JRWagner
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Member # 3229
posted
Vitamin D Deficiency May Hurt Heart Low Blood Levels of Vitamin D Tied to Cardiovascular Problems in Adults With High Blood Pressure
Jan. 7, 2008 -- Adults with hypertension (high blood pressure) may be more likely to have cardiovascular problems if they also have vitamin D deficiency.
Researchers report that news in today's advance online edition of Circulation.
Data came from 1,739 adults enrolled in the Framingham Offspring Study, a long-term health study based in Framingham, Mass.
Harvard Medical School's Thomas Wang, MD, and colleagues tracked participants with no history of heart problems who were 59 years old, on average.
Participants got their blood levels of vitamin D checked; 28% had vitamin D deficiency, including 9% with severe vitamin D deficiency.
By the end of the study period, 120 participants had had a cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack, stroke, chest pain, heart failure, and peripheral claudication (pain in the legs caused by circulation problems).
People with vitamin D deficiency and hypertension were about twice as likely as people without hypertension and vitamin D deficiency to have a cardiovascular event during the study. Vitamin D deficiency wasn't linked to cardiovascular problems in people who don't have hypertension.
Other factors, including physical activity, age, gender, and type 2 diabetes, didn't explain the results. But Wang's team can't rule out other influences.
Wang's study was purely observational; participants weren't told to take vitamin D or to spend more time in the sun so that their bodies could make more vitamin D. The researchers call for other studies to see if treating vitamin D deficiency lowers heart risks.
Posts: 1414 | From Ny, Ny | Registered: Oct 2002
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Keebler
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treepatrol
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Member # 4117
posted
I have been investigating B12 which by the way is really helping its b-12 injections 1 a week, but I have been seriously considering D also D3 is the favorite.
-------------------- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember Iam not a Doctor Just someone struggling like you with Tick Borne Diseases.
posted
I was deficient in vitamin D, but I do not believe the deficiency caused my problems per say. I think that every part of my body that shut down did so for a reason - so I wouldn't die.
I think the deficiency was the result of my problems, especially since it works with calcium, and I cannot tolerate foods high in calcium.
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AliG
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Member # 9734
posted
Great post!
Thanks for sharing this.
I believe there are quite a few meds that can actually cause Vitamin D deficiency, among them are SSRI's.
NatureMade just came out with some new vitamin formulations designed to supplement the needs of those taking specific meds. The one for SSRIs has Vitamin D.
-------------------- Note: I'm NOT a medical professional. The information I share is from my own personal research and experience. Please do not construe anything I share as medical advice, which should only be obtained from a licensed medical practitioner. Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
With normal people ranging in the 70-80s for Vit D, my doctor informed me that I had a 7!
Granted I stay out of the sun because I am currently on Doxy, but a 7?
The lyme must be doing something to my Vit D levels.
The lyme seems to have taken my Vit D levels to extreme lows, taken my testosterone levels to just below normal, I can't get rid of heavy metals in my system.
Posts: 158 | From Santa Monica | Registered: May 2007
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Will have to look into that Ali mentioned abt SSRI and the vit D. That may explain alot of dental problems and bone loss!
-------------------- Take Care, DakotasMom01 Posts: 371 | From NJ | Registered: Dec 2007
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kelmo
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Member # 8797
posted
A study from down under:
Graeme O'Neill 06/02/2006 08:15:15 Graeme O'Neill 06/02/2006 08:15:15 Scientists at the University of Queensland have linked maternal vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy to abnormal foetal brain development and an increased the risk of behavioural problems, schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life.
Vitamin D is synthesised in the skin under moderate exposure to ultraviolet-B radiation in sunlight, but can be supplemented through the diet.
Dr Darrel Eyles, of UQ's Centre for Mental Health Research, believes his team's research into the effect of low developmental vitamin D on brain development helps explain why:
Multiple sclerosis is almost unknown in tropical latitudes. The incidence of schizophrenia and MS increases steadily in a polewards direction.<.li> Individuals born in winter and spring are at higher risk of schizophrenia and MS. Females have about at twice the risk of developing MS as males. Eyles told the Australian Neuroscience Society conference in Sydney last week his research team now has physiological evidence from a rat model of developmental vitamin D deficiency to support its hypothesis,
He said he became interested in the subject of non-genetic risk factors for schizophrenia while working with Prof John McGrath, an epidemiologist.
"Plenty of people are turning up candidate risk genes, and when we asked what the non-genetic factors might be, we hit upon vitamin D deficiency," Eyles said. "For 70 years, we've known that babies born in winter and spring are at increased risk of psychiatric disorders later in life. The effect is only small, but it's rock-solid around the world. "We suspected it might be a lack of maternal vitamin D in winter and spring, because people who were born in summer are much less likely to develop schizophrenia and MS."
Relative risk
Schizophrenia and MS, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the fatty, insulating sheath around neurons in the brain, both showed a very tight latitudinal gradient across Australia.
"The relative risk of someone in Darwin developing MS is very low, and as you step southwards through the state capitals, the risk factors increase, peaking a 7 per cent increased risk of people in Hobart getting MS," Eyles said. "It became my job to work out biologically what vitamin D was doing for the brain, and specifically, for the developing brain."
Eyles said that, among other things, rats born to vitamin D-deficient mothers showed an increased in the size of the lateral ventricles, and abnormalities in dopamine signalling.
"The brain is slightly less developed, and not quite fully differentiated, which wasn't unexpected, because vitamin D is required for the differentiation of all organs," he said. "So brain development is affected by vitamin D deficiency.
"There's also a slight decrease in cell elimination as the brain develops -- pups that develop in a maternally depleted environment have more cells. The cortex is compacted and slightly thinner, correcting for the larger size of the brain.
"We plan to analyse the consequences of that, but at present, our model simply involves removing vitamin D during development."
He said the rat pups grew up with normal calcium and thyroid metabolism, but exhibited hyperkinetic behaviour characteristic of dopamine deficiency, similar to the restless behaviour of human schizophrenics. "They also behaved very abnormally when we gave them psychomimetic drugs to replicate the symptoms of psychotic behaviour, and responded very abnormally when we treated them with anti-psychotics."
Normal development
Eyles said a PhD student, Joss O'Loan, had devised an experiment in which the vitamin D-depleted female rats were given vitamin D supplements within 12 hours of conception. All the abnormal behaviours in the pups disappeared, and they had normal brain development.
Eyles said the increased risk of schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis in higher latitudes correlates with shorter day lengths in winter and spring at higher latitudes, and decreasing exposure to UV-B wavelengths in sunlight.
Fortunately for Tasmanians, dietary amelioration is readily available not far offshore: deep-sea, coldwater fish are rich in vitamin D.
"It's interesting that coldwater fish became a dietary staple for humans who migrated into the northerly latitudes of Europe in prehistoric times, because they couldn't get vitamin D any other way," Eyles said. "Dietary vitamin D allowed humans to colonise the planet."
Eyles said rickets, a bone disorder resulting from impaired calcium metabolism induced by vitamin D deficiency, is now re-emerging as a health problem in Australia and manufacturers of dairy products and margarine now fortify these foods with vitamin D. He said fortification of foods with vitamin D could lead to similar health benefits to the practice of fortifying breakfast cereals and some other foods with folate, to avoid neural-tube defects in pregnancy.
Vitamin D supplementation is very safe, Eyles said, even in pregnancy. "There's definitely a health message from our work. In the case of MS, we're extraordinarily convinced [of the link to vitamin D deficiency]. If we're right, supplementation would enormously reduce the burden of disease, which would be wonderful."
Danish donors
On the day after the neuroscience conference, Eyles left for Denmark to explore a potentially valuable resource that could confirm their hypothesis. The Danes have maintained archive of dried blood samples, taken from every newborn, which extends back 30 years. The donors of the earliest samples are now well into adulthood.
Eyles will test the samples for metabolites of vitamin D, to assess whether the babies were exposed to maternal vitamin D defiency due to low sunlight levels in winter and spring, and then correlate the results with rates of schizophrenia and MS in the adult cohort
Posts: 2903 | From AZ | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
This is all very interresting. My LLMD has been working on bring down my Vit-D and raising Vit-D 1.25. In the last 7 months we have brought it down. Vit-D down to 11.7 from 16.5 Vit-D 1.25 up to 47.4 from 11.8
I am under the impression that reducing 1.25 makes it harder for bacteria to slip in and out of cells that they have infected which results in weaking. Both Soureces of Vit-D must be reduced to kill bacteria off.
I do have alot of joint pain in my shoulders and elbows. Have a LLMD appointment this week. Will ask if this could be due to low Vit-Ds
Posts: 108 | From maryland | Registered: Sep 2007
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disturbedme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12346
posted
quote:Originally posted by lymebytes: I have a whole article on this subject since I recently found out I am vit d deficient:
Thank you for that article! My LLMD had prescribed 50,000 IU of Vitamin D for me because I was very deficient: below 7. Luckily, his assistant never faxed it to the compounding pharmacy, so I never got it. But I found Vitamin D3 supplements at a health food store and have been taking about 4,000 IU. I'm glad I read this since it said that 50,000 seems to be too much.
The only reason he prescribed that much is because he wanted my levels to get back up quickly, but this seems dangerous to me. It was good to see in the article that they say that 2,500 for a few months should correct the problem. I will just continue taking 3,000 or 4,000 for a couple months and have my LLMD retest me then. Thanks again for this article!
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
Vit. D 25 level is not the only factor involved in the concentration of 1,25 D, The enzyme that catalyzes the conversion depends on stress, kidney function, parathyroid hormone level, calcium and phosphate levels. It is a delicate hormone interplay, and lowering 25 is generally not a good idea unless it is too high, and the only cases of that I've heard of occured when dairy products were supplemented with improperly diluted vit. D additive, itself a dubious product. A 25 level of 16 is already way too low and should have been raised rather than lowered. Our 25 hydroxy vitamin D level reflects our relationship to the sun, one that modern medicine has distorted by shoddy interpretation of evidence, and the result is that there is now a surfeit of patients who are deficient in this vital nutrient to keep the wheels of medical commerce turning...
[ 21. January 2008, 05:15 PM: Message edited by: DoctorLuddite ]
Posts: 442 | From Biddeford, ME | Registered: Nov 2007
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quote:Originally posted by h8lyme: With normal people ranging in the 70-80s for Vit D, my doctor informed me that I had a 7!
Granted I stay out of the sun because I am currently on Doxy, but a 7?
The lyme must be doing something to my Vit D levels.
The lyme seems to have taken my Vit D levels to extreme lows, taken my testosterone levels to just below normal, I can't get rid of heavy metals in my system.
Your value of 7 is more normal (healthy) than you think. Values between 10 & 20 are common in healthy people whose diets have not been "fortified" with vitamin D. Do yourself a favor & measure your 1,25-D along with your 25-D next time.
Posts: 246 | From Grass Valley, CA | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
While you won't be harmed by checking your 1,25 D level, great care must be taken in the interpretation of the value; where 25 hydroxy can be tested in the non fasting state, the 1,25 must be done fasting. I agree that the D used in most supplementation is inferior to what we make from sunshine, but a level of seven is no where near normal. The fact that you are on this discussion board means that you do not feel as healthy as you think you should. People with Vitamin D levels between 10 and 20 can seem healthy, but their physiologic response to any stress will be impaired as the body cannot mount a physiologic response to stress in a timely and appropriate manner without an intact vitamin D endocrine balance, so it is only a matter of time before they encounter a stress that tips their balance and results in a catastrophe. On the other hand, raising or dropping the vitamin D level rapidly is also undesirable, as it does have potent metabolic effects and if you have other challenges to your health, can precipitate percieved ill effects. If you have a problem with heavy metals, then your kidneys and liver are very stressed, and those two organs are the most important in the vitamin D endocrine system. Where the heavy metals are coming from is the question.
Posts: 442 | From Biddeford, ME | Registered: Nov 2007
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map1131
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2022
posted
I do vit D3 in the winter especially in Ky. I try during summer, fall and spring to do 15 minutes of sun a day to get my vit D3.
Winter is very cloudy in these parts. I do sublingual D3 that I found at health food store recently. My cal/mag/vit D3 is liquid, but vit D3 is only 400iu daily.
I use sublingual 1000 IU TwinLab dots 5-6 times a week.
Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6495 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
So you are obviously on this discussion board because you "do not feel as healthy as you think you should"? Sorry, but your assumption no longer applies to me!
Many people reporting D-25 "deficiencies" also have elevated 1,25-D values. So where is all the 1,25-D coming from?
Too much heavy metal sounds like a hearing problem. Posts: 246 | From Grass Valley, CA | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
High 1,25 levels can be the result of a variety of factors, high parathyroid hormone, which could be coming from a parathyroid adenoma or worse yet, cancer, or it can simply be high because of vitamin D (25 hydroxy) deficiency that has gone on so long that body stores of calcium and phosphate are depleted such that the 1 alpha hydroxylase of the kidney is so up regulated that any vitamin d that enters the system gets immediately converted. Or in some inflammatory condition, such as sarcoidosis, the granulomas themselves elaborate that enzyme. In any case, if 1,25 is high it should be thoroughly investigated to determine why, and that cause dealt with. The treatment of this condition is NOT withdrawal of all sources of vitamin D.
Posts: 442 | From Biddeford, ME | Registered: Nov 2007
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posted
What if the only cause for the high 1,25-D seems to be chronic infection & responds to antibiotic treatment?
Posts: 246 | From Grass Valley, CA | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
Perhaps "Lyme Disease" is yet another "inflammatory condition" that effects PTH?
Posts: 246 | From Grass Valley, CA | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
Many antibiotics have antiinflammatory effects, and that effect alone rather than killing off bacteria that may or may not be present, may explain any improvement one has with their use, and unless you can prove a bug is there prior to antibiotic treatment with positive culture or direct visualization, you are interpreting results based on what you want to have happened, not what has actually happened. Vitamin D helps immune cells produce cathelicidin, our own natural antibiotic. I can make an argument for supplementing vitamin D as in an unperturbed natural world, it should be there in abundance. Not so, on the other hand, for synthetic antibiotics, poisons with the well studied side effect of hindering the growth and reproduction of certain classes of bacteria, a desired effect only when the bacteria is clearly there.
Posts: 442 | From Biddeford, ME | Registered: Nov 2007
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posted
Anti-inflammatory effects alone don't seem to explain the clock-like precision of herx wrt antibiotic blood/tissue concentration that so many on MP, including myself, report.
Posts: 246 | From Grass Valley, CA | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
wrt? what does that mean? Clock like precision coinciding with peak blood/tissue concentration means peak metabolic detoxification expenditure, doesn't prove bacteria are there...
Posts: 442 | From Biddeford, ME | Registered: Nov 2007
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The antibiotic doses used with MP are much less than usual (& MUCH MUCH less than many other TBD treatments), so I doubt "metabolic detoxification" explains anything (unless I misunderstand exactly what you mean by that).
Posts: 246 | From Grass Valley, CA | Registered: Jun 2007
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Thanks again for this article!
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