Vitamin D Deficiency Called Major Health Risk

[Guest guest]

We had a major discussion on Vit D a couple of months ago. So you heard it

here first folk.............

By Rob Stein

Many Americans, particularly African Americans, may be suffering from

unrecognized deficiencies of a key nutrient -- vitamin D -- that increase

the risk of bone problems and perhaps a host of other diseases, a growing

number of scientists say.

Pediatricians scattered around the country have been surprised to see

children suffering from rickets, a bone disorder caused by vitamin D

deficiency that had been largely relegated to a bygone era. A few doctors

have come across adults who were disabled by severe muscle weakness and

pain, sometimes for years, until they were treated for undiagnosed vitamin D

deficiency. And recent studies suggest low vitamin D may be putting the

elderly at higher risk for the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis and

life-threatening falls and fractures.

But beyond bone and muscle problems, some evidence suggests a dearth of

vitamin D may be associated with an array of more serious illnesses,

including many forms of cancer, high blood pressure, depression, and

immune-system disorders such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and

diabetes.

In response, many scientists have begun pushing to sharply boost the

official recommendations for how much vitamin D everyone should get daily,

either by taking supplements, by eating more food that contains the nutrient

or from the sun -- a major source of vitamin D.

Suggestions that people get more sun exposure, however, have sparked an

unusually intense, and sometimes bitter, debate. Skin cancer experts are

alarmed that people will disregard warnings about unprotected sun exposure,

making them more vulnerable to what is the most common malignancy.

The debate is complicated by the many uncertainties about vitamin D.

Because the nutrient's apparently widespread functions in the body are just

now being recognized, little research has been done to try to answer some of

the most basic questions, such as how much is needed for optimal health.

" It's a nutrient that's been around for a long time, but it's relatively

recently that there's been a lot of evidence emerging that indicates there's

more to vitamin D than we thought, " said Raiten of the National

Institute of Child Health and Human Development, who organized a recent

conference at the National Institutes of Health to identify the most urgent

priorities for more research.

Skin produces vitamin D when hit by ultraviolet light in sunlight. The

amount depends on where people live, skin pigment, age and other factors.

African Americans and other dark-skinned people, and anyone living in

northern latitudes, make far less than some other groups.

With people spending more time indoors, covering up and slathering on

sunblock when they are outside, and smog obscuring the sun on many days, the

amount of vitamin D people create naturally is probably very low, many

scientists say.

" Imagine you're a space alien looking down on Earth. You have these humans

who evolved in the Horn of Africa, as nudists living around the equator.

They would have been getting lots of vitamin D through their skin. Then they

suddenly . . . move north and put on lots of clothes and block out most of

their capacity to make vitamin D, " said Reinhold Vieth, a University of

Toronto vitamin D researcher. " For me it's a no-brainer. We're not getting

enough. "

Milk and a few other foods are fortified with vitamin D, and it occurs

naturally in a few others, such as fatty fish, but most people get very

little through their diets.

" All along the northern United States, where we have long winters, a lot

of snow, not much sunshine all winter, there is endemic vitamin D

deficiency, " said Paresh Dandona of the State University of New York at

Buffalo, who treated six patients disabled by misdiagnosed vitamin D

deficiencies.

A number of studies have found what could be disturbingly low levels of

vitamin D in many populations, including children, the elderly and women.

One federal study of women nationwide found that perhaps nearly half of

African American women of childbearing age may be vitamin D deficient.

It remains unclear whether vitamin D deficiencies are becoming more common

because people are shunning the sun and making other lifestyle changes or

whether it is a long-standing problem that is only now being recognized.

The first clue came from rickets. Milk was fortified with vitamin D in the

1930s to eliminate the disorder, which can cause bowlegs and other bone

malformations. But during the 1990s, doctors in several cities reported

unusual numbers of cases, primarily in babies being breast-fed and mostly

among African American children. Formula is fortified with vitamin D, but

breast milk contains little, especially among women with dark skin.

In response, the American Academy of Pediatrics last spring instructed

pediatricians to prescribe that all children, especially breast-fed babies,

take vitamin D supplements through adolescence.

While it is clear that low vitamin D levels can lead to rickets in

children, muscle problems in older people and probably brittle bones in the

elderly, the link to other serious illnesses remains far more tentative. But

many specialists say the case has steadily been getting stronger.

Vitamin D appears to interact with virtually every tissue in the body.

Moreover, the incidence of certain diseases seems to vary depending on sun

exposure and vitamin D levels.

For example, many cancers, most notably breast, colon and prostate cancer,

seem to increase the farther you get from the equator, where exposure to

ultraviolet light from the sun is greatest.

" The highest rate of prostate cancer is among African Americans, followed

by countries in northern Europe. How are blacks like Scandinavians? They

don't look alike, but in some important ways they have to be alike, " said

G. Schwartz, a cancer researcher at Wake Forest University School of

Medicine. " One way that they are alike is both groups have very low levels

of vitamin D. "

While there could be many other explanations, the idea that vitamin D may

help prevent malignancies has been buttressed by animal and laboratory

studies indicating it can act as a brake on cell growth, preventing the

uncontrolled cell division that is cancer.

Similarly, vitamin D appears to damp down the immune system, and

researchers have also found associations among sun exposure, vitamin D

levels and the incidence of " autoimmune diseases " such as multiple

sclerosis, lupus and diabetes, in which the immune system attacks the body.

Some studies suggest vitamin D can reduce blood pressure, which would cut

the risk for heart disease and strokes -- the nation's leading causes of

death. Others suggest that low vitamin D levels may contribute to depression

and other psychiatric conditions.

" It's a major health problem, " said F. Holick, a Boston University

scientist who is the most prominent proponent of the role of vitamin D in

health. " Everybody has always associated vitamin D deficiency with rickets

in children, and after childhood you don't have to worry. There's nothing

further from the truth. "

Holick and others argue that instead of the 200 to 600 international units

a day that current recommendations suggest, most people should be getting at

least 1,000 units a day. In a controversial new book, " The UV Advantage, "

Holick recommends exposing the hands, face, arms and legs to the sun for

five to 15 minutes a day a few days a week, which he says would be enough to

generate that amount without increasing the risk for skin cancer. Many

people are not getting even that amount of sun exposure on a regular basis,

Holick and others say.

" There's no question that chronic, excessive exposure to sunlight and

sunburning incidents markedly increases your risk for skin cancer. But

there's little evidence out there that if you practice safe sun exposure, it

would increase your risk for skin cancer or wrinkling, " Holick said.

But dermatologists and skin cancer experts argue that those recommendations

are irresponsible and have little firm scientific support.

" Dr. Holick says vitamin D is a cure-all magic pill. If everyone took

vitamin D, there would be no more cancer. But there's no evidence that is

true, " said Spencer, vice chairman of dermatology at Mount Sinai

School of Medicine in New York.

" Ultraviolet light contained in sunlight causes skin cancer and wrinkles.

That's beyond dispute, " Spencer said. " We already have an epidemic of skin

cancer in this country. "

Barbara Gilchrest, who chairs the dermatology department at the Boston

University School of Medicine, said she asked Holick to resign his position

in her department in February because of his views and because he receives

some funding from the tanning-parlor industry. " He has, in my opinion, an

enormous conflict of interest that he refuses to acknowledge, " Gilchrest

said.

Holick, who kept his other academic positions at the university,

acknowledges he receives funding from the tanning industry, but he says it

is a small portion of his budget and comes with no strings attached. " The

dermatologists get a lot of money from the sunscreen industry and no one

ever questions them about that, " he said.

Many experts who believe vitamin D deficiencies play an important role in a

range of diseases say people can get enough safely by taking vitamin D

supplements, sidestepping the contentious sunlight debate.

" There's a lot of emotion in this fight, which is unfortunate, " said

F. DeLuca, who studies vitamin D at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

" This is a very important issue. We really need to address two important

questions: Are we getting enough vitamin D? I believe we are not. The other

one is: What's the best way to get it? That's a matter of debate. "

Others, meanwhile, say much more research is needed to figure out how much

vitamin D people need and the best way to get it.

" We're a long way from making any definitive statement that Group X has a

serious problem, " NIH's Raiten said. " The evidence seems to imply that we

need to look at it carefully, but I don't think we're in a position of being

able to make any specific recommendations. "

[Guest guest]

Hi folks:

Also perhaps worth repeating from the vitamin D discussion here a

couple of months ago .............. when I analyzed my diet using

Fitday I found I was getting more than the RDA for it. But only two

or three of the foods I had eaten contained ANY of it. Had I not

been eating fish daily I would have been dramatically deficient in it.

IMO it is very well worth the effort to check if you are getting

enough. (And the fish provides so many other benefits it is the

obvious solution, if you are in need of one).

Rodney.

> We had a major discussion on Vit D a couple of months ago. So you

heard it

> here first folk.............

>

>

> By Rob Stein

>

> Many Americans, particularly African Americans, may be suffering

from

> unrecognized deficiencies of a key nutrient -- vitamin D -- that

increase

> the risk of bone problems and perhaps a host of other diseases, a

growing

> number of scientists say.

>

> Pediatricians scattered around the country have been surprised to

see

> children suffering from rickets, a bone disorder caused by vitamin D

> deficiency that had been largely relegated to a bygone era. A few

doctors

> have come across adults who were disabled by severe muscle weakness

and

> pain, sometimes for years, until they were treated for undiagnosed

vitamin D

> deficiency. And recent studies suggest low vitamin D may be putting

the

> elderly at higher risk for the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis

and

> life-threatening falls and fractures.

>

> But beyond bone and muscle problems, some evidence suggests a

dearth of

> vitamin D may be associated with an array of more serious illnesses,

> including many forms of cancer, high blood pressure, depression, and

> immune-system disorders such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid

arthritis and

> diabetes.

>

> In response, many scientists have begun pushing to sharply boost

the

> official recommendations for how much vitamin D everyone should get

daily,

> either by taking supplements, by eating more food that contains the

nutrient

> or from the sun -- a major source of vitamin D.

>

> Suggestions that people get more sun exposure, however, have

sparked an

> unusually intense, and sometimes bitter, debate. Skin cancer

experts are

> alarmed that people will disregard warnings about unprotected sun

exposure,

> making them more vulnerable to what is the most common malignancy.

>

> The debate is complicated by the many uncertainties about vitamin

D.

> Because the nutrient's apparently widespread functions in the body

are just

> now being recognized, little research has been done to try to

answer some of

> the most basic questions, such as how much is needed for optimal

health.

>

> " It's a nutrient that's been around for a long time, but it's

relatively

> recently that there's been a lot of evidence emerging that

indicates there's

> more to vitamin D than we thought, " said Raiten of the

National

> Institute of Child Health and Human Development, who organized a

recent

> conference at the National Institutes of Health to identify the

most urgent

> priorities for more research.

>

> Skin produces vitamin D when hit by ultraviolet light in sunlight.

The

> amount depends on where people live, skin pigment, age and other

factors.

> African Americans and other dark-skinned people, and anyone living

in

> northern latitudes, make far less than some other groups.

>

> With people spending more time indoors, covering up and slathering

on

> sunblock when they are outside, and smog obscuring the sun on many

days, the

> amount of vitamin D people create naturally is probably very low,

many

> scientists say.

>

> " Imagine you're a space alien looking down on Earth. You have

these humans

> who evolved in the Horn of Africa, as nudists living around the

equator.

> They would have been getting lots of vitamin D through their skin.

Then they

> suddenly . . . move north and put on lots of clothes and block out

most of

> their capacity to make vitamin D, " said Reinhold Vieth, a

University of

> Toronto vitamin D researcher. " For me it's a no-brainer. We're not

getting

> enough. "

>

> Milk and a few other foods are fortified with vitamin D, and it

occurs

> naturally in a few others, such as fatty fish, but most people get

very

> little through their diets.

>

> " All along the northern United States, where we have long

winters, a lot

> of snow, not much sunshine all winter, there is endemic vitamin D

> deficiency, " said Paresh Dandona of the State University of New

York at

> Buffalo, who treated six patients disabled by misdiagnosed vitamin D

> deficiencies.

>

> A number of studies have found what could be disturbingly low

levels of

> vitamin D in many populations, including children, the elderly and

women.

> One federal study of women nationwide found that perhaps nearly

half of

> African American women of childbearing age may be vitamin D

deficient.

>

> It remains unclear whether vitamin D deficiencies are becoming

more common

> because people are shunning the sun and making other lifestyle

changes or

> whether it is a long-standing problem that is only now being

recognized.

>

> The first clue came from rickets. Milk was fortified with vitamin

D in the

> 1930s to eliminate the disorder, which can cause bowlegs and other

bone

> malformations. But during the 1990s, doctors in several cities

reported

> unusual numbers of cases, primarily in babies being breast-fed and

mostly

> among African American children. Formula is fortified with vitamin

D, but

> breast milk contains little, especially among women with dark skin.

>

> In response, the American Academy of Pediatrics last spring

instructed

> pediatricians to prescribe that all children, especially breast-fed

babies,

> take vitamin D supplements through adolescence.

>

> While it is clear that low vitamin D levels can lead to rickets in

> children, muscle problems in older people and probably brittle

bones in the

> elderly, the link to other serious illnesses remains far more

tentative. But

> many specialists say the case has steadily been getting stronger.

>

> Vitamin D appears to interact with virtually every tissue in the

body.

> Moreover, the incidence of certain diseases seems to vary depending

on sun

> exposure and vitamin D levels.

>

> For example, many cancers, most notably breast, colon and prostate

cancer,

> seem to increase the farther you get from the equator, where

exposure to

> ultraviolet light from the sun is greatest.

>

> " The highest rate of prostate cancer is among African Americans,

followed

> by countries in northern Europe. How are blacks like Scandinavians?

They

> don't look alike, but in some important ways they have to be

alike, " said

> G. Schwartz, a cancer researcher at Wake Forest University

School of

> Medicine. " One way that they are alike is both groups have very low

levels

> of vitamin D. "

>

> While there could be many other explanations, the idea that

vitamin D may

> help prevent malignancies has been buttressed by animal and

laboratory

> studies indicating it can act as a brake on cell growth, preventing

the

> uncontrolled cell division that is cancer.

>

> Similarly, vitamin D appears to damp down the immune system, and

> researchers have also found associations among sun exposure,

vitamin D

> levels and the incidence of " autoimmune diseases " such as multiple

> sclerosis, lupus and diabetes, in which the immune system attacks

the body.

>

> Some studies suggest vitamin D can reduce blood pressure, which

would cut

> the risk for heart disease and strokes -- the nation's leading

causes of

> death. Others suggest that low vitamin D levels may contribute to

depression

> and other psychiatric conditions.

>

> " It's a major health problem, " said F. Holick, a Boston

University

> scientist who is the most prominent proponent of the role of

vitamin D in

> health. " Everybody has always associated vitamin D deficiency with

rickets

> in children, and after childhood you don't have to worry. There's

nothing

> further from the truth. "

>

> Holick and others argue that instead of the 200 to 600

international units

> a day that current recommendations suggest, most people should be

getting at

> least 1,000 units a day. In a controversial new book, " The UV

Advantage, "

> Holick recommends exposing the hands, face, arms and legs to the

sun for

> five to 15 minutes a day a few days a week, which he says would be

enough to

> generate that amount without increasing the risk for skin cancer.

Many

> people are not getting even that amount of sun exposure on a

regular basis,

> Holick and others say.

>

> " There's no question that chronic, excessive exposure to sunlight

and

> sunburning incidents markedly increases your risk for skin cancer.

But

> there's little evidence out there that if you practice safe sun

exposure, it

> would increase your risk for skin cancer or wrinkling, " Holick said.

>

> But dermatologists and skin cancer experts argue that those

recommendations

> are irresponsible and have little firm scientific support.

>

> " Dr. Holick says vitamin D is a cure-all magic pill. If everyone

took

> vitamin D, there would be no more cancer. But there's no evidence

that is

> true, " said Spencer, vice chairman of dermatology at Mount

Sinai

> School of Medicine in New York.

>

> " Ultraviolet light contained in sunlight causes skin cancer and

wrinkles.

> That's beyond dispute, " Spencer said. " We already have an epidemic

of skin

> cancer in this country. "

>

> Barbara Gilchrest, who chairs the dermatology department at the

Boston

> University School of Medicine, said she asked Holick to resign his

position

> in her department in February because of his views and because he

receives

> some funding from the tanning-parlor industry. " He has, in my

opinion, an

> enormous conflict of interest that he refuses to acknowledge, "

Gilchrest

> said.

>

> Holick, who kept his other academic positions at the university,

> acknowledges he receives funding from the tanning industry, but he

says it

> is a small portion of his budget and comes with no strings

attached. " The

> dermatologists get a lot of money from the sunscreen industry and

no one

> ever questions them about that, " he said.

>

> Many experts who believe vitamin D deficiencies play an important

role in a

> range of diseases say people can get enough safely by taking

vitamin D

> supplements, sidestepping the contentious sunlight debate.

>

> " There's a lot of emotion in this fight, which is unfortunate, "

said

> F. DeLuca, who studies vitamin D at the University of Wisconsin at

Madison.

> " This is a very important issue. We really need to address two

important

> questions: Are we getting enough vitamin D? I believe we are not.

The other

> one is: What's the best way to get it? That's a matter of debate. "

>

> Others, meanwhile, say much more research is needed to figure out

how much

> vitamin D people need and the best way to get it.

>

> " We're a long way from making any definitive statement that Group

X has a

> serious problem, " NIH's Raiten said. " The evidence seems to imply

that we

> need to look at it carefully, but I don't think we're in a position

of being

> able to make any specific recommendations. "

[Guest guest]

I eat a cup or so of FF yogurt daily. It's made from skim milk but I don't

see any claims on the container for A & D such as you see on a milk

container. Does yogurt have D, or not?

on 5/21/2004 3:40 PM, Rodney at perspect1111@... wrote:

> Hi folks:

>

> Also perhaps worth repeating from the vitamin D discussion here a

> couple of months ago .............. when I analyzed my diet using

> Fitday I found I was getting more than the RDA for it. But only two

> or three of the foods I had eaten contained ANY of it. Had I not

> been eating fish daily I would have been dramatically deficient in it.

>

> IMO it is very well worth the effort to check if you are getting

> enough. (And the fish provides so many other benefits it is the

> obvious solution, if you are in need of one).

>

> Rodney.

[Guest guest]

I've noticed this too (Horizon brand I think?)... Someone at Whole

Foods told me that the A & D was required to be added to liquid milk by

law. If this is true, then I theorize that the yogurt is made from milk

has already had A (palmitate!) & D added. Also, if the nutritional

information on the yogurt container shows Vit A & Vit D, then it seems

likely that it's added... Based on nutritional data (links below),

milk/cow yogurt doesn't contain A & D on it's own.

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-001-02s001z.html

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-001-02s002w.html

Francesca Skelton wrote:

>I eat a cup or so of FF yogurt daily. It's made from skim milk but I don't see

any claims on the container for A & D such as you see on a milk container. Does

yogurt have D, or not?

>

>

>on 5/21/2004 3:40 PM, Rodney at perspect1111@... wrote:

>

>