Join us for a live chat, tonight at 8pm ET to discuss the truth about vitamin D. How does it help you? Why do you need it? Chat tonight and learn what you need to know!
We will be joined by Dr. Tony Komaroff of Harvard Medical School. He will teach you everything you need to know about vitamin D. During the chat you can ask him questions, share tips and get advice from other members! One Gather member who participates in the live discussion between 8-9pm ET will win 250 Gather Points ™.
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Anthony Komaroff, M.D., is the Simcox-Clifford-Higby professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), and editor-in-chief of Harvard Health Publications at HMS. He is a practicing senior physician and was formerly director of the Division of General Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
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Comments: 120
Diane J asks if vitamin D deficiency can cause fatigue, and if vitamin D replacement treatment can improve fatigue. Absolutely! There are many things that can cause fatigue, of course, and vitamin D deficiency is not the explanation in most people. But it definitely could be. I’m starting to test for blood levels of vitamin D in patients who are having unusual fatigue that is not explained by the pace of their work, or their lack of sleep, or by some other medical condition.
Golds G asks if there is really vitamin D in Tropicana orange juice, or if it's just a marketing gimmick. I don't know for sure, of course, but I don't think the Food and Drug Administration would let them make that claim if it were not true.
Terri, I think that is a possibility, and these days an endocrinologist has tests that make it pretty simple to tell. So I'd get it checked out.
Terri
It is easy for a doctor to check if you are low on vitamin D. The best blood test is called 25OH-vitamin D. If your level is below 20, you are definitely deficient. And if your level is between 20-30, I think it's probably best for your health to take a vitamin D supplement each day.The current recommendations are for a total of 400-800 IU (International Units) a day. (And this recommendation will probably go up to around 1,000 IU/day relatively soon). If you take a multivitamin pill, check to see how much vitamin D it contains, to see whether or not you need to take a separate vitamin D pill.
What's the chance your level is below 30? Is it rare, or common? Even 15 years ago, most doctors would have told you it's rare. But as it got easier to measure vitamin D levels in the blood, and doctors started to take a look, they were shocked: 30-50% of us adults in the U.S. are vitamin D deficient! It's more common the farther north you live, since you get exposed to less sunlight. It's also more common in dark-skinned people.
Thanks Doctor!
Now there is a lot of evidence that vitamin D deficiency--and remember that 30-50% of us are deficient--may also increase the risk of various types of cancer. The evidence is strongest for colon cancer, but there's evidence that it increases the risk of prostate cancer and other cancers, too. In a small trial, postmenopausal women who received 1,100 IU of vitamin D plus 1,400 to 1,500 milligrams of calcium per day reduced their risk of developing non-skin cancers by 60% over four years, compared with a placebo.
Several studies reveal links between low vitamin D levels and depression in older adults. A study of overweight people (who tend to have low vitamin D levels) found that taking high doses of the vitamin over one year improved their moods.
Normal levels of vitamin D also seem to protect against autoimmune and infectious diseases. Multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, asthma, and even influenza all appear to be more common among the vitamin D-deprived.
The most common cause of death in the United States and other developed nations is heart disease. Who would have thought that vitamin D would have anything to do with heart disease? It does.
Earlier this year, at least four studies found a connection between low vitamin D and heart disease. People with low blood levels were twice as likely to have a heart attack or to die of cardiovascular disease as those with normal levels of the vitamin. The risks were greatest in those with deficient levels, and less extreme in those with insufficient levels. It makes biological sense that vitamin D could protect against heart disease: it slows the development of atherosclerosis, lowers blood pressure and blood sugar, and reduces inflammation within the artery wall (which, in turn, reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes).
Did you know Medicare is proposing to not pay for 25(OH)D tests? If they do, private insurers will quickly follow suit.
Draft LCD for Vitamin D Assay Testing (DL29510).
http://www.ngsmedicare.com/NGSMedicare/lcd/dl29510_c_lcd.htm
John Cannell, MD
The Vitamin D Council
I did not know that Medicare was considering not paying for vitamin D blood tests. I think that would be a bad mistake.
But what should we do until the results of such studies are done? Doctors differ in their answer. Some say it's best to wait until there is proof that a vitamin supplement improves your health. My attitude, in this case, is that the possible benefits of vitamin D supplements outweight the risks--when your blood level is low, and when you take no more than the amount each day that I recommended.