Press Release of the Day: Canadians underexposed to sunlight!

THIS JUST IN! Vitamin D deficiency is becoming a hidden epidemic as media teaches Canadians to fear the sun! From Canada News Wire:

TORONTO, April 25 /CNW/ - As Canadians brace for the much awaited warm summer months there is something else that our bodies crave - sunlight.

Alarmingly however, Canadian public health messaging has resulted in the demonization of sunlight. The amount of fear this dogma has created is potentially damaging to the health of Canadians.

Recent vitamin D research has shown that 97 percent of Canadians and a majority of Americans are vitamin D deficient today. And, the facts are clear. Humans get 90 percent of their vitamin D naturally from sunlight. To say that your skin should not be exposed to UV light is to say that your body should suffer vitamin D deficiency - the most severe result of sun-avoiding behavior.

"The professional indoor tanning community is the voice of reason on this issue: sunburn prevention - not sun avoidance - is what we need to be teaching. Moderate UV exposure increases vitamin D production."

So Health Canada is damaging the health of Canadians through the "demonization of sunlight"? That's the OPPOSITE of what Health Canada should be doing. Alarming, indeed!

But what can Canadians do to buck the media fear-mongering and halt this potentially-but-not-actually-rampant vitamin deficiency? According to the Joint Canadian Tanning Association — a national non-profit organization created to increase understanding of the professional tanning industry, which, incidentally, authored this press release — the solution is simple: pay a salon to give you a tan! It's the responsible Canadian thing to do.

"The public has been hearing from lifestyle media for years how bad the sun is for you. Unfortunately the message is heavily influenced by large amounts of advertising dollars. Just have a look at web sites like www.sunsafetyalliance.com and www.skincancer.org and you can see who the funders behind the message are. The unfortunate part of all this is that an unintended consequence occurs, that being vitamin D deficiency," Gilroy said.

If you're interested in learning more about tanning — and why not? It's only your LIFE we're talking about here — check out the Joint Canadian Tanning Association's website at tancanada.org.

Vitamin D is key in Brain Development

It’s known to all of us that Vitamin D plays an important role in the maintenance of organ systems. A recent study finds whether there is convincing biological or behavioral evidence linking vitamin D deficiency to brain dysfunction. Vitamin D has an important role in the development and function of the brain, according to researchers from Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI). Joyce C. McCann, Ph.D., assistant staff scientist and Bruce N. Ames, Ph.D., senior scientist at CHORI concludes that there is sufficient biological evidence to suggest an important role of vitamin D in brain development and function.

A group of fat-soluble prohormones is Vitamin D. Lack of vitamin D causes rickets which is seen frequently in children in many developing countries. The dearth of Vitamin D is the core reason, but lack of calcium in the diet may also lead to rickets.

Vitamin D not only preserves bone health but is also involved in differentiation of tissues during development and in proper functioning of the immune system. It was discovered in recent studies that this vitamin plays a role in maintaining immune functions.

Vitamin D’s presence in brain functioning includes the circulation of vitamin D receptors throughout the brain; and this vitamin has the capacity of affecting the brain. It is involved in learning, memory, motor control, possibly even maternal and social behavior. These points were thoroughly discussed by McCann and Ames. Growing research shows that vitamin D is essential not just for strong bones but also for muscle strength, balance, brain function and preventing some cancers, says J. Edward Puzas, a researcher and URMC professor of orthopedics.

Vitamin D is produced naturally after the skin is exposed to the sunlight. The ultraviolet rays from the sun produces a hormone called calcitriol which is metabolized by a biochemical in the skin to Vitamin D. Such kind of vitamin D configuration by UV is much more efficient in light skin than dark skin. In regions like of Northern latitudes where sunlight is inadequate, would need the intake of Vitamin D whereas people in Australia or Arizona may possibly avoid sunburns and prevent themselves from skin cancer caused by the ultraviolet rays.

Source: healthjocky.com

Vitamin D & Lung Cancer

Something as common and available as sunlight may help prevent some lung cancers, researchers say.

A new study finds that lower levels of the sun's ultraviolet B (UVB) rays are associated with a higher incidence of lung cancer across 111 countries.

Still, that doesn't mean that spending more time in the sun will ever offset the risks that come with smoking, according to the study, which is published in the January issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

"The problem is that people might over-interpret this and stay in the sun for hours," said Cedric Garland, study senior author, professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and participating member at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center in La Jolla.

Too little sun isn't great either, however, since sunlight helps the skin manufacture healthy vitamin D. "It would be false prudence to stay out of the sun to prevent skin cancer and not get enough vitamin D," Garland said.

Other experts, however, feel the focus should stay on cigarette smoking as the number one cause of lung cancer.

"When you have such a strong factor as tobacco, it really weighs out all these other small influences," said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in Baton Rouge, La. "It's a very interesting observation, but the main message is tobacco is such a strong influence in the development of lung cancer that we should concentrate on that."

More than one million people die of lung cancer worldwide each year. Cigarette smoking causes about 85 percent of lung cancers. The remaining cases are caused by exposure to secondhand smoke and a variety of other (some unknown) factors.

Sunshine is a significant source of vitamin D, as the sun's UV rays trigger synthesis of vitamin D in the skin.

Previous research, much of it by the same group, has found a strong association between breast cancer, colon cancer and other internal-organ cancers and living in latitudes with less sunlight. For example, one paper observed double the death rate from colon cancer above the U.S. Mason-Dixon line as below, leading the researchers to focus on lack of sunlight as the culprit.

It wasn't a new idea. "There were people in epidemiology dating back to Hippocrates who thought it was a good idea to live on the south side of a hill," Garland said.

Another study linked lower levels of a vitamin D metabolite in the blood with a higher level of colon cancer.

For this study, Garland and his colleagues looked at the association between latitude and exposure to UVB light and rates of lung cancer in 111 countries. Data came from an extensive United Nations database.

Although smoking showed the strongest association with lung cancer, exposure to UVB light also had an impact.

UVB light is greatest closer to the equator. This study showed that lung cancer rates were highest in regions farthest away from the equator and lowest in those regions nearest to it.

Higher cloud cover and aerosol use (both of which absorb UVB rays) were linked with higher rates of lung cancer.

For men, smoking was associated with higher rates of lung cancer, while greater exposure to sunlight was associated with lower rates.

For women, cigarette smoking, along with total cloud cover and aerosol levels, were associated with higher rates of lung cancer, while sunlight was again associated with lower rates.

Previous research has indicated that vitamin D may be able to stop the growth of malignant tumors.

"Everyone should be getting vitamin D, and, at all latitudes, there's plenty of potential to make vitamin D," Garland said. "Even in Helsinki, people can take advantage of the sun in summer months."

And vitamin D produced in the summer will carry over into the winter. Even so, unless you know what your vitamin D levels are, it might be wise to take a supplement, Garland advised.

SOURCES: Cedric Garland, Dr.P.H., professor of family and preventive medicine, University of California, San Diego, and participating member, Moores UCSD Cancer Center, La Jolla; Jay Brooks, M.D., chairman of hematology/oncology, Ochsner Health System, Baton Rouge, La.; Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

Vitamin D reverses diabetic neuropathy

Vitamin D supplementation is an effective treatment of neuropathic pain in Type 2 diabetes patients, new Australian research suggests.

Previous research has found that vitamin D deficiency is common in patients with Type 2 diabetes, but its effect on neuropathic pain has not previously been tested, say study authors Drs Paul Lee and Roger Chen from Concord Repatriation General Hospital.

Their study, published in today’s Archives of Internal Medicine (168:771-772) involved 51 patients with Type 2 diabetes and typical neuropathic pain. All patients were vitamin D deficient with a mean serum 25D concentration of 18 ng/mL.

After three months, vitamin D repletion with cholecalciferol (vitamin D₃) tablets resulted in a significant reduction in pain scores using two separate assessments, one suggesting the pain severity was reduced by 40% the other suggesting pain severity had been halved.

How vitamin D reduces the severity of diabetic neuropathic pain is uncertain, but the researchers suggest that vitamin D insufficiency may potentiate diabetic nerve damage and impair nociceptor function. The results could not be explained by a decrease in parathyroid hormone as testing did not show any statistically significant difference in hormone level following the vitamin D repletion, they say.

Vitamin D is known to have a role in the prevention of osteoporosis. It is also increasingly being recognised for its ability to improve glycaemic control, the endocrinologist researchers said. In addition, vitamin D repletion is free of adverse effects.

Therefore, the researchers said they would advocate a trial of vitamin supplementation in vitamin D-deficient patients with neuropathic pain.

“It is unlikely to have any harmful effects and may offer not only pain relief but also beneficial effects on bone health and glycaemic control.”

Source: 6minutes.com

A New Vitamin D Deficiency Test That Can be Done at Home

Thanks to sun avoidance and indoor lifestyles, Americans are vitamin D deficient. One of the worst things Americans have done to their health is avoid sun exposure. Most of us work inside then sit in our cars, and when we're outside we slather ourselves with sun block and wear wide-brim hats and long sleeves. As a result, the majority of Americans have a serious vitamin D deficiency. It's important to know whether your vitamin D levels are low, because a deficiency can increase the risk of our most common diseases, including heart disease and cancer.

In addition to its role in enabling calcium to be absorbed from the gut, new research is showing that vitamin D prevents heart disease, and stops the out-of-control cell growth that characterizes cancer. A number of population studies are suggesting that the less sunshine we get, the higher our risk is for cancers of the colon, prostate, breast, lung and, believe it or not, skin. Other research shows that vitamin D deficiency may be causing autoimmune diseases such as fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis (MS). Research published in the British Medical Journal (vol. 237, p.316) on multiple sclerosis suggests that children who are exposed to the sun an average of two to three hours a day in the summer are a third less likely to develop MS. Vitamin D deficiency can also cause muscle weakness, osteoporosis and chronic low back pain.

The Sunshine Vitamin

Vitamin D is called the sunshine vitamin. When the sun's ultraviolet rays are absorbed by the skin, a biochemical process begins in which an active form of vitamin D is created, enters the blood stream and then the cells. You can also get vitamin D from foods such as oily fish, dairy products and supplements, but sunshine is by far our most important source of this essential vitamin.

But haven't we been warned away from sun exposure? Won't it cause cancer and wrinkles? Well, yes and no. Our national hysteria about sun damage is grossly exaggerated. It's one of those myths that has been repeated so much that most everyone assumes it to be true. The sunscreen industry has done a great job selling its wares by scaring us about sun exposure. However, if you dig down and do some research it's a different story.

Yes, if you repeatedly get sunburned you somewhat increase your risk of non-melanoma skin cancer and wrinkles. The fairer the skin, the more easily it is sunburned and damaged. By far the biggest risk for skin cancer is simply having fair skin - with or without sunscreen. There's really no substantial evidence that using sunscreen protects you from skin cancer. There is a weak association between melanoma and sunburn, but there is no evidence that using sunscreen prevents melanoma. There is some research indicating that exposure to the sun as a child reduces the risk of melanoma.

How Much Sun Do We Need?

According to Michael Holick, a vitamin D researcher and author of the book, The UV Advantage, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the summer (when the sun is most intense), a Caucasian with medium-fair skin living in Boston needs five to eight minutes of sunshine daily without sunblock. In winter when the sun is further away, you need more sun. People who live further north and/or have darker skin need more time and conversely, people who live closer to the equator and have fairer skin need less time.

There is considerable controversy about whether the process of skin tanning is beneficial and protective against the sun's harmful rays, or whether tanning is actually a symptom of skin damage. Although repeated sunburns are correlated with later skin cancers, people who are brown from spending their lives working outside in the sun do not have higher rates of skin cancer: factors such as light skin, freckles, numerous moles, genetics and exposure to radiation and arsenic are greater risk factors.

The bottom line on healthy sunning is to avoid sunburn; in fact, you should be out of the sun long before your skin starts turning red. If you're pale as a ghost, begin with just a few minutes a day and gradually work up. If you're worried about facial wrinkles, wear a hat to shield your face, but allow at least your arms, legs and some of your chest to be exposed.

For those who have low vitamin D levels, live in colder, cloudier, northern climates or who just can't get out in the sun enough, it's wise to take a vitamin D supplement. The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of 400 IU is clearly too low. It was put in place before Americans became sun-phobic. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and as such can accumulate in the body and become toxic, so there has been justifiable concern about taking too much. Now that we have more research, it seems clear that we can safely take 2,000 IU daily in the D3 cholecalciferol form to maintain our vitamin D levels. If you are seriously deficient and your doctor wants to ratchet up your vitamin D levels quickly with large doses, be sure to test levels regularly. Some doctors will recommend 10,000 IU for a few months to get vitamin D levels back to normal.

What Is an Optimal Vitamin D Level?

Vitamin D levels below 20 ng/mL indicate a deficiency, while levels below 30 ng/mL are considered "low." At this time, the scientific consensus is that optimal vitamin D levels are 30 to 60 ng/mL. Vitamin D can become toxic at levels greater than 150 ng/mL, which is why it's important to test if you're taking high dose supplements.

Who Is at Risk for Deficiency?

* The Elderly: As we age we absorb less vitamin D from the sun's UV rays. Living in a nursing home or becoming homebound can limit exposure to sunshine. Muscle weakness and osteoporosis associated with vitamin D deficiency make the elderly more susceptible to falling and to fracture risk. Research indicates that vitamin D supplementation may decrease the risk of fractures.

* People with Dark Skin: The darker the skin is, the higher melanin levels are. Melanin blocks the action of sunlight on vitamin D precursors in the skin, requiring much longer sunlight exposure to generate adequate circulating vitamin D compared to people with fair skin.

* People with Limited Sunlight Exposure: People living at northern latitudes or who have limited sunlight exposure because of their working environment or cultural dress rules may have low vitamin D levels.

* People with Musculoskeletal Pain: People with symptoms of hypothyroidism, non-specific musculoskeletal pain, chronic low back pain, or fibromyalgia are frequently found to have low vitamin D levels and show clinical improvement after supplementation.

* Overweight or Obese People: Vitamin D can be locked up in fat stores in people who are overweight or obese. In clinical studies, obesity is associated with lower levels of circulating 25-hydroxy vitamin D.

New, Simple Vitamin D Test You Can Do at Home

Until recently, testing vitamin D levels involved a visit to the doctor, then a visit to a lab to draw blood, and considerable expense often not covered by health insurance. Thankfully there's now a reasonably priced and simple-to-use blood spot test available to consumers that can be done at home.

What Is a Blood Spot Test?

A blood spot test involves a nearly painless finger stick and putting a few drops of blood on a small piece of special blotting paper.

Is the Blood Spot Test for Vitamin D Accurate?

It is highly accurate and unlike others, gives you a measure of both vitamin D2 and D3 and easy-to-interpret results.

Source: NaturalNews

Catch some rays to get vitamin D

This week's expert: Dr. Lance Luria is an internal medicine physician and the associate medical director of St. John's Health Plans

Q. Over the past few years, vitamin D has been making headlines. Why is that?

A. Vitamin D was discovered in the early part of the 20th century when it was found that adding a fat-soluble factor "D" to the diet prevented rickets, a disease that results in defective bone growth and bowed legs.

More recently, numerous large studies have raised questions as to whether the standard recommendations assure optimal vitamin D levels.

These questions come on the heels of mounting evidence pointing to the important role vitamin D plays in promoting bone health, in addition to preventing osteoarthritis, diabetes, cancer and mental, cardiovascular and neuromuscular diseases.

Q. Where does vitamin D come from?

A. Since our bodies have the ability to make vitamin D, it is not technically a vitamin, but falls more in the category of a steroid-like hormone that just needs a jump-start from sunshine. The problem is that most of us aren't getting enough ultra-violet (UVB) rays to generate sufficient vitamin D.

Here are some interesting points:

- During the summer, 10 minutes of exposure of your hands and face (without sunscreen) provides about 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D3. A young person whose entire body is exposed to simulated sunlight produces the equivalent of 10,000-25,000 IU of vitamin D taken orally.

- Don't worry about getting too much vitamin D from sunlight. The same UVB rays that help make vitamin D will also destroy what is not absorbed quickly enough.

- Wearing sunscreen blocks your body's ability to make vitamin D.

- People living north of the 37th degree-latitude line, which includes Springfield, don't get enough UVB rays in winter. A good rule of thumb is that you don't get enough during the seasons when your shadow at noon is taller than you are.

- Your ability to make vitamin D decreases as you reach old age.

- Darker-pigmented people have more melanin in their skin, and since melanin acts like sunblock, less vitamin D is made. In fact, a black person with very dark skin pigmentation will require about a tenfold longer exposure to make the same amount of vitamin D as a light-skinned white person.

- Vitamin D is stored in fat cells, which can act as a reservoir for the winter months. Paradoxically, obese people have about one-half the levels of circulating vitamin D levels as people of normal weight. It is thought that large fat depots act as a sort of sinkhole for vitamin D.

Q. How much vitamin D is needed?

A. Current recommendations call for 200 international units (IU) for children and adults up to age 50, 400 IU from age 51 to 70 and 600 IU for adults 71 and older. However, based on more recent studies, most authorities are now recommending at least 800 IU of vitamin D3 daily for children and adults if you're not getting enough UVB exposure and at least 1,000 IU daily for those that do not get any UVB exposure.

A safe upper limit is 2,000 IU daily. Although a number of studies have shown that higher daily intakes do not result in toxic effects, these higher doses are not routinely recommended.

If you're not sure that your intake is adequate, taking a daily supplement of 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 is currently recommended by a number of authorities.

Tests to show vitamin D blood levels are available but costly, but they can resolve those situations where there remains a question as to whether you are getting enough.

Q. Why is vitamin D needed?

A. Maintaining adequate blood levels of vitamin D is important not only for bone health but also in the prevention of a number of chronic diseases, including osteoporosis, hypertension and prostate, breast and colon cancers.

Q. Are there food sources of vitamin D?

A. Naturally occurring vitamin D is relatively rare in foods. Oily fish and egg yolks contain significant amounts, as do mushrooms.

Q. What's the difference between vitamin D2 and D3?

A. Supplemental vitamin D comes in two forms: D2 (ergocalciferol) or D3 (cholecalciferol). Vitamin D2 comes from UVB-irradiated yeast and plants; vitamin D3 comes from UVB-irradiated lanolin from animal sources.

It was originally thought that vitamins D2 and D3 were pretty much the same, but now we know that the D2 form is only about 20 percent to 40 percent as effective as D3. Vitamin D2 also doesn't last as long in our circulation and may even cause premature breakdown of circulating D3.

Fortified foods can contain either vitamin D2 or D3, but recent studies in the United States and western Canada noted that up to 80 percent of milk did not contain the advertised amount of vitamin D and half the milk tested contained less than 50 percent of the advertised amount. Remarkably, 15 percent of the skim milk samples contained no detectable vitamin D at all.

Q. How common is vitamin D deficiency?

A. It is estimated that 1 billion people worldwide don't get enough vitamin D. That includes vitamin D deficiency among 40 percent to 100 percent of independently living elderly Americans and Europeans. Further, in the United States, half of women receiving treatment for osteoporosis, 73 percent of pregnant women (and 80 percent of their infants at birth) and between 48 and 52 percent of adolescent girls in the Northeast show vitamin D deficiency.

This is a problem because without vitamin D, only 10 percent to 15 percent of dietary calcium is absorbed, and bone mineral density is directly correlated with vitamin D levels.

Q. How can you get enough vitamin D?

A. If you believe you need to increase your vitamin D levels, here are some tips:

- During the spring, summer and fall, 5 to 15 minutes of sunshine between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., two or three times weekly, should do the trick. (But, if your skin becomes slightly pink, you've gotten too much sun. )

- Tanning beds, when used in moderation, provide ample vitamin D and may be particularly helpful in the winter months.

- Milk, cereals and bread products that contain vitamin D may be highly variable in their vitamin D content and should not be depended upon as a reliable source.

- Don't forget that vitamin D2 (from yeast and plants) is probably only one-third as effective as vitamin D3 (from animals). So when you go shopping for supplements, remember that 1,000 IU of D3 is comparable to 3,000 IU of D2.

Source: News-Leader.com

Are you vitamin D deficient?

There's something simple you can do to help protect yourself against ailments as varied as cancer and depression. Chances are, you're not taking the cure.

It's vitamin D — and some experts think as many as 50 percent of healthy adults and children are deficient in this essential nutrient.

Doctors across the country have begun prescribing high doses to patients who are surprised to learn they're deficient. Yet doctors and researchers say the vitamin D problem could be solved if we just got out in the sun. Here's a question-and-answer about vitamin D deficiency and the benefits of vitamin D:

Q: What's so important about vitamin D?

A: For years, doctors have known vitamin D helps build strong bones by promoting the absorption of calcium. (The vitamin was added to milk more than 50 years ago to successfully combat the common childhood bone disease rickets.) But recent research indicates D is important to almost all body tissues. Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to increased risk of breast and prostate cancer, colon polyps, multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, muscle weakness — even depression and schizophrenia.

Q: Why are so many people deficient?

A: Two reasons. People aren't spending enough time in the sun, and it's hard to get enough vitamin D from food. The best way to get it is by being in the sun since skin produces plenty of D when exposed to the sun's rays. But office workers and kids playing video games often don't spend enough time outdoors to make the D they need. And when they are outside, they're probably wearing sunscreen. Sunscreen with an SPF of 8 blocks more than 95 percent of the sun's capacity to make vitamin D in your skin.

Fortified milk, yogurt and orange juice contain about 100 International Units of vitamin D per one-cup serving. Canned salmon contains 300 to 600 IU. Doctors used to think 400 IU daily was enough for most adults. But new research indicates that is too low. Dr. Michael McClung, director of the Oregon Osteoporosis Center, recommends adults get 1,000 to 2,000 IU of vitamin D each day — unless their blood calcium is too high or they've had kidney stones.

Q: Who is most at risk of vitamin D deficiency?

A: "The farther you live from the equator and the less opportunity you have for regular sun exposure, the more likely you are to be deficient," says internist Dr. Charles Rich of Charlotte, N.C. Older adults are more at risk. Obesity and liver or kidney disease also increase your risk. Blacks and people with darker skin are more at risk because their skin is less able to synthesize vitamin D from the sun.

Q: What are the symptoms of deficiency?

A: Often there are none. For example, a 49-year-old Charlotte, N.C., woman learned that she was low in vitamin D after a blood test during a routine physical last year. She had no symptoms. Her doctor prescribed 50,000 IU of D2 once a week for six weeks, then once a month for six months.

Q: How much vitamin D do I need, and what are the best sources?

A: There's still disagreement on how much D is enough. The New England Journal of Medicine says adults and children need 800 to 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily if they're not getting enough sun exposure. McClung says it's safe for adults to take 1,000 to 2,000 IU daily. (You'd need to drink 10 glasses of milk to get 1,000 IU.) Cautious sun exposure is the easiest way to get enough vitamin D. The National Institutes of Health says 10 to 15 minutes in the sun at least twice a week with your arms, hands, face or back exposed without sunscreen is usually enough.

Children and healthy adults make about 25,000 IU of D by spending 15 minutes in the sun with their face and arms exposed before applying sunscreen, McClung says. Because D is stored in fat and muscle, you can build up reserves to draw on later. But the farther north you live, the harder it is to get enough D from sun exposure alone.

Q: Should I be tested?

A: Ask your doctor. The test costs about $100 and is often covered by insurance. For many people, McClung just recommends over-the-counter supplements.

Source: chron.com