Vitamin D News

Recent articles in the press, especially in the UK, which show that the new research into Vitamin D

is really making a difference, and that the safe sun advice from the sunscreen companies,

the pharmaceutical industry and the government in the UK,

is a HOAX and needs to be changed NOW!

Twelve-year-old girl suffering from painful rickets because mom smothered her in sunscreen
by David Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) A 12-year-old girl living on the Isle of Wight in southern Britain developed a severe vitamin D deficiency verging on rickets because her mother never let her go outside without sunscreen on.

Rickets is a painful and potentially deformity-causing bone softening disease caused by vitamin D deficiency. The body produces vitamin D upon exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, but too much time indoors or sunscreen higher than SPF 8 can prevent it from producing enough.

Twelve-year-old Tyler Attrill first began suffering pain and weakness in her legs three years ago, after a series of operations to correct an unrelated problem with her hip bones. She did not realize at the time that she was suffering the warning signs of developing rickets.

"It would make [my] legs feel all heavy, [I] couldn't move them," she said. "It made my whole body feel really ill and achy."

Eventually, the ongoing pain reduced her to tears and she was referred to the Children's Orthopedic Unit at Southampton General Hospital.

"We've been back and forwards to doctors and the hospital over the years, but it wasn't until November that they did a test for vitamin deficiency," her mother said. "We're lucky it was caught in time otherwise it could have developed into rickets."

It was then that Tyler's doctor told her mother that overuse of sunscreen had probably caused Tyler's vitamin deficiency.

"We live right by the beach so Tyler was outside with her friends every day last summer," Tyler's mother said. "I've always been very careful with her and her brother, and nagged them to wear hats and suncreen when it's hot. I thought I was doing the right thing."

Rickets is on the rise across England, even in sunny regions like the Isle of Wright. Concern over this trend recently caused British doctors to reverse course on decades of advice to avoid the sun; they now recommend 15 to 30 minutes of unprotected sun exposure three to five days a week.

Tyler has improved with vitamin D supplements and more time spent outdoors.

"It makes me feel guilty," her mother said of the experience, "but parents are encouraged to use [SPF] 50 on their children to prevent skin cancer later in life.

"I thought I was doing the right thing."

To learn more about the importance of vitamin D, read the free NaturalNews.com report "The Healing Power of Sunlight & Vitamin D" at http://www.naturalnews.com/rr-sunli....

Sources for this story include: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/hampshi... ; http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...

Lack of sun causes rickets rise
"This is a problem of lifestyle in children across the social classes," Southampton orthopaedic surgeon Prof Nicholas Clarke reflects on the rise in cases of rickets.
For years rickets was seen as a problem of poverty.
Children growing up in Victorian slums suffered from bone deformities, such as bowed legs and curvature of the spine.
It was discovered to be caused by a lack of vitamin D - manufactured when the skin is exposed to sunlight.
The condition was thought to have been consigned to history in the 1940s - when it was added to everyday foods such as margarine and cereal.
However rickets is making a comeback.
for bone problems at Southampton General Hospital have showed signs of the crippling disease.
Teenage lifestyle
Twelve-year-old Tyler Attrill lives on the Isle of Wight, one of the sunniest parts of Britain, but she has been treated for the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency.
Speaking to the BBC's Inside Out programme, she said: "It would make your legs feel all heavy, you couldn't move them."
Having been reduced to tears by the pain in her joints, she was eventually referred to Southampton's Children's Orthopaedic Unit where Professor Nicholas Clarke and his colleagues have seen an "astonishing" increase in admissions of children with the condition.
In advanced cases, surgery is needed to correct the bone deformity.
Prof Clarke said: "This is quite unbelievable - in a part of the country with more sunshine than anywhere else - it is honestly shocking.
"It's not about poverty or ethnicity, its simply about the reduction in exposure to sunlight," he said.
With modern lifestyles meaning children are taken to school in cars and spend more leisure time indoors, they are not going outside as often as previous generations.
Doctors say 20-30 minutes of direct sunshine a day, five days a week, is necessary to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D. Any sun cream over factor eight filters out the ultra violet light the body needs to create vitamin D.
Rickets cases reported in Cardiff by health workers
24 July 2011
By Andy Fry
Eye on Wales, BBC Radio Wales
Cases of the crippling children's bone disease rickets are being seen in Cardiff, BBC Wales has learned.
Caused by a lack of vitamin D, the disease can lead to deformities like bowed legs and stunted growth, but it largely disappeared last century.
Eye on Wales has learnt health professionals working in communities in south Cardiff are reporting incidents.
Public Health Wales does not hold statistics on the number of cases as rickets is not a notifiable disease
Dr Elspeth Webb, a reader in child health at Cardiff University, spends half her time working as a paediatrician within Splott and Tremorfa in the city.
She told the programme: "We're still seeing rickets in children in Cardiff in the 21st Century - which a lot of people might be very shocked and surprised by, thinking of it as a Victorian illness. But no, it's not.
"You get women living in certain communities that perhaps don't go out much because of religious, cultural traditions.
"They're covered up when they do. They don't get enough access to sunlight. So they get vitamin D deficient..."
Read rest of article at BBC News Wales

Got insulin resistance? Vitamin d supplements can help
14 August 2011
David Liu PhD
foodconsumer.org
A new trial reported in the British Journal of Nutrition suggests that taking vitamin D supplements may help improve insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity.

The study led by P.R. von Hurst and colleagues of Massey University in Auckland [New Zealand] found that in a group of women increasing the average serum level of vitamin D from 21 to 75 nmol/L drastically improvedinsulin sensitivity and reduced insulin resistance.

The study involved 81 South Asian women aged 23 to 68 years with insulinresistance, homeostasis model assessment 1 greater than 1.93 and serumvitamin d level less than 50 nmol/L. Subjects did not take vitamin d supplements if any in a dose of no more 25 microg or 1000 IU/d.

For the study, 42 subjects were given 100 microg or 4000 IU of vitamin D per day while 39 subjects received a placebo as controls. The randomized, controlled, double-blind trial lasted six months.
The researchers also found improvement of insulin resistance was maximized when serum vitamin D levels reached or exceed 80 nmol/L...
Read rest of article at foodconsumer.org.

(NaturalNews Sept 2011)
Just in case you needed more proof that low blood levels of vitamin D represent a significant health concern, researchers publishing in theEuropean Journal of Clinical Nutritiondemonstrate that small increases in the sunshine vitamin can add precious years to your life. For nearly a decade scientific evidence has been mounting to show that the vast majorities of adults (and many children) are grossly deficient in circulating blood levels of vitamin D. Further proof is documented in thePLoS Onejournal to show the precise cellular mechanism that helps vitamin D dramatically lower the risk of colon cancer. The bottom line is simple: check your vitamin D blood saturation with an inexpensive test and make the necessary adjustments to live a healthier and longer life.

Using epidemiologic studies, Dr. W.B. Grant of the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center in San Francisco found that doubling the serum blood concentration of vitamin D could increase average life expectancy by two years. Dr. Grant and his team identified the major diseases that responded to increased levels of vitamin D. They then compared mortality rates to six identified regions around the country, and contrasted serum blood levels of the sunshine vitamin with disease occurrence.

After compiling all the data, the researchers found that conditions and diseases responsive to vitamin D that account for over half of the world's mortality include cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, tuberculosis and respiratory diseases and infections. It was determined that doubling the circulating level of vitamin D would lower the mortality rates of diseases that are sensitive to vitamin D by approximately 20 percent. Dr. Grant concluded:"several ways to raise serum vitamin D include food fortification, supplementation and increased ultraviolet B exposure."

Researchers have known for some time that low vitamin D levels are associated with a significant increase in colon cancer cases, but they have not understood the specific mechanism responsible. Now, scientists have discovered how a lack of vitamin D promotes DNA damage and colon cancer risk. Specifically, low vitamin D status instigates the development and progression of this devastating form of cancer.

Researchers have focused on a protein in intestinal epithelial cells called beta-catechin that normally helps epithelial cells bond together with other cells to form a protective barrier between the contents in your gut and the physical structure of your digestive tract. They found that when vitamin D is lacking, DNA synthesis is disrupted and beta-catechin builds up in cells, dramatically increasing the risk of colon cancer initiation.

There should be no doubt remaining that one of the most critical foundations to vibrant health is maintaining proper vitamin D blood saturation levels. Prevention is worth a pound of cure. So have your family physician run the simple and inexpensive 25 (OH)D blood test (alternatively, mail-in home testing is now a viable option), and be certain your level runs between 50 and 70 ng/mL to add years to your life and dramatically lower colon cancer and chronic disease risk.

http://www.naturalnews.com/

This article may be reprinted free of charge provided 1) that there is clear attribution to the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, and 2) that both the OMNS free subscription link http://orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html <http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt.php?c=155&m=232&nl=3&s=ec4bb4a5dffae7729214844ce1079d65&lid=1401&l=-http--orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html>  and also the OMNS archive link http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml <http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt.php?c=155&m=232&nl=3&s=ec4bb4a5dffae7729214844ce1079d65&lid=1402&l=-http--orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml>  are included.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, September 16, 2011
Why You Need More Vitamin D. A Lot More.
by William B. Grant, Ph.D.
(OMNS, Sept 16, 2011) Vitamin D has emerged as the nutrient of the decade. Numerous studies have found benefits for nearly 100 types of health conditions. These health benefits include reduced risk of bone diseases, many types of cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes mellitus, bacterial and viral infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis,[1] neurological conditions such as cognitive dysfunction,[2] and improved athletic and physical performance.[3]
Sunshine, Skin, Sunburn, and Sunscreen
The primary source of vitamin D for most people is solar ultraviolet-B (UVB) light. Skin pigmentation has adapted to where a population lives for a thousand years or more as those with skin too dark or light do not survive as well as those with the appropriate skin pigmentation.[4]Dark skin protects against the harmful effects of UV, but also blocks the UVB from penetrating deeply enough into the skin to produce vitamin D from 7-dehydrocholesterol. Those with lighter skin can produce vitamin D more rapidly, but are more prone to melanoma and other skin cancer. Sunscreens block UVB and thus limit vitamin D production. While sunscreens are useful in reducing risk of sunburning, they do not block the long wave UV (UVA) as well as UVB. UVA is linked to risk of melanoma. Wearing sunscreen when there is no danger of burning can actually increase the risk of melanoma.[5]
Understanding Vitamin D Research
Since vitamin D production is the primary source of vitamin D, ecological and observational studies have been very useful in teasing out the effects of vitamin D on health. There are two types of ecological studies, based on geographical and temporal (over time) variations. In geographical studies, populations are defined geographically and both health outcome and risk-modifying factors are averaged for each geographical unit. Statistical analyses are then used to determine the relative importance of each factor. The first paper linking UVB and vitamin D to reduced risk of colon cancer was published in 1980.[6] This link has now been extended to about 15 types of cancer in the United States with respect to average noontime solar UVB doses in July.[7] Solar UVB doses in July are highest in the Southwest and lowest in the Northeast.[8] Mortality rates are generally lowest in the Southwest and highest in the Northeast.[9] Similar results have been found in Australia, China, France, Japan, Russia, and Spain, and the entire world.[10] In temporal studies, seasonal variations in health outcomes are sought. A good example of a seasonal effect linked to solar UVB doses and vitamin D is influenza, which peaks in winter.[11] Observational studies are generally of three types: case-control, cohort, and cross-sectional. In case-control studies, those diagnosed with a disease have serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] level or oral vitamin D intake determined at that time and are compared statistically with others with similar characteristics but without that disease. In cohort studies, people are enrolled in the study and the vitamin D index determined at that time. The cohort is followed for a number of years and those who develop a specific disease are compared statistically with matched controls who did not. The main problem with cohort studies is that the single value of the vitamin D index may not relate to the time in the individual's life when vitamin D had the most impact on the disease outcome. Cross-sectional studies are essentially snapshots of a population and look at various factors in relation to the prevalence of health conditions. As biochemistry can be affected by health status, such studies provide less reliable information on the role of UVB and vitamin D on health outcome. The role of vitamin D in CVD and diabetes mellitus type 2 have largely been studied using cohort studies. Significantly reduced risk of CVD and diabetes mellitus incidence have been reported in a number of studies in the past three years.[12] Health policy officials like to see randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting health benefits with limited adverse effects. RCTs are certainly appropriate for pharmaceutical drugs which, by definition, are artificial substances that the human body has no experience with. RCTs with vitamin D are problematic for a number of reasons. For one, many RCTs used only 400 IU/day vitamin D3, which is much lower than the 10,000 IU/day that can be produced with whole-body exposure to the midday sun in summer, or 1500 IU/day from casual sunlight exposure in summer.[13] For another, there are both oral and UVB sources of vitamin D, so the amount taken in the study will compete with the other sources. There is considerable individual variation in serum 25(OH)D for a given oral vitamin D intake.[14] Unfortunately, serum 25(OH)D levels are generally not measured in oral vitamin D RCTs. Nonetheless, there have been several vitamin D RCTs that found significant health benefits beyond preventing falls and fractures.[15] These include ones for cancer,[16],[17] influenza and colds,[18] type A influenza,[19] and pneumonia.[20]
Important Benefits of Vitamin D
The evidence of beneficial roles of UVB and vitamin D for a large number of health conditions have recently been posted at the Vitamin D Council's website: http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health-conditions/ <http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt.php?c=155&m=232&nl=3&s=ec4bb4a5dffae7729214844ce1079d65&lid=1403&l=-http--www.vitamindcouncil.org/health-conditions/> In addition to an overview of the literature, the website also includes a feature to pull up a large number of titles on each condition fromwww.pubmed.gov <http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt.php?c=155&m=232&nl=3&s=ec4bb4a5dffae7729214844ce1079d65&lid=1404&l=-http--www.pubmed.gov>  . Sufficient information is currently available from observational studies with support from ecological studies and RCTs to determine relationships between serum 25(OH)D levels and incidence rates for breast and colorectal cancer,[21] CVD,[22] and influenza.[23] Risk decreases rapidly for small increases in 25(OH)D for those with initial values below 10 ng/ml (25 nmol/L), then decrease at a slower rate to levels above 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L). These relations have been used to estimate the change in mortality rates and life expectancy if population mean serum 25(OH)D levels were raised from current levels of 20-25 ng/ml (50-63 nmol/L) to 45 ng/ml (113 nmol/L). For the U.S., it was estimated that 400,000 deaths/year could be delayed,[24] which is about 15% of all deaths/year. For the entire world, it was estimated that the reduction in all-cause mortality rates would correspond to an increased life expectancy of two years.[22] The mechanisms whereby vitamin D reduces the risk of disease are largely understood. For cancer, they include effects on cellular differentiation and proliferation, angiogenesis and metastasis.[25] For infectious diseases, they include induction of cathelicidin and defensins [26] and shifting cytokine production from proinflammatory T-helper 1 (Th1) cytokines to Th2 cytokines.[27] For CVD, they may include reducing blood pressure and keeping calcium in the bones and teeth and out of the vascular tissues.[28] For diabetes mellitus type 2, they may include improving insulin sensitivity.[29]
Current Government-Sponsored Recommendations are Too Low
In spite of the large and expanding body of scientific evidence that vitamin D has many health benefits, the US Institute of Medicine issued a report in November 2010 claiming that the evidence was strong only for effects on bones.[30],[31] The reason given was lack of convincing randomized controlled trials on other health conditions. The one on cancer showing a 77% reduced risk of all-cancer incidence between the ends of the first and fourth years involved 1100 IU/day vitamin D plus 1450 mg/day calcium.[16] However, the IOM Committee relied on the findings from the start of the study, which was not statistically significant. In addition, the IOM Committee pointed to observational studies reporting a U-shaped serum 25(OH)D-disease incidence relation as a reason to be concerned about higher doses of vitamin D. However, these studies used a single serum 25(OH)D value from the time of enrollment followed by follow-up times as long as 17 years. Two studies reported that the sign of the correlation between disease outcome and serum 25(OH)D level changes from negative to positive after seven-to-15 years.[32],[33] Thus, the U-shaped relations are not reliable and should not be used as the basis for policy decisions, especially since the Committee refused to consider the largely beneficial findings from observational studies.
How Much Vitamin D Do We REALLY Need?
The IOM committee set the recommended vitamin D intake at 600 IU/day for those under the age of 70 years and 800 IU/day for those over 70, and stated that 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L) was an adequate level. The scientific consensus is that oral intake should be 1000-5000 IU/day vitamin D with a goal of 30-40 ng/ml (75-100 nmol/L).[34] The vitamin D research community has responded to the IOM report on vitamin D with over 60 letters and articles in peer-reviewed journals pointing out the absurdity and illogic of the IOM report.[35] The Endocrine Society published a paper recommending 1500-2000 IU/day and 30 ng/ml.[36] Meanwhile, members of the IOM Committee have been publishing articles in mainstream journals promoting their report. (William Grant, PhD, is the director of the Sunlight, Nutrition, and Health Research Center (SUNARC) in San Francisco, California. www.sunarc.org <http://www.cihfimediaservices.org/12all/lt.php?c=155&m=232&nl=3&s=ec4bb4a5dffae7729214844ce1079d65&lid=1405&l=-http--www.sunarc.org>  . The author receives funding from the UV Foundation, the Sunlight Research Forum, Bio-Tech-Pharmacal, the Vitamin D Council, and the Vitamin D Society of Canada.)