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Please listen to an interview about vitamin D with Meg Mangin, RN.

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Inflammation Therapy

 

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Therapy Tip

   

The scientific literature explains the rationale for taking Benicar every six to eight hours to maintain a stable serum level (Benicar has a half-life of 13 hours). In a complex process, calcitriol [1,25(OH)2D] binds to the vitamin D receptor (VDR) to initiate genomic transcription. VDR activity is affected by the concentration calcitriol, its binding affinity for the VDR and the breakdown rate of VDR proteins. Dynamics between protein breakdown and molecular events help establish steady levels of functionally competent VDRs. VDRs are highly mobile within the nucleus and cytoplasm and function genomically in a time frame of seconds (researchers estimate the half-life of VDR proteins to be between 6 and 8 hours). When taken every six to eight hours to match the VDR half-life, Benicar appears to up-regulate the VDR.

 

 

 

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Issue: 68
July 2015

Greetings!         

 

We thought we would run down some of the news from the past few months about vitamin D supplementation. We finally are getting some statistics on how widespread vitamin D supplementation has grown, We have watched as sales figures ballooned over the past 15 years. There's a new paper out this month, reporting that in the five-year period of 2007-2011,  prescriptions for vitamin D by providers from military treatment facilities increased by 454% per 1,000 active duty military personnel. The authors concluded that this trend "reflects the current general-population pattern of dietary supplement use, with large increases in vitamin D..."

 

We have been looking forward to the time when critical providers and researchers will reconsider whether the fad of vitamin D supplementation is not only unwise but potentially harmful. The good news is that we are beginning to see some changes in thinking. Late last year, a paper published by the U.S. Preventative Services Task force noted that "

25-(OH)D may act as a negative acute-phase reactant, and its levels may decrease in response to inflammation." This is very close to what we explained in our paper published last year and it's a major shift in thinking about 25-(OH) vitamin D.    

 

While we have been pointing out that widespread vitamin D supplementation is an experiment on the general population that has not curbed, we are pleased that there may be some progress toward actually measuring and documenting the results of D-supplementation. Several large-scale general-population vitamin D supplementation trials in treating cancer, cardiovascular disease, or all-cause mortality are underway. We will hope that these studies will be measuring both vitamin D metabolites, but we will continue to keep you informed as these results are published.  

  

To good health,

 

  signatureBelinda

  

About Inflammation Therapy

 

Vitamin D supplementation and Chronic Disease

 

Despite vitamin D supplementation chronic diseases have increased. More foods than ever before are fortified with vitamin D; the Nutrition Business Journal reported sales of vitamin D supplements have skyrocketed to $425 million in 2009 from just $40 million in 2001. [1] Vitamin D supplement proponents promised double digit declines in chronic disease yet, between 2000 and 2010, the percentage of adults aged 45-64 (and 65+) with two or more (of nine selected) chronic conditions, increased for both men and women, all racial and ethnic groups examined, and most income groups. [2] As reported by the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, more than one in four Americans lives with multiple chronic conditions, including one in 15 children. [3] Almost $2 out of $3 spent on health care in the U.S. is directed toward care for the 27% of Americans with multiple chronic conditions and chronic illness is expected to continue increasing. [4,5]

 

According to our most respected medical experts, "Outcomes related to autoimmune disorders, cancer, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, falls and physical performance, immune functioning, infections, neuropsychological functioning, and preeclampsia could not be linked reliably with calcium or vitamin D intake and were often conflicting." [6] The majority of the findings concerning vitamin D, calcium, or a combination of both nutrients on the different health outcomes were inconsistent. [7] Genetic findings in those predisposed to longevity cast doubt on whether low levels of vitamin D cause age-related diseases and mortality. [8] A study by Tufts Medical Center's Division of Rheumatology concluded, "Vitamin D supplementation for two years at a dose sufficient to elevate 25(OH)D plasma levels to higher than 36ng/ml, when compared with placebo, did not reduce knee pain or cartilage volume loss in patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis." [9] Subjects supplemented with high doses of vitamin D to increase 25(OH)D levels from 20.9ng/ml to 40.1ng/mg, saw "...no improvement in serum lipids, HbA1c, or HS-CRP with high dose vitamin D supplementation. If anything, the effect was negative." [10] A study published online August 2013 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine concluded that Vitamin D supplementation did not improve blood pressure or markers of vascular health in older patients with isolated systolic hypertension. [11] A study published October 2013 in The Lancet found little evidence supporting the use of vitamin D supplements by seniors hoping to improve bone density and ward off potential fractures. They concluded that "Continuing widespread use of vitamin D for osteoporosis prevention in community-dwelling adults without specific risk factors for vitamin D deficiency seems to be inappropriate." [12]

 

Vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency can occur in certain situations. Genetic defects in the VDR may result in vitamin D deficiency; a number of mutations have been identified that lead to hereditary vitamin D resistance. [13] Disorders that limit vitamin D absorption and conditions that impair conversion of vitamin D into active metabolites (e.g., certain liver, kidney & hereditary disorders) may cause deficiency. [14] Sick or elderly people who rarely go outdoors and have poor diets are also at risk. Age is a factor, in that synthesis of vitamin D declines with increasing age, due in part to a fall in 7-dehydrocholesterol levels and due in part to alterations in skin morphology. [15] Vitamin D supplementation may be appropriate in these special conditions, but the evidence indicates it's not appropriate to supplement the general population.

 

  1. Yamshchikov AV, Desai NS, Blumberg HM, Ziegler TR, Tangpricha V. Vitamin D for treatment and prevention of infectious diseases: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Endocr Pract. Jul-Aug 2009;15(5):438-49.
  2. The vitamin D dilemma. ConsumerReports.org. May 2011.
  3. Fried VM, Bernstein AB, Bush MA. Multiple Chronic Conditions Among Adults Aged 45 and Over: Trends Over the Past 10 Years. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jul 2012.
  4. Shelby J. Needs Great, Evidence Lacking for People with Multiple Chronic Conditions. Scribd. Apr 2013. Accessed May 7, 2013.
  5. Anderson G. Chronic Care: Making the Case for Ongoing Care. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Jan 1, 2010.
  6. Ross AC, Taylor CL, Yaktine AL, Del Valle HB. Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences; 2010. 0-309-16394-3.
  7. Mattke S, Klautzer L, Mengistu T, Hu J, Wu H. Health and Well-Being in the Home: A Global Analysis of Needs, Expectations, and Priorities for Home Health care Technology. Rand Corporation. 2010.
  8. Ross AC, Manson JE, Abrams SA, et al. The 2011 Report on Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D from the Institute of Medicine: What Clinicians Need to Know. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. Jan 2011;96(1):53-58.
  9. Noordam R, de Craen AJ, Pedram P, et al. Levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in familial longevity: the Leiden Longevity Study. CMAJ. Dec 2012;184(18):E963-8.
  10. McAlindon T, LaValley M, Schneider E, et al. Effect of vitamin D supplementation on progression of knee pain and cartilage volume loss in patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. Jan 2013;309(2):155-62.
  11. Witham MD, Price RJG, Struthers AD, et al. Cholecalciferol Treatment to Reduce Blood Pressure in Older Patients With Isolated Systolic Hypertension:The VitDISH Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA Intern Med. Aug 2013.
  12. Reid IR, Bolland MJ, Grey A. Effects of vitamin D supplements on bone mineral density: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet, Early Online Publication. Oct 2013.
  13. Jorde R, Strand Hutchinson M, Kjærgaard M, Sneve M, Grimnes G. Supplementation with High Doses of Vitamin D to Subjects without Vitamin D Deficiency May Have Negative Effects: Pooled Data from Four Intervention Trials in Tromsø. ISRN Endocrinol. 2013;2013:348705.
  14. Koren R. Vitamin D receptor defects: the story of hereditary resistance to vitamin D. Pediatr Endocrinol Rev. Aug 2006;3 Suppl 3:470-5.
  15. MacLaughlin J, Holick MF. Aging decreases the capacity of human skin to produce vitamin D3. J Clin Invest. Oct 1985;76(4):1536-8.
Quotes 

 

"Meanwhile life is busy and wonderful because I can live it. So bless you all, thanks." Lynn

 

"I do know that the sarcoid has improved. When a chest X-ray was done last spring there was no mention of the 4 large granulomas that had been there a few years ago. That was very encouraging." Katherine

 

Recovery Reports 

 

We are contacted daily by people with chronic illnesses who are looking for an effective treatment. Many ask us to provide evidence of efficacy in the form of statistics or stories. If you have recovered your health or had significant symptom improvement with Inflammation Therapy, please help us 'pay it forward' by telling your story. We will post it in the public section of our website to encourage others. Any report, short or long, with or without objective data (e.g., lab results, imaging reports) would be helpful. Please email your story to us. Thank you!