Tool Wednesday: Lack of Vitamin D a Health Risk

Posted August 13th, 2008 by healthpricer

A study carried out by researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that 41 per cent of men and 53 per cent of women in the United States were not getting enough vitamin D – which we can only get by exposing our skin to sunlight. This in itself does not seem alarming. The finding that low vitamin D levels are linked to the development of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and some cancers is, however, frightening. This study, started on more than 13,000 men and women in 1988 found that those with the lowest levels of vitamin D had a 26 percent higher risk of death.

This is the sort of health news that touches all of us. With the barrage of health information and news online, who do you turn to and who do you trust to deliver the truth? Here are some of the sources I use to read about the latest medical news.

1. Science Daily

Science Daily is a site for a wide range of research news. Its “health and medicine” category is an excellent source for the latest news on medical breakthroughs and research.

Science Daily

2. MedHeadlines

This online news source has a staff of medical experts writing regular articles on health and medical topics. MedHeadlines, as the title suggests, also provides the latest news and information that relate to health.

MedHeadlines

3. Medical News Today

Medical News Today is also excellent at featuring the latest medical and health news. One feature that I like on this site is the rating system. They ask professionals and consumers to rate the articles and as you can see in the below article, the articles gain regular ratings.

Medical News Today

All these sites have extensive libraries of information and archived news and videos on a wide range of topics that I would suggest you look at.

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Studies do not consider that Vitamin D is a RESULT not CAUSE

On August 13th, 2008 Anonymous (not verified) says:

These studies ... every one of them .. are fundamentally flawed because they are considering low Vitamin D levels to be in some way a cause of disease progression and that higher levels will stave off or in some way help relieve them. It is now known that many chronic diseases DOWNREGULATE the production of Vitamin D. Also this can happen even before any disease symptoms are markedly present so any cohort of healthy individuals will still be riddled with latent carriers of various bacteria that will eventually manifest as a chronic disease.

The studies should also test for 1,25(OH)2 vitamin D but that is more difficult and expensive (10x more than 25D) to measure so they seldom include and if they do seldom handle it correctly to get accurate results. 1,25D will often be UPREGULATED in people with chronic diseases even in non-symptomatic patients but is a clearer indication of system illness.

The Vit D to cancer connection it is less clear, but it IS clear that inflammation is the starting point for most cancer and people with low Vit D levels often have chronic systemic inflammation. Adding external Vitamin D can indeed reduce this inflammation (Vit D acts as an anti-inflammatory agent) which can explain why high D-levels appear to reduce cancer risks, but will do so at the expense of future flareups of other chronic diseases. A no-win situation at best.

So, Just Say No to Vit D supplemention, 17-20 ng/ml is a very nice level to have.