Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Heart Risk Factors in Kids

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Thank you for the great info. I take 6000mg a day and I am confident I have been happier. I truely think it has helped my Depression. Rain in Washington, work indoors, I dont spend much time outside in the winter but hate it when it is 90 or higher. I am trying to go out side more lately but who is going to clean my house while I am laying in the sun on my day off. smile

nina Platter of WA 3:30PM March 28, 2010

Our body must have vitamin D to absorb Calcium and promote bone growth.In the U.S ,only people who live South of a line drawn from Los Angeles to Columbia,S.C get enough sunlight for vitamin D production throughout the year,which results in the North Americans have low levels of vitamin D than the South Americans -because the body makes vitamin D by itself-but just only after skin exposure to sufficient sunlight The adequate daily dietary intake for vitamin D for adults is:
200 IU for ages 19-50
400 IU for ages 51-70
600 IU for ages 71
The recent studies had also concluded that there are an association between high levels of vitamin D and a substancial decrease in C.D.V,type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome

Que dodieu of FL 5:33AM March 15, 2010

As a physician who has been aware of the issue of low vitamin D levels being associated with chronic pain for years, I have been doing blood levels on my patients since 2004. I can confirm that individuals vary greatly in the amount that it takes to raise their 25OHD level out of the danger zone (<30 ng/ml or <75 nmol/L). In Toronto, Canada, which is about the same latitude as northern California, the average person I have tested and retested after starting supplements requires about 4000 IU in the months October to May to get their level into the healthiest range, 60-80 ng/ml or 150-200 nmol/L. Most people use sunscreen, especially on their children, and do not take supplements or give them to their kids. It is essentially impossible to get enough vitamin D from food (including fortified foods such as milk) to prevent the long term consequences of D deficiency. It is beyond comprehension why researchers insist that there is not enough knowledge yet to advise the population to take at least 2000 IU or more per day. Go to PubMed and type in 'Vitamin D and whatever you are interested in' and you will see the huge volume of evidence to support what many of us are saying. Just google vitamin D or go to the Vitamin D Council website. The evidence is massive and it is time for our health authorities to catch up to the facts. If nothing else, the evidence that vitamin D supports the immune system and may be your best protection from the H1N1 virus should get people's attention. The fact that a study in the 1940s showed that mice with good levels of vitamin D did not get swine flu and those with low levels did makes one despair that the focus of our health officials is on getting a vaccine while this cheap, safe way of offering protection goes unmentioned except in the lay press.

LR 2:24PM August 22, 2009

The authors recommend against supplements of vitamin D. What is the bias against supplementation? The vitamin D in milk is a supplement. Relying on milk, which some people can't drink, and others won't is to propagate the serious problem of deficiency. Is the author employed by the milk industry? And sunshine doesn't work in the winter in most parts of the country. The obvious answer is supplementation. Let's say 1000 IU per day in the winter, less or none in the summer.

Edwin Hofmann-Smith, PhD, ND of OR 12:03AM August 05, 2009

Although I grew up in So.Cal in the 1950s my mother was always afraid I would get rickets so I still remember the spoonful of caster oil daily! Believe me, you would rather go outside in the sun!

monica of AZ 7:06PM August 03, 2009

Dr Reis and Dr. Melamed, and other doctors, your lack of understanding of Vitamin D deficiency is the primary reason of the major Vitamin D deficiency we have in this country and world wide. More research? Why do you not just first read the more than 200 studied that have been done on this subject already? You can find most of the papers at the Vitamin D council website, vitamindcouncil.org. There you will find that the minimum level should be 50 ng/ml not 39. You will also find that being Vitamin D deficient (<50 ng/ml) increases you risk of melanoma and being in the sun at midday without sunscreen helps and is good. The obvious thing is to not get burned. That is where the risk of melanoma comes in. You might also find that if we eliminated vitamin D deficiency we could eliminated 30% of the cancer deaths worldwide. That would put the cancer cure BUSINESS in a significant recession. Also the only way to correct this problem is to have your 25(OH)D level tested and then adjust your supplement dosage to get to the 50 to 100 ng/ml range. I have fair skin, get a lot of noon day sun without sunscreen and also take 5000 I.U. daily to maintain my level. Also you might be interested to know that studies on the maximum daily safe dose is above 10,000 I.U. So forget what you were told in medical school about overdose - they are just flat wrong. Finally, as an engineer I get my information from you own medical journals. Maybe engineers know how to understand data better than doctors so why not find an engineer to help you

Wallace Shaunfield of TX 6:11PM August 03, 2009

A number of friends and myself have taken 5000IU D3 a day for years and the result is everyone has felt better. For example, everyone's blood pressure has normalised (no more blood pressure tablets) and a number of other medical problems have gone away.
So why not get a pot of 5000IU D3 capsules (that's about $10), take them one a day for a month and see how you feel . If you don't feel any better stop, if you do keep going.

Pete 4:03PM August 03, 2009

Thank you for writing about this important issue. What I do not understand is the statement that there is no need to do much about Vitamin D deficiency other than just going out in the sun a little bit. It is vitally important to expose a large portion of your body to the sun during the noon hour when UVB sun-rays are strongest. Also dark skinned people need to spend much more time in the sun than whit-skinned people.
Also what are the chances that a youngster will all of a sudden schedule time outdoors when he has been told that it is too dangerous or that he might get a sun-burn and skin cancer.
As to drinking a few glasses of milk? There is really not enough Vitamin D in milk to remedy a deficiency. I got myself tested at a doctor's office. I was drinking milk, doing my noon-hour sun-bathing and taking 1000 units of Vitamin D. The test showed that I had very low Vitamin D levels (14 ng/ml). It took months of taking 50000 units of Vitiman D to get to the low acceptable normal of 30 ng/ml. So, if you asked me, I would do both, go out in the sun and take 4000 units of Vitamin D unless I was a life-guard at the beach or lived near the equator.

Birgit Calhoun of CA 3:37PM August 03, 2009

Vitamin D supplements are cheap. Don't let the big corporate owned media talk you out of taking them which would cut down on pharma's profits. I take 2000 or 4000 IU per day, and most people can take 5000 IU. If you are concerned about overdosing simply have your blood tested.

Jason of ID 12:09PM August 03, 2009

Do you think that this has anything to do with the possibility that those who are Vitamin-D deficient might not be outside EXERCISING as much as those with enough Vitimin D in their systems?
These studies are fine, but there are sometimes obvious connections to other things that might be causal. It might be the lack of exercise, not the vitamin D deficiency, causing the higher levels of cardiovascular troubles.

Geoff of WA 12:00PM August 03, 2009