Death and vitamins
Posted on August 12th, 2008 – 8:15 AMBy Josephine Marcotty
If you want to stay healthy go out into the sun. Or take vitamin D pills. Not only does vitamin D help prevent cancer, heart disease, and diabetes, it may also help to prevent death from all causes, according to a study published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York analyzed vitamin D levels in 13,331 people. More than half of the women and 43 percent of the men were vitamin D deficient, meaning that they had less than 30 nanogram per milliliter of blood. Nearly nine years later 1,806 of the study subjects had died. Those who had the lowest levels of vitamin D in their blood — less than 17.8 nanograms per millileter– had a 26 percent higher rate of death from any cause compared to those with the highest levels of vitamin D.
It doesn’t prove that low levels of vitamin D caused their illnesses or their deaths. But its the latest of many studies that are raising questions about whether our chronic health problems could be improved with higher doses of vitamin D. The standard recommendations is 400 units per day, but experts now are thinking that might be too low.
It may be harder than you think to get enough from the sun, which is the major source. The further north you live, the darker your skin, how much sun screen you use, and the older you are all affect how much your body can make. Less than 10 percent, on average, comes from food.
Many health experts now recommend that you ask your doctor to test your vitamin D level, and, if it’s below normal, to prescribe supplements.
And go outside, because at least for now, the sun is shining.
2 Responses to "Death and vitamins"
This is a very accurate article on a very important topic for Minnesotans.
We Minnesotans do not get enough vitamin D. We can’t. The sun is not strong enough for most of the year. We also work indoors, wear sun protective clothing, and wear sunscreen. The result: low vitamin D and increased risk for 17 types of cancer, including breast, colon, prostate, ovary and pancreas…the cancers that kill Americans the most.
Also low vitamin D means increased risk for hypertension, heart attacks and strokes, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, falls and chronic pain.
The evidence in the medical literature is strong. The awareness of this low-cost, low-toxicity agent is weak.
Ideally, governments, corporations and insurance companies interested in promoting the public health and saving money would express greater interest in this topic.
The current recommendation for 400 IU of vitamin D per day is not supported by the scientific evidence. People need at least 1,000 IU per day. Many people need even more and should work with their doctor on this.
The blood test to check is called 25-hydroxyvitamin D. The minimal level for optimal physiologic functioning is greater than 32 ng/ml. For reference, lifeguards and farmers in the summer often have levels greater than 50 ng/ml.
Very few foods in nature contain vitamin D. The flesh of fish (such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel) and fish liver oils are among the best sources [5]. Small amounts of vitamin D are found in beef liver, cheese, and egg yolks. Vitamin D in these foods is primarily in the form of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and its metabolite 25(OH)D3 [19]. Some mushrooms provide vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) in variable amounts [20-22].
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Arnold
http://www.alcoholtreatment.info
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