Why You May Not Need That Vitamin D Test After All

Reader Comments
Back to article

I am 51, post menopausal since age 42, 5' tall blonde hair/ blue eyes and just had a wrist fracture from a fall in dance class. The fracture was a warning sign. I am life time non-smoker. I began
6,000 units Vit D Calcium Magnesium D and six months later my life is returning to normal. I did not know my risks! I never used HTR , every woman needs to know her family history and risks.
Don't delay getting supplements.

Ivy of MI 4:58PM April 09, 2010

Interesting about cause and effect. Here are publications that say exactly that - low Vitamin D levels are not the cause of disease but the result of it. Even goes so far as to say that since Vitamin D is a type of steroid, it can make people feel better but only temporarily - it masks the disease which gets worse over time.
http://trevormarshall.com/BioEssays-Feb08-Marshall-Preprint.pdf
http://AutoimmunityResearch.org/transcripts/AR-Albert-VitD.pdf
If they're right, I wonder what all this Vitamin D craze is doing to the population's long term health.

John 7:40AM March 31, 2010

I was running a very low Vit D and have been on 50,000IU 2x per week for 1 1/2 months per Dr prescription. My fasting glucose went from 105 to 92, Chol 226 down to 212, LDL q50 down to 132. I find ingteresting since I have not made any major changes to diet or increased exercise. Although my Vit D is still below normal and I continue to take Vit D capsules. It will be interesting to see how my levels are when I do reach normal levels.

Lab Manager of IL 9:31AM March 29, 2010

I take 2,000 IU's a day, after hearing a presentation by an OB/GYN at a leadership conference about 2 years ago. I'm happy to report that I'm off any anti-depressant I had been taking off and on, have done far better maintaining my weight in the winter months, and experience less pain when getting out of bed first thing in the morning. The only thing I've changed it the Vitamin D. I FEEL better. And I'm going to continue taking it because it DOES help!

Jess of NE 9:08AM March 29, 2010

Are people sick because they have low vitamin D levels?
OR
... are their vitamin D levels low because they are sick?
Do not jump to conclusions regarding cause and effect. Good science means we have to consider both possibilities.
Consider that your body may be down-regulating the amount of circulating D because there is already too much of the active metabolite in the system. Supplements are not always the cure and may only contribute to the problem.

Claudia of HI 7:27PM March 27, 2010

THE OLE GEEZEER SAYS.....ON THE CORRECT VIT. D LEVELS....
IT'S GOT TO BE THIS OR THAT. NO CLEAR CUT ANSWER. I WILL CONTINE TO USE MY
MULTI VITIMIN PILL. OK!

JK nowak of OH 5:58PM March 27, 2010

I have been taking large doses (6ooo IU) for about a year. My hair hasn't fallen out and I have no side effects to report. I do feel good, Weathered the flu season splendidly, tho I work in a health care setting where bugs are always around. As I am past 65, I am concerned about osteoporosis. I take calcium and a lot of other supplements to try to combat bone loss. I feel it has also helped with the SAD disorder I had for many years, since I live in a northern state.

carol of MI 12:15PM March 27, 2010

It would have helped if you had read the journal paper about the 340 African-Americans with type 2 diabetes rather than taking the press release on face value. They were all dangerously low on vitamin d, even those taking supplements. No attempt to made to treat them by raising their vitamin d levels and so the effect of intervention was not investigated. All other papers on this subject where the vitamin d levels were raised significantly showed a positive effect.
You are right, there is little point in checking people as almost everyone is sub optimal in vitamin d.
If you wish to know what taking a supplement of 200IU a day will do to your blood vitamin d levels take a look at the graph of supplement level vs 25(OH)D level at the top of grassroots health home page. This is actual data from 1014 people.
And the effect of 200IU a day is undetectable. You might as well not bother. It is the equivalent of a few seconds sun exposure.

Pete 6:23AM March 26, 2010

Technically cholesterol is a steroid. It refers to the chemical shape not what it does.
It is true that the vitamin d made in the skin or taken as a supplement is a precursor to a compound 1,25(OH)D that is important to the function of the body. The 1,25(OH)D made in the liver and circulating in the blood controls blood calcium levels. Most other cells can to some extent also form this active compound where it can be used locally to control cell death, kill bacteria and viruses and probably other uses we have yet to find about.
Not having enough vitamin d in your body is like setting out to build a number of walls only to find you don't have enough bricks. You will build the important ones and neglect the others. When vitamin d levels are low vitamin d is reserved to control blood calcium levels and as the levels of vitamin d rise it becomes available for other uses as well.

Pete 6:06AM March 26, 2010

I am stunned that a doctor would compare "vitamin" D to the failed claims of the alphabetic pantheon of true vitamins. How could and M.D. or for that matter any nutrient nubie fail to see the difference between the steroid hormone cholecalciferol (D3 - metabolizes into Calcitriol- the activated form of vitamin D our bodies use in every cell) and a mere vitamin?
Vitamin D supplementation works. Anyone who has done so can relate a dozen anecdotes of personal health miracles. Simply stated when replete with vitamin D one feels 15-25 years younger. Everyone will tell you that and frankly, I had no idea I could feel this good. To think of all that winter misery I endured!
To be clear doctors use steroids to treat their most vexing cases. Unfortunately most of them are following drug protocols which would almost certainly be better attended by vitamin D. Stick around a few more years and see how many prescription drugs are dumped in favor of D3?
Vitamin D supplementation will change the world forever. It represents the realization that so many chronic diseases were all along diseases of deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency that is. The body of evidence is coming through very clearly and it is simply miraculous. Don't worry folks- you can get it for nearly free. The sooner you do- the healthier you will be.
The experts say at least 50 ng/ml- year round is healthy. What is distinctly not healthy is 30 ng/ml- a figure literally guessed at by a committee when they had little or no info to go on.
If you want to avoid the most serious early onset conditions supplement with D3 (D2 is junk!) and live into an old age with a smile on your face.
Believe me it works- like all steroids. No dinky vitamin here at all- just nature's most powerful disease fighter.

Chuck88 of MD 9:01PM March 25, 2010