Until the second half of 2009, I knew that Vitamin D was in multi-vitamins and my calcium tablets, and way in the back of my mind somewhere was the stuff about Vitamin D and preventing rickets, but that's about all I knew. When the Panic Swine of 09 arrived and talk of a "new"vaccine hit the press, I began searching Google for other alternatives than a new, briefly tested vaccine.
I didn't have to look far to find Until the second half Dr. John Cannell, a psychiatrist at Atascadero State Hospital in San Luis Obisbo county. Dr. Cannell had become interested in Vitamin D and it's protective effect against influenza. He found that there were certain patients at his hospital who never seemed to get the flu, year after year. When he measured Vitamin D levels he found that these patients had really good levels, whereas the other patients had insufficient levels.
In addition to Dr. Cannell's work, I also found out that Dr. Michael Holick of Boston University Medical Schoom had been researching Vitamin D for over 40 years and realized that there is a Vitamin D receptor in every organ in our body. Preventing rickets in young children is just the tip of the iceberg as far as human diseases and prevention by Vitamin D sufficiency.
"When human skin is exposed to sufficiently powerful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight, a form of cholesterol contained in our skin ("7-dehydrocholesterol") is converted into the precursor of Vitamin D, called "cholecalciferol". This is then converted by our liver into the inactive bulk storage form of Vitamin D that blood tests measure ("25-hydroxyvitamin D"). Although Vitamin D is present in limited amounts in cod liver oil and some fatty fish (salmon, mackerel and tuna), it is essentially unavailable in metabolically useful quantities from dietary sources.
As we age, our skin gradually loses its youthful cholesterol and its ability to synthesize Vitamin D declines over time. Although it has not been widely studies, some reports indicate that by the age of 50, Vitamin D production has fallen to approximately 50% of its original rate, and by age 65 production will have fallen to just 25% of its original capability. And independent of age, the skin's melanin pigmentation - either from natural genetic racial coloration or tanning adaptation -- acts to absorb much of the sun's visible and ultraviolet radiation. This skin darkening has the beneficial effect of protecting our skin from UV radiation damage, but at the expense of further reducing the skin's rate and capacity for Vitamin D production. (Melanin is 99.9% efficient in absorbing the energy from ultraviolet light, converting it into harmless heat.)" These two previous paragraphs are from Steve Gibson. http://www.grc.com/health/vitamin-d.htm
There is in fact, an epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency which is now worldwide. This has occured because of several factors. The first is that the current Institute of Medicine recommendation for the daily requirement for Vitamin D was established in the 1960s and has not been revised since that time, even though most of the research about Vitamin D has occurred in the past 10 years. And the "recommended daily allowance" or "minimum daily requirement" of vitamins listed on foods is based on the minimum amount of Vitamin D to avoid rickets in young children and has nothing to do with the real requirement to prevent "long-latency" diseases like diabetes, auto-immune diseases like arthritis, heart disease, thyroid disease, mental disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis and for our immune system function. A second reason for the widespread deficient Vitamin D levels is the changes in our life style. The average American spends 95% of every day inside and the average American child spends 6 minutes per day outside. And the third reason is that even if we are outside, how much Vitamin D we can absorb is determined by our skin pigmentation, the latitude in which we live, the time of day we are outside, the season of the year (and the angle of the sun). A rule of thumb is that if your shadow is longer than you are tall, you are absorbing no Vitamin D. And effective sunscreening effectively blocks Vitamin D absorption. A fourth reason, which is especially important in sunny climates is that dermatologists have long recommended avoiding sun exposure because of the fear of skin cancer.
Perhaps the most important medical issue at stake related to Vitamin D status is the Vitamin D level of pregnant women. Prenatal vitamins contain the minimum required 400iu of Vitamin D. This is the same amount that is recommended for the newborn baby after birth. As Dr. Reinhold Vieth from Canada says, "Do the math!" The amount getting to the fetus when the mother is taking 400iu of Vitamin D is inadequate. Dr. Carol Wagner and others from the Medical University of South Carolina has completed a study of pregnant and lactating women and shown that mothers with sufficient levels of Vitamin D has 50% less C-sections, 50% less prematurity and 30% less high blood pressure in late pregnancy. With this information available, it is prudent for all pregnant women to measure their Vitamin D level and get enough Vitamin D from sun or supplement to maintain a sufficient level. (Food is not a good source.)
One would expect that all of us residing in sunny southern California should have wonderful Vitamin D levels, but there are actually a significant number of children and adults who are in the insufficient range. I measured my Vitamin D level, 25(OH)D, in September after a summer of sun and my level was insufficient. In my own personal case, I had been having chronic knee pain related to years of running down hills and mountain trails (and finding out after 64 years that one leg is shorter than the other). Once I began taking enough Vitamin D to get my level into the preventative range, my knee pain virtually disappeared. This decrease of muscle and joint pain has been reported from many different sources.
The Swine Panic of 09 was an unpleasant experience, but learning about Vitamin D and it's importance in our ongoing health made all of that Panic almost worth it. If you don't know your Vitamin D level, ask you physician to measure 25(OH)D and compare it to the following chart which shows the protective ranges of Vitamin D levels related to long latency diseases.
The next photo shows the Vitamin D levels of primates and early man.
Just as I was unaware of the far reaching implications of Vitamin D deficiency, most physicians are likewise unaware of this information. It is actually the media that is spreading the word to the public and then the public going to physicians and asking to measure Vitamin D levels.
Of final note is that the Chicago Blackhawks became the first professional sports team to be Vitamin D sufficient. The result was that they won the Stanley Cup for the first time in almost 50 years. Might be coincidental, but next time you ask your favorite sports star for an autograph, ask "What's your Vitamin D level?"
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