Low vitamin D levels associated with increased risk of death
by American Medical Association
August 15, 2008
Individuals with low levels of vitamin D appear to have a higher risk of death from all causes, according to a report in the July 11 Archives of Internal Medicine.*
Several studies have suggested that vitamin D deficiency contributes to cardiovascular disease, cancer and death, according to background information in the article.
The optimum blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) has been suggested to be 30 nanograms per milliliter or higher.
[To convert to nanomoles per liter, the authors say, multiply by 2.496.
So 30 ng/ml translates to 74.88 nm/ml.]
Approximately 41 percent of U.S. men and 53 percent of U.S. women have levels lower than 28 nanograms per milliliter.
Michal L. Melamed, MD, MHS, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, and colleagues analyzed vitamin D levels in 13,331 individuals who participated in the Third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES III), conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Vitamin D levels were collected between 1988 and 1994, and participants were tracked through 2000.
Over a median (midpoint) of 8.7 years of follow-up, 1,806 of the participants died.
When they were divided into four groups (quartiles) based on their vitamin D levels, those in the group with the lowest level (less than 17.8 nanograms per milliliter) had a 26 percent increased rate of death from any cause compared with those in the group with the highest vitamin D levels.
No significant associations were found when the researchers assessed vitamin D levels and risk of death from cardiovascular disease or cancer alone.
Low vitamin D levels may be associated with death through their effect on blood pressure, the body's ability to respond to insulin, obesity and diabetes risk, the authors note.
Several lines of evidence support vitamin D's role in death risk, including:
The fact that cardiovascular events are more common in the winter, when vitamin D levels are lower,
And that cancer survival is better if the disease is diagnosed in the summer when levels are higher.
"In conclusion, the lowest 25(OH)D quartile (less than 17.8 nanograms per milliliter) is associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality in the general U.S. population," the authors conclude.
"Further observational studies are needed to confirm these findings and establish the mechanisms underlying these observations.
If confirmed, randomized clinical trials will be needed to determine whether vitamin D supplementation at higher doses could have any potential benefit in reducing future mortality risk in those with 25(OH)D deficiency."
* Source: ``25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the risk of mortality in the general population,'' Archives of Internal Medicine, Aug 11-25, 2008.
Note: This information has not been evaluated by the FDA.
It is generic and is not meant to prevent, diagnose, treat or cure any illness, condition, or disease.
It is very important that you make no change in your healthcare plan or health support regimen without researching and discussing it in collaboration with your professional healthcare team.
Love, Light, & Health, Jennie
-------------------- My Lyme dx:11/05. My Mom's Lyme dx:5/16. ISO ASAP-Lyme Literate Dr & Neurologist-Prefer IL, IN, KY, MO, OH, TN. Can travel farther. Finances limited. Prefer Drs take Medicare or Payments. Need great list to find best fit. Tyvm. Posts: 701 | From Owensboro, KY | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
SForsgren
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7686
posted
After confirmation of low Vitamin D, I recently started supplementing Vitamin D.
I think in the majority of cases, supplementing D is better than being deficient in it and I worry about Vitamin D restriction in protocols such as the Marshall protocol. What are the long-term implications? If you improve your Lyme disease but later get cancer or something else, that would concern me.
Of course, the MP may be right for some, but it seems that more doctors are supplementing Vitamin D than restricting it.
-------------------- Be well, Scott Posts: 4617 | From San Jose, CA | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Glad people are recognizing this Vitamin D business. I take 3,000 units daily and every 2 weeks I get a Vitamin D injection of 10,000. My initial level was 19 and after 4 mo it is now 26. Slow but sure.
Posts: 3 | From New England | Registered: Sep 2008
| IP: Logged |
Lymeorsomething
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 16359
posted
SF, I believe you're right. From all the recent studies, I'd find it hard to restrict D at this point. It has been shown to significantly repel breast cancer and to aid in other cancers as well. I'd rather err on the side of taking it--D3--that is.....
-------------------- "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong." Posts: 2062 | From CT | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged |
aklnwlf
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5960
posted
Hi Jennie,
Glad you posted this. I just found out yesterday from lab work that I had done from an endo that my Vit. D 25-Hyroxy is 28.2(low).
Will have to talk with Dr. B. about supplementation when I see her on the 11th.
-------------------- Do not take this as medical advice. This comment is based on opinion and personal experience only.
Alaska Lone Wolf Posts: 6918 | From Columbus, GA | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
luvs2ride
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8090
posted
Supplementing Vit D has really helped me. I try to get 15 mins of sun as many days as possible too.
It has really helped.
-------------------- When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, there will be Peace. Posts: 3038 | From america | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
kelmo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8797
posted
My doc said that one of the benefits of vitamin D has been a significant reduction in his bad cholesterol, and an increase in the good.
Posts: 2903 | From AZ | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
lpkayak
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5230
posted
wow-i'm glad my llmd found this
i took 4000 oral for a few months and went from 3-47. i felt it work right away-maybe it will help with the cholesterol
-------------------- Lyme? Its complicated. Educate yourself. Posts: 13712 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I bet if they looked at the numbers again they'd also find that there is a higher risk of death by some mishap, fall, or accident in the same group with the lowest vitamin D levels...Since D seems to help with coordination and muscle strength, those with low D are more prone to such mishaps.
Posts: 442 | From Biddeford, ME | Registered: Nov 2007
| IP: Logged |
aklnwlf
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5960
posted
Please don't say that Dr Luddite!!!
My family has always claimed that I'm accident prone.
All just because I've had like...um...11-12 or so fractures.
I've lost count of my injuries.
Here I was thinking it was lifestyle.
Typical weekend warrior.
I detest the fact that they are possibly right!
-------------------- Do not take this as medical advice. This comment is based on opinion and personal experience only.
Alaska Lone Wolf Posts: 6918 | From Columbus, GA | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
Angelica
Unregistered
posted
I just recently started taking D3 after muscle testing for it. I have noticed much better brain chemistry since starting it. I am less depressed and feeling happier. Has anyone else noticed a big difference when taking D3?
I never did manage to get a D test so I don't know what my numbers were.
I wonder if low D can be hereditary? Both my parents died of cancer and at least one of my grandparents.
posted
Cass, you are right, in a sense, but it is not just sunlight, it is the UV-B component, which is reduced by certain factors, such as the CO2 content of the air which filters the UV light, which according to Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth, has been increasing steadily for decades.
Add to that particulate matter and other components of air pollution, and you have a logical explanation for why reasonable sun exposure no longer supports the production of Vitamin D.
You can ingest too much vitamin D so aggressive supplementation should be monitored with quarterly level testing to be on the safe side.
AK, countless fractures are a sign that your bone metabolism is compromised in some way, and that may be fully explained by vitamin D deficiency, but can be due to other factors. You will be hard pressed to find a Doc who will take the time and go through the mental gymnastics to figure it out.
If you have lived in Alaska all your life, that may be sufficient explanation; your vitamin D winter, that time period when the sun is at too low a position in the sky to generate vitamin D, likely lasts from September to May. Safely raise your vitamin D level for a year and have a bone density study; that may shed some light.
Medical knowledge increases slowly, and in general, natural cures are suppressed in favor of care standards that support the medical-industrial complex. I chuckle at anything the AMA says too...
[ 06. September 2008, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: DoctorLuddite ]
Posts: 442 | From Biddeford, ME | Registered: Nov 2007
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[lol]](graemlins/lol.gif)
Printer-friendly view of this topic