyroid autoimmunity in Asian Indians: a community-based survey. Br J Nutr. 2009 Feb 10:1–5.
Fibromyalgia and Vitamin D
Dr. Cannell: For almost 20 years, I have been suffering from muscle pains with brain fog and GI problems and falls and that is only the start. The symptoms have only gotten worse year after year. I have been to a new specialist every year trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I was always depressed. Then the word fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome came up. My blood tests have always been normal, but I felt like I was dying. I could not even get down to the ground and play with my daughter and was unable to get back up again. It affected all that I do on a daily basis and was extremely painful.
Last year, in a last ditch effort, I went to a rheumatologist and explained my long list of problems and all the years I have been suffering with them. He drew a Vitamin D level and it was only 13 ng/mL. With a mega dose of Vitamin D under my doctor’s supervision, I started to feel better. By 2 weeks most of my symptoms had disappeared. All those problems of over 20 years went away in two months. I am a registered nurse with a graduate degree and have researched over the 20 years to find what was wrong with me. It wasn’t until I started taking the Vitamin D that I was able to think clearer, not have daily GI problems, walk without falling, be pain free and my depression went away. Before, I thought I was going to die. Thank you for all you do, I wish I could send a contribution. You may save millions of lives in the long run. Maria, Seattle
You’re welcome. You have a good endocrinologist. However, many patients with fibromyalgia report they cannot take vitamin D. For those people, I recommend sun tanning parlors or one of our in-home UV units. If you keep your level above 50 ng/mL, you should be able to live a normal life now.
As far as dying, remember, everyone who takes Vitamin D will die. It’s simply a question of when. What we hope, even expect, is vitamin D will square off the mortality curve. Now, people start dying from the diseases of civilization in their forties, struck down by heart disease, cancer, etc. Premature deaths accelerates in the 50s and are in full swing by the 60s. That is, the mortality curve slops downward, beginning in the late 40s, people succumbing to the diseases of civilization. Perhaps vitamin D will allow people to live normal lives until they reach their 90s–100s, when we will all suddenly drop dead of old age!
When the famous Dr. Denis Burkitt noted that “diseases of civilization” were rare in Africa—although many patients died of malaria or gastrointestinal diseases—he was working in Uganda, right on the equator. What Dr. Burkitt failed to notice, when he hypothesized it was fiber in the diet that prevented the diseases of civilization, was his patients frequently wore little clothing and were under an equatorial sun 365 days a year. Dr. Burkitt thought it was fiber, but it was the vitamin D.
