Vitamin D: New Way To Treat Heart Failure?

Vitamin D: New Way To Treat Heart Failure?: "ScienceDaily (Jun. 12, 2008) — Strong bones, a healthy immune system, protection against some types of cancer: Recent studies suggest there’s yet another item for the expanding list of Vitamin D benefits. Vitamin D, “the sunshine vitamin,” keeps the heart, the body’s long-distance runner, fit for life’s demands...the first concrete evidence that treatment with activated vitamin D can protect against heart failure...treatments with activated vitamin D prevented heart muscle cells from growing bigger – the condition, called hypertrophy, in which the heart becomes enlarged and overworked in people with heart failure. The treatments prevented heart muscle cells from the over-stimulation and increased contractions associated with the progression of heart failure...The researchers measured the effects of activated Vitamin D (1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3, a form called calcitriol) in rats given a normal diet or a high-salt diet, compared to control group rats given either of the same two diets, but no vitamin D treatment. The rats on the high-salt diet were likely to develop heart failure within months...The rats on the high-salt diet, comparable to the fast food that many humans feast on, quickly revealed the difference vitamin D could make..."

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More vitamin D could mean fewer cancers

More vitamin D could mean fewer cancers: study Reuters/Yahoo! 2007.09.04 "Thousands of cases of breast and colon cancers might be averted each year if people in colder climates raised their vitamin D levels...rates of breast, colon and ovarian cancer, for example, are lower in sunnier regions of the world than in Northern climates where cold winters limit people's sun exposure...lab experiments showing that vitamin D helps prevent cancer cells from growing and spreading, as well as some clinical trials in which people given high doses of vitamin D showed lower cancer risks... The protective effect against colon cancer seemed to begin when blood levels of vitamin D reached 22 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL); for breast cancer, that number was 32 ng/mL. The average late-winter vitamin D level among Americans is 15 to 18 ng/mL, according to the researchers...They argue that, based on their data, if Americans were able to maintain a vitamin D level of at least 55 ng/mL, 60,000 cases of colon cancer and 85,000 cases of breast cancer could be prevented every year. Worldwide, those figures could be 250,000 and 350,000, respectively..."This could be best achieved with a combination of diet, supplements and short intervals -- 10 or 15 minutes a day -- in the sun," lead study author Dr. Cedric F.Garland..."

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The miracle of vitamin D

I had been working on an entry showing how vitamin D seems to help prevent and sometimes fight a surprisingly large number of diseases. Well I can stop because at QualityCounts (excellent anti-aging/health blog) Bernard Hess has listed the current research on Vitamin D.

See if you don't read the list and want to get some safe sun time tomorrow, or at least pop some D3.

Here's a short list of health disorders vitamin d can either help prevent or fight:

Cancers (so many cancers - refer to the QualityCounts link above)
Diabetes
Heart Disease
Osteoporosis
Hypertension
Obesity
Shortened Telomeres
Macular Disease
Weak Immune System
Multiple Sclerosis MS
Chronic Fatigue
Fibromyalgia
Stress Fractures
Poor Physical Performance (weakened muscles)
Asthma
Tuberculosis
Gum Disease
Depression
Arthritis

Hey the list goes on and on. It's truly amazing and I hope the health care field wakes up to this. A short while ago my wife, who runs most mornings and gets tan without burning, was chastised by our GP for the tan. I just looked at him at amazement and knew it was time for another doctor. He's older and obviously does not keep up with research (in my experience most doctors shamefully do not - remember how long it took for most GP's to recognize the H. Pylori connection to ulcers?). The general chastising over a tan might have been justified two decades ago. A more educated GP would first ask how the tan was acquired and then if the tan was acquired through burns would express concern and offer advice - including D3 supplementation. It's about time to qualify tans and recognize that some tans can be an indicator of a healthy lifestyle.

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Vitamin D Reduces Cancer Risk

Study: Vitamin D Reduces Cancer Risk Washington Post via QualityCounts.com 7/8/07 "...vitamin D cut the risk of several types of cancer by 60 percent overall for older women in the most rigorous study yet..."The findings ... are a breakthrough of great medical and public health importance," declared Cedric Garland, a prominent vitamin D researcher at the University of California-San Diego. "No other method to prevent cancer has been identified that has such a powerful impact."...The skin makes vitamin D when exposed to sunlight's ultraviolet rays. This study used that same form of the vitamin, known as D3 or cholecalciferol. Multivitamins usually carry a much weaker variant known as D2, but D3 is available in stand-alone dietary supplements...The research team gave 1,000 daily international units of vitamin D...And when the first-year cancers were excluded _ the ones mostly likely present before the study began _ the findings were stronger still: a 77 percent lower risk for the combo group...Joan Lappe, the study's lead researcher, said it "just adds to the great bunch of evidence that we need to have better vitamin D nutrition."..."

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Vitamin D can help prevent cancer

Vitamin D Backed For Cancer Prevention In Two New Studies ScienceDaily 2/8/07 "Two new vitamin D studies using a sophisticated form of analysis called meta-analysis, in which data from multiple reports is combined, have revealed new prescriptions for possibly preventing up to half of the cases of breast cancer and two-thirds of the cases of colorectal cancer in the United States..."The data were very clear, showing that individuals in the group with the lowest blood levels had the highest rates of breast cancer, and the breast cancer rates dropped as the blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D increased," said study co-author Cedric Garland, Dr.P.H. "The serum level associated with a 50 percent reduction in risk could be maintained by taking 2,000 international units of vitamin D3 daily plus, when the weather permits, spending 10 to 15 minutes a day in the sun."..."Through this meta-analysis we found that raising the serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D to 34 ng/ml would reduce the incidence rates of colorectal cancer by half," said co-author Edward D. Gorham, Ph.D. "We project a two-thirds reduction in incidence with serum levels of 46ng/ml, which corresponds to a daily intake of 2,000 IU of vitamin D3. This would be best achieved with a combination of diet, supplements and 10 to 15 minutes per day in the sun." ...For a typical fair-skinned Caucasian individual, adequate vitamin D could be photosynthesized safely by spending 10 to 15 minutes in the noontime sun on a clear day with 50 percent of skin area exposed to the sun. Darker skinned individuals may require more time in the sun, such as 25 minutes. For people with photosensitivity disorders, or anyone with a personal or family history of nonmelanoma skin cancer, any amount of extra sun exposure would be inadvisable..."

It appears that a low dose of vitamin D may not work as a preventative agent with certain cancers, but at least 2000 IU a day plus occasional sun exposure has a significant effect - at least for these two cancers and maybe others.

Use vitamin D3, not D2. D2 is virtually ineffective.

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Could Some Sun Be Good for Your Skin? Vitamin D

Sunlight in Small Doses May Protect Skin From Damage WebMD 1/29/07 "Sunlight triggers the synthesis of vitamin D within the body. Stanford researchers found that this action causes immune cells to travel to the outer layers of the skin where they are available to protect and help repair damage such as that caused by sun exposure...There is a growing body of research suggesting that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk for a host of human cancers, as well as other disorders including type 1 diabetes diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis rheumatoid arthritis, tuberculosis, and multiple sclerosis...Vitamin D researcher Michael F. Holick, MD, PhD, believes the optimal daily dosage for preventing disease is closer to 1,000 IU. Holick heads the Vitamin D Research Lab at Boston University and is the author of the book The UV Advantage...Holick tells WebMD that he takes a 1,000-IU vitamin D supplement each day...Holick says most people can get more than enough vitamin D in the spring, summer, and fall by engaging in what he calls "sensible sun exposure" -- no more than five to 10 minutes of direct sun to unprotected legs and arms two or three times a week."

If you are going to supplement you want the D3 (cholecalciferol) form of Vitamin D - D2 is almost totally useless. Supplementing seems to make sense during winter months when it might be tough to get the 1000 IU a day. During warmer months short amounts of sun to bare skin appears to be very important for health.

More here and here. \

WebMD on this.

Science News article on Vitamin D.

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition full journal article on Vitamin D here (all that you want to know about Vit D and more).

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Mom's vitamin E linked to bigger babies

Mom's vitamin E linked to fetal growth Reuters/Yahoo!News 1/4/07 "Pregnant women with high vitamin E levels in their blood may tend to have bigger babies...For the study, Dr. Theresa O. Scholl and colleagues at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Stratford followed 1,231 pregnant women. They measured the women's blood concentrations of two forms of vitamin E at the start of the study and again during the 28th week of pregnancy...Only one form of vitamin E -- alpha-tocopherol, the form used in supplements -- was related to fetal growth, the researchers found. On average, birthweights were highest among the 20 percent of women with the highest alpha-tocopherol levels...These mothers were also three times less likely to have a smaller-than-average baby than women with the lowest concentrations of the vitamin...However, it's not clear that women should take any extra vitamin E beyond what's in standard prenatal multivitamins. In fact, one recent clinic trial found that large doses of vitamins C and E not only failed to prevent the pregnancy complication pre-eclampsia, but also seemed to raise the risk of low birthweight."

This might be another example where a large dose of supplements can actually be counter-productive. Beyond prenatal vitamins it is probably best to get vitamin E from the diet.

For a variety of reasons almonds are probably one of the best sources of vitamin E.

Vitamine D (D3) and calcium have been shown to help prevent preeclampsia.

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What form of Vitamin D is best? D3

The debate over whether vitamin d is best for us in D2 (ergocalciferol) or D3 (cholecalciferol) appears to be settled with D3 appearing to be significantly more potent for us. Most supplements are D2. So if you're buying vitamin D for anti-cancer purposes, make sure it's D3 you are getting. In the abstract below you'll see that the researchers come down hard on D2 and say it isn't "suitable for supplementation or fortification."
I hope milk makers are taking note. Almost all milk is fortified with D2.

The case against ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) as a vitamin supplement Am J Clin Nutr. 2006 Oct;84(4):694-7 "vitamin D3 has proven to be the more potent form of vitamin D in all primate species, including humans...Despite an emerging body of evidence suggesting several plausible explanations for the greater bioefficacy of vitamin D3, the form of vitamin D used in major preparations of prescriptions in North America is vitamin D2. The case that vitamin D2 should no longer be considered equivalent to vitamin D3 is based on differences in their efficacy at raising serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, diminished binding of vitamin D2 metabolites to vitamin D binding protein in plasma, and a nonphysiologic metabolism and shorter shelf life of vitamin D2. Vitamin D2, or ergocalciferol, should not be regarded as a nutrient suitable for supplementation or fortification"

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