Can Vitamin D Prevent Arthritis?

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s Hopkins Health Alert

Can Vitamin D Prevent Arthritis?

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Many researchers

now believe that the "sunshine vitamin" may one day play a key role in

preventing the development and progression of arthritis. Researchers,

including scientists at s Hopkins under the direction of Uzma

Haque, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of

Medicine, Division of Rheumatology at s Hopkins, have been looking

at the effect of vitamin D on rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis

and the data are quite suggestive. Vitamin D is proving to be a most

promising area for arthritis research.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that's essential for human health.

Vitamin D levels are assessed with a simple blood test that measures

levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D, or 25(OH)D, the metabolite that

reflects vitamin D stores; results are expressed in terms of nanograms

per milliliter (ng/mL).

Although there is continuing debate over what constitutes an optimal

level, most experts now agree that the level should be 30 ng/mL or

higher. Yet most Americans -- up to 60% by some estimates -- have

suboptimal blood levels of vitamin D. In part, that's because we spend

less time outdoors and absorb less vitamin D from sunlight. However, it

also may be because we don't get enough vitamin D from our diet. Only a

few foods contain significant amounts of vitamin D.

It has long been recognized that vitamin D is essential to bone health

because it promotes calcium absorption. Vitamin D regulates as many as

1,000 different genes, including those that weed out precancerous cells

and slow the runaway reproduction of cancer cells. Vitamin D also helps

maintain a healthy immune system and activates cells that fight

infection, including the bacterium that causes tuberculosis.

During the past decade, there's been an explosion of research

suggesting that vitamin D plays a significant role in joint health and

that low levels may be a risk factor for rheumatologic conditions such

as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

Unlike other vitamins, vitamin D is not just a simple nutrient. It's

also an active steroid hormone that binds to receptors in a host of

vulnerable tissues -- including the joints affected by arthritis -- and

works to keep these tissues healthy. Arthritis patients may be even

more likely than the general population to have low levels of vitamin

D. According to a study presented at the 2008 European Union League

Against Rheumatism (EULAR) meeting in Paris, nearly 75% of patients who

presented at a rheumatology clinic -- including those who were

subsequently diagnosed with inflammatory joint diseases, soft-tissue

rheumatism, uncomplicated musculoskeletal backache, or osteoporosis --

were deficient in vitamin D.

If your D level is lower than 30 ng/mL, the parathyroid gland becomes

overactive and sets in motion a process that depletes calcium from

bones in order to maintain normal blood levels of calcium. This

currently accepted optimal level of vitamin D is based solely on

vitamin D's calcium function. However, it ignores other important

functions. As we learn more about vitamin D, Dr. Haque anticipates that

the optimal level will be pushed considerably higher, with an ideal

range between 50 and 70 ng/mL.

Posted in Arthritis on January 11, 2010

From: Francesca Skelton <fskelton@...>support group < >Sent: Sat, January 16, 2010 7:57:01 PMSubject: Re: [ ] Re: Preventable Causes of Death

Hmmm. I’m reminded once again of Andre’s post (#28712)

Or see: http://health. groups.. com/group/ / message/28712)

and the subsequent short dialogue I had with you concerning the findings of that study. I felt like we weren’t really “connecting†when I mentioned blood glucose and you responded about methionine. Again I mention Dr Kenyon and her work on blood glucose and its relation to shorter or longer life. Of course her papers concern lower forms of life (unfotunately) .

On 1/16/10 10:32 PM, "perspect1111" <perspect1111> wrote:

Hi folks:

More on this. At the time of my previous post I had not taken a look at the full text of the paper. Now I have. Quickly. It can be found at this address:

http://www.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/ pmc/articles/ PMC2667673/ ?tool=pubmed

They actually listed twelve preventable risk factors. For some reason the article I read did not list all of them.

Notably, high blood glucose, high LDL, low fruit and vegetable intake and low PUFA intake were also listed. Perhaps more notable ..... low vitamin D adequacy was NOT listed! Sigh! Based on what has been posted here in the past couple of years about vitamin D, it is conceivable that inadequate vitamin D status may account for more deaths than any of the other listed items! It is a pity they had not included it.

Here is the full listing:

467,000 --- Tobacco

395,000 --- Blood pressure

216,000 --- Overweight

191,000

>

> Hi folks:

>

> I was taking a snoop at Jeff Novick's Facebook page and came across an interesting post containing information I had not seen previously, quantifying annual deaths in the US from preventable causes. The numbers were based on data from 2005.

>

> In that year here are the number of deaths believed to have resulted from each of the following causes, out of 2.5 million total deaths:

>

> 467,000 --- Tobacco smoking.

> 395,000 --- Hypertension.

> 216,000 --- Excessive body weight.

> 191,000 --- Inadequate exercise.

> 102,000 --- Excessive salt intake.

> 84,000 --- Low intake of beneficial fat from fish.

> 82,000 --- Intake of trans fatty acids.

> 64,000 --- Excessive alcohol intake.

>

> I found this interesting since only the body weight issue is directly related to CR. So this list provides, at least for me, a helpful overview of the things I really ought to be doing in addition to CR. On the question of alcohol, the study found that, at least for the population as a whole the well known benefits were outweighed by the disadvantages.

>

> Of course almost all of us here have long realized these are health issues. And no doubt have adapted our lives accordingly. But it is nice to see numbers attached to them to give some idea of their relative importance. For example, I had not realized the fish fats EPA and DHA to be as significant as this study has found.

>

> Source:

>

> "The preventable causes of death in the United States: comparative risk assessment of dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic risk factors."

>

> Danaei G, Ding EL, Mozaffarian D, B, Rehm J, Murray CJ, Ezzati M.

>

> PLoS Med. 2009 Apr 28;6(4):e1000058. Epub 2009 Apr 28.

>

> PMID: 19399161

>

> [Thanks Jeff!]

>

> Rodney.

>