Vitamin D deficiency study.....yikes!!

[Cathya]

We keep taking vitamin D3 supplements....now I wonder??

Vitamin D Deficiency Study Raises New Questions About Disease And Supplements

ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2008) — Low blood levels of vitamin D have long been associated with disease, and the assumption has been that vitamin D supplements may protect against disease. However, this new research demonstrates that ingested vitamin D is immunosuppressive and that low blood levels of vitamin D may be actually a result of the disease process. Supplementation may make the disease worse.

In a new report Trevor Marshall, Ph.D., professor at Australia’s Murdoch University School of Biological Medicine and Biotechnology, explains how increased vitamin D intake affects much more than just nutrition or bone health. The paper explains how the Vitamin D Nuclear Receptor (VDR) acts in the repression or transcription of hundreds of genes, including genes associated with diseases ranging from cancers to multiple sclerosis.
"The VDR is at the heart of innate immunity, being responsible for expression of most of the antimicrobial peptides, which are the body’s ultimate response to infection," Marshall said.
"Molecular biology is now forcing us to re-think the idea that a low measured value of vitamin D means we simply must add more to our diet. Supplemental vitamin D has been used for decades, and yet the epidemics of chronic disease, such as heart disease and obesity, are just getting worse."
"Our disease model has shown us why low levels of vitamin D are observed in association with major and chronic illness," Marshall added. "Vitamin D is a secosteroid hormone, and the body regulates the production of all it needs. In fact, the use of supplements can be harmful, because they suppress the immune system so that the body cannot fight disease and infection effectively."
Marshall's research has demonstrated how ingested vitamin D can actually block VDR activation, the opposite effect to that of Sunshine. Instead of a positive effect on gene expression, Marshall reported that his own work, as well as the work of others, shows that quite nominal doses of ingested vitamin D can suppress the proper operation of the immune system. It is a different metabolite, a secosteroid hormone called 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, which activates the VDR to regulate the expression of the genes. Under conditions that exist in infection or inflammation, the body automatically regulates its production of all the vitamin D metabolites, including 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the metabolite which is usually measured to indicate vitamin D status.
Vitamin D deficiency, long interpreted as a cause of disease, is more likely the result of the disease process, and increasing intake of vitamin D often makes the disease worse. "Dysregulation of vitamin D has been observed in many chronic diseases, including many thought to be autoimmune," said J.C. Waterhouse, Ph.D., lead author of a book chapter on vitamin D and chronic disease.
"We have found that vitamin D supplementation, even at levels many consider desirable, interferes with recovery in these patients."
"We need to discard the notion that vitamin D affects a disease state in a simple way," Marshall said. "Vitamin D affects the expression of over 1,000 genes, so we should not expect a simplistic cause and effect between vitamin D supplementation and disease. The comprehensive studies are just not showing that supplementary vitamin D makes people healthier."
Journal reference: Marshall TG. Vitamin D discovery outpaces FDA decision making. Bioessays. 2008 Jan 15;30(2):173-182 [Epub ahead of print] Online ISSN: 1521-1878 Print ISSN: 0265-9247 PMID: 18200565
Adapted from materials provided by Autoimmunity Research Foundation, via AlphaGalileo.
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[chrisy]

Seems nothing is as simple as it seems...

[AlaskaAngel]

Yes, but:

"Marshall's research has demonstrated how ingested vitamin D can actually block VDR activation, the opposite effect to that of Sunshine."

That is what I've wondered -- whether the vitamin D in supplements actually might work differently than the vitamin D in real sunshine. From that one sentence in the report, it sounds like real sunshine vitamin D does work. I've stayed with going out and spending the time baring skin to get the real sunshine ever since diagnosis (in my case, especially because I live so far north and there is so little sun in winter here that I grab whatever there is of it).

I have read that it is also important to get the sunshine that comes through the eyes and affects the pineal gland, which then affects the production of melatonin hormone, and perhaps other processes as well. I wonder if that part of the real sunshine effect is what makes whatever immunity difference there is between taking supplemental vitamin D and taking real sunshine. That is also why, even though I am inclined to nap in the sunshine, or at the very least, close my eyes, I keep them open and I do not wear sunglasses. It is important not to look directly at the light of course, but the reflected light is what I try to get.

AlaskaAngel

(P.S. Where oh where have the endocrinologists gone....)

[Mary Jo]

Why does everything have to be so darn complicated. It truly makes me wonder if just (as Rhonda stated in her post to pinkgirl)eating healthy should be the goal and chuck all the rest. The controversary over all the to supplement or not to is mind boggling to the least and makes a person wonder if we are helping or harming ourselves.

Healthy food - sunshine and exercise. That sounds so simple and maybe just what the doctor ordered??? I for one don't really have a clue what the answer is but just when I think I found the answer it will be changed so I can be confused once again.

Mary Jo

[RobinP]

Natural sources for vitamins and minerals are best in my opinion and perhaps safest. However, it is challenging to know if you are getting enough vit d in your diet and via sunshine. I've read that 800mg is necessary for bone health and 1100 mg for cancer prevention. How do you calculate the amount of vit d that you are getting from the sun? Relying on the sun for vit d is a problem for certain groups of people too. I've read that the black race does not make vit d 2 from the sun effectively and they cannot therefore convert adequate amounts of it in the liver to the effective form, vitd3. I've also have read that the elderly cannot always count on their aging livers to effectively covert vit d2 to the effective vitd3. So many researchers have documented the value of vit.d for cancer prevention and bone health that I doubt this one study unwarrants the value of vit d suppplements. I would really like more research on the risks of vit d supplementation, especially since vit d is difficult to get in the overcast north where I live. Perhaps a little more sunshine and dairy/fish vitd, like Marejo said, may be just what is safest and simplest in the long run, that is if you live where there is sun.

[Bev]

Crud. Making me rethink taking my D. Maybe when I finish my Costco size jar. BB

[hutchibk]

Wow. I am really confused now!

[Barbara2]

In regard to supplements
<O

If you have a good balanced diet, you shouldn’t need them. But if you eat like I do, then you probably should take a one a day. Half of my patients admit to taking supplements; the other half just take them and don’t tell me! Everybody’s taking something. They’re all taking different things so it’s impossible to study. If you take them in moderation, it’s probably not going to hurt anything, but there’s no data showing that any of the supplements actually work in breast cancer. So the best thing, I think, is a healthy diet because if you do that then you shouldn’t need any supplements. <O

[Lolly]

My onc says the same thing, eat whole foods as much as possible. He has ok'd some supplements for me, but in general thinks a one-a-day is sufficient.

<3 Lolly

[Lolly]

Also, regarding Vit.D, cod liver oil is a natural source of dietary Vit.D:

http://www.jabfm.org/cgi/content/full/18/5/445-b

[Becky]

D3 supplements are better than D2 as D3 is the natural form

As far as the study - do those with disease get the disease because of low D levels or does the disease cause low D levels?


There is too much information out there about all the roles that Vitamin D plays in the body. More that good bones and teeth. I would not be concerned with this one study.

[suzan w]

It all gets so complicated...I am taking calcium with D, because I was told that the body cannot absorb calcium without D...then I just read about magnesium...and added that...now this!!! Some mornings as I am glugging down all my supplements I wonder if any of them are making a difference at all!!! Thanks for this report, it is 'food for thought'!!!

[Lani]

http://med.stanford.edu/medcast/2008/vitamind.html

Don't be scared. He talks slowly and clearly and there are excellent diagrams

Noone will give you a pop quiz on it, and no reason one can't listen to sections several times if necessary to clarify

Interestingly vitamin D may act to control Hair loss!

[Cathya]

Lani;

Thank you for posting that video. I was left wondering if adding calcitriol (I think I spelt it correctly) to chemotheraphy would help with the treatment of advanced bc where patients no longer respond to treatment. Do you know if this has been tried?

Cathy

[RobinP]

Dr. Oz was on Oprah today and had advice on calcium, magnesium and vit. d supplements. Go to Oprah.com for more information. Yes, he did recommend vit, d supplements.

[Carol Carlson]

Dermatologists recommend staying out of the sun or at least lathering your skin with a high spf sunscreen to block thoses damaging rays.
Opthamologists recommend wearing sun glasses when in the sun because sun absorbed through the eyes can cause cataracts.
It doesn't seem like a day goes by without reading about something else we're doing wrong. ( or something else we should be doing )
What is one to do???
Perhaps use common sense.. everything in moderation.
Carol

[Mary Jo]

Yep Carol........That sums it up perfectly. If all those researchers could only be as smart as we are huh? Haha!

Live your life to the fullest EVERYDAY.

Mary Jo