Vitamin D And Prostate Cancer: A New Connection
Written by Wellness Club on September 29, 2015 – 3:52 pm -By Nurse Mark
We’ve written about Vitamin D so much that you might have become jaded about the subject. But Vitamin D is an amazing vitamin – hormone that almost daily has new studies showing its value in treatment of an ever-widening array of diseases.
For all you men out there “of a certain age” who must be concerned with prostate health and the very real specter of prostate cancer, Vitamin D just earned itself a whole new level of respect.
Scientists at this year’s 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Denver learned about research showing that taking vitamin D supplements could slow or even reverse the progression of less aggressive, or low-grade, prostate tumors without the need for surgery or radiation.
In his lecture before the ACS, Dr. Bruce Hollis of the Medical University of South Carolina detailed his new research suggesting that vitamin D supplementation may improve low-grade prostate cancers by reducing inflammation, perhaps lessening the need for eventual surgery or radiation treatment. “We don’t know yet whether vitamin D treats or prevents prostate cancer,” says Hollis. “At the minimum, what it may do is keep lower-grade prostate cancers from going ballistic.”
This new information reinforced findings of his previous research which showed that men with low-grade prostate cancer who took vitamin D supplements for a year had a 55 percent decreased Gleason score or even complete disappearance of their tumors compared to their biopsies a year before.
And what about other cancers? Is it just prostate cancer? Here is an excerpt from Dr. Hollis’ paper:
Vitamin D is metabolized, activated and acts through the vitamin D receptor expressed in a variety of human tissues, including cancer tissue of various origin. Basic research has revealed that vitamin D has anti-cancer potentials including pro-differentiation, anti-proliferation, and anti-inflammatory, to name a few. Epidemiological studies have revealed that low circulating 25(OH)D levels are a risk factor for a variety of human cancers.
Are you getting enough Vitamin D?
Dr. Hollis and many other experts are encouraging much higher levels of Vitamin D that conventional Medicine or the FDA. But each person is different, and an adequate or even generous supplemental dose of Vitamin D for one person may be nowhere near enough for someone else. Vitamin D testing is required to know for sure.
So, what are the “numbers”?
The Vitamin D test tells us blood levels of vitamin D measured in nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) and the results can be grouped like this:
- Deficiency: less than 20 ng/ml
- Insufficiency: 20 to 32 ng/ml
- Sufficiency: 32 to 100 ng/ml
- OPTIMAL (per Dr. Myatt): 40 to 80 ng/ml
- Excess (toxicity risk): greater than 150 ng/ml
The Vitamin D test is a simple “Blood Spot” test, very much like the “finger poke” that diabetics do multiple times daily to check their blood sugars. A drop of blood is placed onto a test strip and sent off to the lab in a pre-paid mailer; the results come back in a few days. Then you can get started replenishing your Vitamin D levels, because chances are good that they are low – since overall, 41.6 % of Americans are Vitamin D deficient, and that number skyrockets to 82.1% of African Americans and 69.2% of Hispanics.
Learn more about the Vitamin D Spot Test here:
For additional information in our past articles about Vitamin D please review:
The Surprising Importance Of Vitamin D
Vitamin D – For Successful Dieting?
Vitamin D – An Old Friend Finding New Respect
Vitamin D and Liver Cancer: More Reasons Love Vitamin D
References:
1) http://www.newswise.com/articles/vitamin-d-may-keep-low-grade-prostate-cancer-from-becoming-aggressive
2) J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., 2012, DOI: 10.1210/jc.2012-1451
Posted in Cancer, Man Health | Comments Off
The Surprising Importance Of Vitamin D
Written by Wellness Club on June 12, 2015 – 7:58 pm -By Nurse Mark
Vitamin D continues to be in the news as conventional medicine “discovers” its importance to human health.
We have been telling you about it for years; you can see some of our previous articles here: Vitamin D – An Old Friend Finding New Respect and here: Vitamin D and Liver Cancer: More Reasons Love Vitamin D but it’s now “official” – Vitamin D deficiencies are common and the problems that this causes are severe.
What are some of the problems that Vitamin D deficiencies can cause?
- Bone problems: In children, rickets. In adults, osteoporosis (porous and brittle bones) and osteomalacia (soft bones) along with muscle weakness and increased risk of falling.
- Heart (cardiovascular) disease including heart attack (myocardial infarction), sudden cardiac death, heart failure, myopathy, high blood pressure (hypertension), and stroke.
- Blood sugar problems including glucose intolerance, Type II diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.
- Respiratory (breathing) problems including upper respiratory tract infections, influenza and even tuberculosis.
- Brain and mental health problems such as cognitive impairment and low mood.
- Immunity problems and autoimmune disease including multiple sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, systemic lupus erythromatosis (SLE or just “Lupus”).
- Vitamin D deficiencies appear to increase the risk of many cancers and increased Vitamin D levels have been shown to decrease cancer risks.
- Low Vitamin D levels during pregnancy puts women at risk for developing gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia, and low birth-weight and sickly infants.
- Many other diseases are associated with Vitamin D deficiency – such as psoriasis, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), and inflammatory bowel disease, to name just a few.
- Even overweight and obesity has been found to be associated with Vitamin D deficiency: See our article Vitamin D – For Successful Dieting?
How much Vitamin D is enough?
Vitamin D dosages in this country are generally measured in IU or International Units and according to the United States Institute of Medicine the recommended dietary allowances (RDA) of vitamin D are:
- Infants from 0–12 months – 400 IU/day
- Children and adults from 1–70 years – 600 IU/day
- Seniors over 71 years – 800 IU/day
- Pregnant or lactating women – 600 800 IU/day
Remember, the RDA is really more like the minimum needed to prevent diseases of deficiency – it is not what we would consider an appropriate dose for optimal health.
Since everyone is different, an optimal daily dose of Vitamin D will be different for every person as well. In someone whose Vitamin D levels are sufficient, the minimal daily dose might be enough to keep them well. For another person who is quite deficient, doses of 2000, 5000, or even 10,000 IU per day may be needed to bring Vitamin D levels up to where they should be and to prevent and correct some of the problems of Vitamin D deficiency that they may be experiencing.
But how can you really know?
The answer to that is easy – a simple test will quickly tell you your baseline Vitamin D level and provide you with guidance about how much you really need to supplement.
Dr. Myatt recommends testing, then supplementing with Vitamin D based on the test results, and then re-testing in 3 months to verify the effectiveness of the supplementation and to allow fine-tuning of Vitamin D doses.
Other authorities recommend starting with 5000 IU per day for 3 months, and then testing.
Either way, testing gives definitive answers – and Dr. Myatt’s “test-supplement-test-adjust” regimen seems a little more certain and safer.
Speaking of safety… Can’t you get too much Vitamin D and hurt yourself?
Conventional medicine has long warned of the dangers of “too much Vitamin D” without actually telling us where they are getting the information to back up these warnings. Certainly, it is possible to consume massive doses of Vitamin D and cause a toxicity known as ‘Hypervitaminosis D” which causes hypercalcemia (high levels of calcium in the blood). To actually achieve this an adult would need to take 40,000 IU per day of Vitamin D for weeks or even months.
Needless to say, Vitamin D overdose is extremely rare and noted Vitamin D researcher Reinhold Vieth has stated in a research article titled “The Pharmacology of Vitamin D, Including Fortification Strategies” that there is "no evidence of adverse effects from taking 10,000 IU of Vitamin D a day" and he goes on to say that "…cases of vitamin D toxicity with hypercalcemia, for which the 25(OH)D concentration and vitamin D dose are known, all involve intake of (greater than or equal to) 40,000 IU/d."
The moral of this story? Perform a Vitamin D Test and be sure!
So, what are the “numbers”?
The Vitamin D test tells us blood levels of vitamin D measured in nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) and the results can be grouped like this:
- Deficiency: less than 20 ng/ml
- Insufficiency: 20 to 32 ng/ml
- Sufficiency: 32 to 100 ng/ml
- OPTIMAL (per Dr. Myatt): 40 to 80 ng/ml
- Excess (toxicity risk): greater than 150 ng/ml
Where to get the test?
Your conventional “insurance doctor” might be willing to order a Vitamin D test for you, and your insurance might cover the cost of it. You will have to give him a good reason to order it though – so you’ll have to hope that he really believes that Vitamin D deficiency is possible (many conventional doctors still haven’t gotten the “news”) and hope that he doesn’t believe that vitamin supplements are a waste of money (“expensive urine” they call it…) and then hope that he will be willing to go along with you taking more than the RDA minimum daily dose of Vitamin D.
Or, you can just order the test and do it yourself at home. It is a simple “Blood Spot” test, very much like the “finger poke” that diabetics do multiple times daily to check their blood sugars. A drop of blood, off to the lab in the pre-paid mailer, and the results come back in a few days. Then you can get started replenishing your Vitamin D levels, because I’m betting they will be low – since overall, 41.6 % of Americans are Vitamin D deficient, and that number skyrockets to 82.1% of African Americans and 69.2% of Hispanics.
Learn more about the Vitamin D Spot Test here:
What about Vitamin D supplements?
Dr. Myatt’s Optimal Dose Daily Multiple Vitamin formula Maxi Multi contains 800 IU of Vitamin D per day and her convenient MyPacks contain 753 IU of daily Vitamin D – so if you are using these already you may be “covered.”
If you are deficient and want to increase your Vitamin D levels be sure to use a high quality supplement – Dr. Myatt offers two supplements that have met her standards for quality and you can learn more here: Vitamin D 5000 capsules and Vitamin D 2000 Drops
In Summary:
We now know that vitamin D isn’t "just" a vitamin but that it acts more like a hormone that plays a major role in immunity, bone and cardiovascular health, diabetes, overweight and autoimmunity. The “experts” may argue; vitamin or hormone – but whichever, the bottom line is that it’s some seriously important stuff!
Deficiencies of Vitamin D are common and correcting those deficiencies up to optimal levels is easy to accomplish. Given its importance to so many physical functions, and how easy it is to test levels and get them to "optimal," I recommend that this simple step be taken by everyone. It’s a basic, simple, but oh-so-important step we can take to safeguard our overall health.
References:
Full references can be found in our Vitamin D Special Report
Posted in Nutrition and Health | Comments Off
Vitamin D and Liver Cancer: More Reasons Love Vitamin D
Written by Wellness Club on July 18, 2014 – 11:12 am -By Nurse Mark
In our modern world filled with wondrous, even miraculous offerings of synthetic drugs so benevolently given to us by Big Pharma it is comforting to know that Mother Nature is still on our side looking out for us and giving us simple things that actually do work. They do work that is, if we can just avert our eyes from the seductive glitter of patent drugs for long enough to actually get back to basics and try the natural solutions…
Such is the case with vitamin D.
Long dismissed by conventional medicine and Big Pharma as being only needed in miniscule amounts to prevent the ancient disease rickets and derisively called “the sunshine vitamin” so as to suggest that we get all we need from minimal exposure to daylight, vitamin D has recently forced it’s way into the spotlight as being not just valuable to our health, but essential to us in preventing some of our most feared diseases.
We have been singing the praises of vitamin D here at The Wellness Club for many years. Over 4 years ago we offered our readers Dr. Myatt’s Special Report On Vitamin D. Now it appears that conventional medical researchers are finally catching up with us.
Emory University has recently announced the results of research showing that vitamin D intake can lower the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). For those who didn’t know, HCC is the main form of liver cancer.
According to the article:
Findings indicated that higher levels of vitamin D in the body cut the risk of HCC in half
Let’s repeat that: higher levels of vitamin D cut the risk of liver cancer in half.
If it were a new patent medicine that this was being said about we would be hearing all about it. The FDA and Big Pharma would be trying to convince us to add it to the drinking water. Politicians would be demanding mandatory consumption of it “for the children.”
But it’s not a patent medicine – it’s lowly, simple, natural vitamin D and until Big Pharma can figure out how to patent it and sell it for a profit they will continue to regard it with contempt.
We will continue to give vitamin D the respect it deserves here at The Wellness Club, and we invite you to learn more:
Dr. Myatt’s Special Report On Vitamin D
Vitamin D Deficiency is common – find out if you are deficient with a simple lab test: Our vitamin D, 25-OH, Total (Blood Spot) – uses a FINGER STICK blood spot test that you collect at home
Vitamin D supplements are inexpensive and available in both capsules and liquid drops.
And please read our other articles on vitamin D in HealthBeat News.
Posted in Cancer, Nutrition and Health | Comments Off
Vitamin D – For Successful Dieting?
Written by Wellness Club on March 25, 2014 – 12:32 pm -By Nurse Mark
Vitamin D, once thought to have little more importance than for the prevention of rickets, is proving to be more valuable and even vital to our overall health and well-being with each passing day.
We have long maintained here at The Wellness Club that Vitamin D is far more than just a “vitamin” – it is actually a mis-named hormone with a wide-ranging variety of effects in our bodies.
Now it turns out that low Vitamin D levels are strongly associated with overweight and obesity, and that improving Vitamin D deficiency improves dieting success.
Dr. Shalamar Sibley, a researcher in the University of Minnesota Medical School conducted a clinical study that looked at the relationship between Vitamin D levels and obesity and the success of weight loss efforts and said:
“What is suggested here is that if you start out with an inadequate vitamin D level, it’s possible that this might inhibit or impede your ability to lose weight on a reduced caloric diet,”
The researchers found that pre-dieting Vitamin D levels predicted weight loss success and that for every increase of 1 ng/mL in level of 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (the precursor form of Vitamin D) dieters lost almost a half pound more over the course of their diet. Further, for each 1-ng/mL increase in the active or “hormonal” form of Vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol), dieters shed nearly a quarter pound more.
The researchers also found that higher baseline vitamin D levels gave greater losses of abdominal fat.
“Our results suggest the possibility that the addition of vitamin D to a reduced-calorie diet will lead to better weight loss,” Dr. Sibley said.
So, what’s our take-home message from this?
Vitamin D deficiency is common in the US population. Overall, 41.6 % of Americans are Vitamin D deficient, and that number skyrockets to 82.1% of African Americans and 69.2% of Hispanics.
Obesity has become an epidemic in America – more than one in every 3 Americans are obese, and again Blacks and Hispanics are disproportionately affected.
Vitamin D testing is available and is relatively inexpensive for the valuable information that it provides. Please learn more about a simple at-home Vitamin D test here.
Vitamin D supplementation is cheap – mere pennies per day – and can be started while awaiting the results of your Vitamin D levels test. Learn more about inexpensive and effective optimal-dose Vitamin D supplements here.
Can we promise you that taking Vitamin D will help you lose weight?
Don’t be silly – of course we can’t promise that! You can only lose weight if you consume less energy (calories) than you need, forcing your body to turn to it’s “money in the bank” (fat stores) for energy.
But it is very clear from this research that Vitamin D deficiency plays a greater role in obesity that we ever suspected, and it is also quite clear that improving levels of Vitamin D leads to greater fat loss over the course of a weight-loss diet.
Finally, there is every other reason to ensure that your Vitamin D levels are plentiful – since Vitamin D deficiency is linked to many other health conditions, including high blood pressure, cardiovascular problems, kidney disease, and a higher risk of cancer including breast and prostate cancers.
References:
Causal Relationship between Obesity and Vitamin D Status: Bi-Directional Mendelian Randomization Analysis of Multiple Cohorts. Published: February 05, 2013DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001383
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1001383
Vitamin D and weight loss, University of Minnesota, December 18, 2009
http://www1.umn.edu/news/features/2009/UR_CONTENT_165066.html
Posted in Hormones, Nutrition and Health | Comments Off
Special Report On Vitamin D
Written by Wellness Club on April 21, 2010 – 4:07 pm -
Our last issue of HealthBeat News was devoted entirely to a Special Report On Vitamin D prepared by Dr. Myatt and Nurse Mark. This report went out to our HealthBeat Subscribers first – as a HealthBeat Subscriber you will always get the latest, most up-to-date information and research – and you’ll get it before anyone else!
Since that time we received a lot of feedback – most of it very positive with folks saying that this report went a long way toward clearing up the confusion surrounding this in-the-news and surrounded-by-hype vitamin. A few folks said that they had a hard time reading it in their email programs. To remedy that we have placed it onto a page on The Wellness Club website – it can be found here: Special Report On Vitamin D
Here are the “Cliff Notes” for those who just can’t wait or who don’t want to read the fully scientifically referenced article:
Vitamin D — The Short Course
1.) Vit D is produced in our bodies in response to sun exposure. Vit D is also available from food and supplements.
2.) Vit D is FAR more important to health than was previously realized. I’m talking FAR more important.
3.) Vit D deficiency is widespread, including North America, even in sunny climates like Arizona. Many people who think they are getting enough Vitamin D from sunlight are mistaken.
4.) How to Optimize Vit D Levels for Good Health:
I.) Vit D test, supplement accordingly, re-test
II.) Supplement at 5,000IU for 3 months, then test your levels.
III.) Don’t test, run the risk of being deficient, but take at least 2,000IU total per day. (This is still an extremely conservative dose, but much higher than the RDA of 400IU which hasn’t been changed yet to reflect the newer findings about Vit D).
5.) Natural ways to obtain Vit D: Foods, supplements and sun exposure.
Read the full article here: Special Report On Vitamin D
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