Published
December 27, 2003 in the North Island Weekender
Part
of my Basic Treatment Guidelines include Vitamin D which is usually in a
multivitamin or in a good quality calcium magnesium capsule. I often recommend
children and adults to take Carlson’s Cod liver oil during the winter from
October to May and then take Nutra Sea a vitamin A and D free Herring oil June
to September. This is because sun exposure will provide adequate vitamin D in
the spring and summer. Both are excellent sources of omega 3 essential fats DHA
and EPA.
When we think Vitamin D we think sunshine or milk. The milk industry has added Vitamin D to milk for years however
we are not seeing an improvement in deficiencies related to Vitamin D and milk
is not recommended by most alternative and complementary practitioners. Three
hundred years ago children playing in sunless alleyways developed rickets (bone
deformities). What deficiencies are we seeing in our society today? Elevated
blood pressure, colon, prostate and breast cancer, and autoimmune diseases such
as lupus, multiple sclerosis, Type I diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
The best source of Vitamin D is the skin reaction to sunlight. Ultraviolet B
rays (the most energetic rays of the sun that penetrate to the earth) act on
cholesterol derivative in the skin which ultimately produces Vitamin D. That
brings up the question of sunscreens such as SPF 8 that reduces the ability of
the skin to produce Vitamin D 95% and puts people at risk for Vitamin D
deficiency. According to Dr. Holick MD who has been researching vitamin D for
25 years (his book to be published in spring of 2004, The UV Advantage) states
humans need only 5-10 minutes of sun exposure 2-3 times per week to make
adequate vitamin D or expose 6% of your body surface to sunlight just long
enough to get a pink tinge, not a burn, to get 600IU-1000IU’s of Vitamin D, a good dose to prevent
deficiencies.
The main form of vitamin D that circulates in the body is 25-hydroxyvitamin D
made in the liver. This should be the form that is measured in the blood not
the 1-25 di-hydroxyvitamin D form.
The
true function of vitamin D is to maintain the delicate balance of ionized
calcium in the blood. If there is not enough it mobilizes calcium from the bone
to get that calcium.
Vitamin
D will alter the immune system in many ways. In a Finish study children one
year and older were given 2000IU’s vitamin D for 20 years and were prevented
from getting type 1 diabetes by 80%. Other studies show a decreased incidence
in multiple sclerosis in those pretreated with Vitamin D.
Dr. Holick states that 25 hydroxyvitamin D should be measured once per year in
the serum just like is done for cholesterol. All pregnant women and those with
multiple sclerosis should have their levels checked and the normal value is 30
nanograms per ml. Multiple sclerosis is often associated with muscle weakness
and bone aches and pains which can be corrected with supplementing adequate
vitamin D.
Those patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia may have osteomalacia a
mineralization defect in the bone, which manifests as muscle as well as bone
pain and is easily treated with vitamin D and calcium supplementation. Symptom
improvement can take 6-12 months and vitamin D dosages are often very high
(these are prescribed by MD’s only) and there can be an increase in bone
density of 25% in 2-3 years.
There are receptors for vitamin D all over the body including the skin and it
has been applied topically for the treatment of psoriasis. It is a potent
inhibitor of cell growth in these cases as well as in cancer such as colon,
prostate, breast, bone and skin and reduces metastatic activity of cancer by
55% in animal studies.
For those who I am treating for osteoporosis, cancer, autoimmune disease,
immune dysfunction or multiple sclerosis I will recommend higher doses than the
recommended daily requirement of 400IU’s vitamin D. One patient of mine noticed that when she visited Mexico her
fingernails greatly improved and she had been taking calcium and magnesium
supplements for years, so increasing vitamin D to her program maintained this
effect.
Dr.
Pincott has been practicing naturopathic medicine since 1985 and is currently
practicing in Campbell River. She can be reached at (250) 286-3655 or www.DrPincott.com