Over the past four years, I've written about 190 articles, and about a dozen of them were paraphrased or quoted and copied, so I can get the information right, etc.  I have done this with topics I think are important to the general public, and some of the topics include; losing weight; teen court; fighting bed bugs, homelessness, aging, and so forth. 

I like to tell people that I live in a sleepy little one-horse town of Albuquerque, New Mexico, which has a population of more than 500,000 in the metro area.  I have been learning about vitamin D, for the past several months, and, for the first time, I got a blood test for vitamin D.  There is a certain test that is done, so the reader has to ask his or her doctor about the test that is right for you.  I got the blood test in August, 2010, and my doctor said everything is okay! 

Vitamin D is made naturally by the body, and is usually refered to as the 'sunshine vitamin.'  During my study of vitamin D, I found so many positive things about vitamin D, that I was not surprised by the following article, that was written by Amanda Schoenberg of the Albuquerque Journal and published on October 4, 2010. 

The article headline reads as follows;

"Super Health Hero?

Vitamin D is taking its turn in the spotlight!   The news is inescapable...as studies have linked higher levels of vitamin D to everything from reduced risk of heart disease to improved cancer survival and mortality rates.   

Dr. Elizabeth Szalay, chief of pediatric orthopedics at the University of New Mexico's Carrie Tingley Hospital, says the vitamin's reputation is well deserved.  While vitamin D is necessary for calcium absorption, researchers think it may serve other important functions, says Szalay. 

'The case is getting stronger every day,' she says.  Vitamin D, known as the sunshine vitamin, is produced in the skin when it is exposed to the sun.  It also can be ingested as food or in a supplement.  Only a few foods contain appreciable amounts of vitamin D, like fish oil and fortified milk, etc. 

But, what sparked the surge of interest in vitamin D?  And why are so many people deficient in the vitamin?  Vitamin D deficiency is on the rise.  Between 1988 and 1994 average vitamin D serum levels dropped from 30 to 24 ng/mL in the U.S., according to an analysis of National Center for Health Statistics data published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2009.  Vitamin D levels of 30 were considered a minimum amount. 

The number of people with very low vitamin D...under 10ng/mL...increased from 2 percent to 6 percent.  The trend was worse for non-Hispanic blacks...those with very low vitamin D levels increased from 9 percent to 29 percent.  Another analysis of the same health data published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported increased rates of vitamin D deficiency but found that changes in testing methods were partially responsible.  Lifestyle plays a role in vitamin D levels, says Szalay. 

"It's kind of a perfect storm," Szalay says.  "People used to work outside all day.  We've taken our work indoors.  Kids have absolutely taken their play indoors."  When people spend time outside they are told alsways wear sunscreen, which blocks most vitamin D production, she adds.

Americans also eat fewer foods with vitamin D, says Adit Ginde, an author of the 2009 study and assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. 

More benefits...

Several factors have spurred interest in vitamin D.  In the past decade, doctors began doing more preventive screening for osteoporosis, particularly in older women, says Dr. John Franklin, a family practice doctor at ABQ Health Partners' Rio Bravo Healthcare Center.  Screenings may reveal low calcium and vitamin D.  Now patients often ask about testing vitamin D.  "It is one of those things that sort of snowball." says Szalay. 

As scientists started to look closely at vitamin D, new benefits emerged and spurred more research.  Szalay has prescribed vitamin D for several patients who had vague musculoskeletal pain and says their symptoms improved.  She is now studying pain and vitamin D in 75 New Mexico children. 

Vitamin D has effects beyond bone health, according to Ginde.  "Vitamin D appears to regulate over 1,000 human genes and there are vitamin D resceptors throughout the body in most organ systems and tissue," he writes in an e-mail.  "We are just scratching the surface on the effects of vitamin D, but are learning that vitamin D deficiency is associated with numberous health problems including infections, certain types of cancer, and heart disease. 

But some experts suggest caution with vitamin D.  Many studies show an association between vitamin D deficiency and various health problems but not a direct cause and effect, says Stefanie Tierney, a registered diatitian and media coordinator for the New Mexico Dietetic Association.  Tierney suggests talking to a physician and getting vitamin D tested before trying supplements.  "I don't think we have enough concrete data yet," she says.  

Vitamin D has a long medical history.  The link between rickets, a bone disease found in children, and sun exposure emerged in the late 1800's when researchers noticed fewer cases of rickets among children in sunny areas, according to a history of vitamin D and cancer in the Annals of Epidemiology.  

Scientists later found they could cure rickets with cod liver oil.  That led to the discovery of a precursor to vitamin D in 1937.  When the National Cancer Institute published maps of cancer incidence in the 1970's, Johns Hopkins University researchers Frank and Cedric Garland noticed higher mortality
rates in the northern parts of the country.  In 1980, they first linked higher vitamin D levels and colon cancer prevention.  

How much?

Debate rages about how much is enough vitamin D.  In 1997, the Food and Nutrition Board at the Institute of Medicine set the daily intake levels at 200 IU for people 50 and younger, and 400 IU for people 50-70 and 600 IU for people over 70.  The board is expected to release new findings this fall. (2010)

In 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that children and adolescents have at least 400 IU of vitamin D every day.  At that level, spending 10 to 15 minutes in the New Mexico sun and drinking two to three glassed of fortified milk daily is likely enough, Tierney says.  

People older than 50, with dark skin and those who do not spend much time in the sun may want to get their vitamin D checked, Tierney says.  Patients with fatigue muscle aches and bone pain also might want to be tested, say Franklin.  

But Szalay and others want to see daily intake levels raised to at least 1000 IU for children and adults.  While 400 is enough to keep kids from getting rickets, doctors don't know how much vitamin D people need for optimum health, she says.  

Although rickets is rare, infants who are exclusively breast-fed and do not take supplements have a greater risk of the disease, Szalay says.  A nursing mother should take 4,000 IU daily to boost vitamin D in brest milk, she says.  Obese adults and children also need higher levels of vitamin D, she says.  

Vitamin D As a Super Hero?

Getting that much vitamin D can be tricky.  Spending 15 minutes outside without sunscreen might be enough vitamin D for some people, she says.  But older adults do not process vitamin D as well as younger people and need more sun time.  People with dark skin also need more vitamin D, she says. 

Ingesting 1,000 IU of vitamin D is the equilvalent of eating 10 servings of fish or drinking 10 8 oz. glasses of fortified mild every day.  A supplement is the easiest approach, Szalay says.  

As studies about vitamin D pile up, some physicians worry people will take too much, says Szalay.  Water-soluble vitamins, like vitamin C, are released in urine one the body has enough.  With vitamin D, a fat-soluble vitamin, the body keeps absorbing what it gets in food, she says.  (when vitamin D is absorbed by the sun, the body takes only what it needs) 

Too much vitamin D may cause nausea, vominting, weakness and balance problems, Franklin says.  To be safe people should not take more than 2000 IU without a doctor's advice, Szalay says."

END OF ARTICLE; 

A) The only advice I can give to the reader, is to do your homework.  The Internet is full of information on vitamin D. 

B) Talk to your doctor about getting the right blood test for vitamin D. 

C)  Go over the results of your blood test with your doctor...Good luck...

SITEMAP; 350+ Links For Your Convenience;
Copyright; 2010; Jerry Aragon/The Humor Doctor
Website name; humordoctormd