Review of studies: Except for bone health, low Vitamin D doesn't cause disease

The National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE PLUS news line summarizes a large study reviewing the evidence on the link between Vitamin D status and disease.  The reviewers' conclusions:  the association between low vitamin D and all diseases EXCEPT BONE HEALTH means that low Vitamin D is a marker, not the cause of diseases.

Bone health is not nothing, as I found in my own experience.  The question I would ask is this:  If a disease (such as MS) lowers Vitamin D in some fashion (rather than the other way around), does the resulting low level of Vitamin D make for weak bones?  That is, shouldn't we be tested for our vitamin D status and treated for low D on the basis of bone health alone?  

One thing is clear:  all the Vitamin D hype in the past 10 years has brought forth a good deal of research on its value.  Because D supplements are not profitable to drug companies, such research must be sponsored by government or non-profit entities.  There is nothing like controversy to stimulate such research.

Vitamin D3 supplements alter gene expression in white blood cells - in a good way?

Here is a report of a paper in the public domain, on NIH website, which showed what Vitamin D3 supplementation did to the genes that govern immune response (and other responses).  This gives underlying scientific rationale for the importance of Vitamin D in auto-immune diseases.  PLOS Paper on Vitamin D.

Rules for Converting Vitamin D25 measurements

For those of us in USA, we use ng/ml, whereas the rest of the world uses nmol/l to measure Vitamin d25 blood levels. This makes it difficult to understand what researchers are using as cut-off points for "low" or "high" threshold values.
Here is the conversion formula:

• to convert nmol/L to ng/mL, multiply nmol/L by 0.4;

•  to convert ng/mL to nmol/L, multiply ng/mL by 2.5.]

Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis: more hints of effect

Admittedly, the high-quality evidence linking Vitamin D3 supplemention to moderation in  the course of multiple slcerosis is limited and somewhat conflicting.  Here's a new, very small, randomized clinical trial from Finland, which seems to suggest that D3 supplementation at high doses DOES make a difference.  At least it keeps hope alive until bigger, more definitive studies are reported in the future.  If it were I, I wouldn't wait to find out.

And, this just in, from National Library of Medicine's Medline page, a report of a study that followed a large number of individuals over time, recording their Vitamin D levels.  Those authors found a strong negative association between blood levels of Vitamin D (25OHD) and severity of symptoms.

Vitamin D Thwarts winter colds and flu in children

A study about to come out in Pediatrics (and noted by NIH's Medline web site) shows that giving daily Vitamin D supplements to children with LOW levels of Vitamin D reduces their susceptibility to winter colds and flu.  Conducted by Mass General Hospital researchers, but in Mongolia where there is an ample supply of  non-sunlight in winter.  Also, lots of kids deficient in Vitamin D in the winter.  Perhaps Mongolian milk isn't fortified with Vitamin D. (This last sentence reveals my utter lack of knowledge of modern life in Mongolia.) So, American kids might do better in winter on Vitamin D levels even without supplements.
But, what if your kid doesn't like milk and doesn't drink enough --4 glasses a day at the very least --to keep levels up?  Has your  pediatrician  tested his/her Vitamin D  levels? If not, you might gently suggest at the next visit (especially one in the winter time) that you'd like the doctor to test Vitamin D, or at least ask him or her whether it has been tested in the past (in the winter time).

High doses of Vitamin D prevent fractures in oldsters

I know, I know, it's getting boring.  Here's a study, summarized by Medline Plus (Natl Library of Medicine), showing that in older people, doses above 800 IU are necessary to get a reduction in hip fractures.  So, all that conservatism in the IOM study is missing out on the fact that oldsters such as us may need a whole lot more vitamin D than they suggest.

Vitamin D supplementation reduces mortality in the elderly

A meta-analysis from 8 large randomized clinical trials, involving more than 70,000 elderly people, found that  Vitamin D supplementation decreased mortality over 3 years by 7 percent.  That's huge.

Vitamin D and Stroke Risk

Now from the journal Stroke, a study from the famous Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program that followed over many years several thousand Japanese-American men living on Oahu, beginning in 1965.  A recent study of stroke outcomes has found that men with DIETS rich in Vitamin D had a 27% reduction in stroke risk, after adjusting for all the other usual suspects (smoking, cholesterol, etc etc).  
Not a clinical trial, but the measurements of diet were well done. Unless Japanese men are so different from the rest of us that we can't generalize, the study is highly suggestive of causation. 
I haven't read the full article, cause I don't have access to Stroke and don't want to pay for an article that should be in the public domain (since the public undoubtedly funded the original study).  But 27% risk reduction in a common source of death and disability isn't something to be ignored.  
To paraphrase my old Turkish friend Isik, "What if it works?"

More on Vitamin D and Alzheimers

This study was just reported and commented on by the Vitamin D Council's Newsletter.  It's French.  They aren't so different. Bottom line -- those with high intake of Vitamin D - sunshine - omega3 fatty acids, or some combination of the above, had lower risks of Alzheimers 7 years later.  To paraphrase President Obama (who was speaking about energy policy), What's not to like ALL OF THE ABOVE?

Vitamin D supplements in Prostate Cancer

The latest newsletter of the Vitamin D Council pointed to a small study of Vitamin D3 supplementation for a year in low-grade prostate cancer.  It showed that at 4000 IU per day, the markers of cancer severity actually regressed.  But,..there were only 44 subjects in the study.  So, this is merely subjective.  Still, there is little to be lost in supplementing at 4000 IU.

Vitamin D and Alzheimers- Now we're REALLY getting serious!

Here's a piece from the National Library of Medicine's Medline news digest about D3's ability to clear amyloid beta from the brain.  Yeah, really, and turmeric too.  Ever cooked with turmeric?  Me, neither.  Makes me want to take a course on South Asian cuisines.

Jane Brody reviews evidence on Vitamin in NY Times today

It's hard for me to believe that Jane Brody is still writing columns, as she was a fixture way back when.  Maybe she takes Vitamin D supplements (ha ha).  Anyway, here is a link to her review of current issues in Vitamin D, in today's New York Times.

Vitamin D supplements prevent stress fractures in girls and young women

Here are the results of a very well designed longitudinal study (the Nurses' Health Study) that clearly shows that girls and young women who get lots of Vitamin D have fewer stress fractures.  Calcium was not that important, contrary to expectations.  It was Vitamin D, Lee!

Vitamin D and heart disease - suggestive evidence

Medline Plus (NIH) just had a news release about a large study of Vitamin D supplementation and heart disease.  Shows huge effects.  This is a prospective but NON RANDOMIZED study, so as with so many such findings, it may not pan out.  Back in the day, we studied estrogen and heart disease (at OTA), and the large prospective studies showed that estrogen replacement therapy had huge effect on subsequent heart disease.  Too bad, about 10 years later the evidence came out that ERT actually increases heart disease.
So, I am including the news release here just to track what later evidence reveals.
Medline-Vitamin D/Heart Disease

First RCT of Vitamin D supplementation in MS shows no benefit of high dose.

Recently reported in Neurology (and available to the public) this was a small trial of short duration of patients with established MS.  Nevertheless, it shows no benefit, and the direction of effect was towards harm, though it was insignificant.  So, while Vitamin D deficiency appears to be causally related to onset of MS, high-doses of D, which raise blood levels to 40ng or more, don't appear to help.  An interesting "patient page" lays out the strengths and weaknesses of the study.

Vitamin D's role in prevention of infections becoming clearer

This time it's TB.  See the Medline news article for more detail.  All the more reason to keep track of your vitamin D status this winter.  The only problem with this article:  what is "sufficient" level of Vitamin D?  I'll have to research and amend this posting.

Vitamin D and Diabetes: New evidence

It appears that vitamin D supplementation may help with pre-diabetic conditions.  See the news item from the National Library of Medicine's Medline Report.

Here's a great information source on Vitamin D.

My last blog, about the IOM's new recomendations, led to a comment by one Henry Lahore, who has taken upon himself to keep a "Vitamin D Wiki" site.  I checked it out.  It is a truly amazing source of info on the latest research on Vitamin D.  I don't know HL, but in his "about us" he says he's a retired engineer who seems to be doing this for fun and not money, just like I am.  I am thrilled to have found this site, as I am not nearly as disciplined and complete as he has been.  I'll register for his site, and if you're as vitamin D-obsessed as I am, you can too.  But, I'll also post interesting stuff that I find on his site here, hopefully giving him full credit for alerting me.

An Expert's Comments on IOM Vitamin D-Calcium Report

Digesting the IOM's recent report on recommendations for calcium and Vitamin D seems to be as difficult for me as absorbing Vitamin D itself.  I'm on the second read, word for word.  I'm not a trained nutrition scientist, but I  know a bias toward the null (i.e., no benefit) when I read it.  Still, it's reasoned and thorough, so I've been reluctant to comment, as I know a bias toward the positive (my own) when I feel it. 
But, here is a comment in the Newsletter of the Harvard School of Public Health put out by two leading researchers on nutrition, one of them a legendary figure in nutrition and epidemiology, Walter Willett.  It rings true to me.  Let me know what you think.

Vitamin D and Leukemia progression

A Mayo Clinic study just reported in the journal Blood that people diagnosed with CLL who had insufficient Vitamin D (less than 25 ng at the time of diagnosis) were more likely to progress and to die than were those with "adequate" levels.  Read the press release.