Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that helps prevent rickets in children and severe bone loss in adults, and researchers believe it has the potential to lower the risk of a host of diseases including cancer and diabetes.

Sunlight is generally the greatest source, but synthesizing vitamin D from the sun gets more difficult as we age, Kojima said, so older people are advised to eat more foods rich in vitamin D or take supplements. Good sources include fortified milk and breakfast cereals, fatty fish and egg yolks.

Study participants included 7,385 Japanese-American men living on Oahu, Hawaii. All were participants of the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program, a study of stroke and coronary heart disease in Japanese-American men that began in 1965 which was conducted at the Kuakini Medical Center.

Participants were 45 to 68 years old in the mid- to late-1960s when they were first examined and interviewed about what they had eaten in the previous 24 hours. Food models and serving utensils were used to help participants determine their portions accurately.

Researchers separated the participants into four groups of approximately 1,845 each depending on how much vitamin D they had consumed. They then analyzed their records through 1999, roughly 34 years after the initial exams, to determine the incidence of stroke. New strokes occurred in 960 men during the follow up period.

Researchers calculated risk while adjusting for age, total calorie intake, body-mass index, hypertension, diabetes, cigarette smoking, physical activity, cholesterol levels and alcohol intake. Men who consumed the least dietary vitamin D had a 22 percent higher risk of stroke and a 27 percent increase risk of ischemic (blood-clot related) stroke compared to those consuming the highest levels of vitamin D. There was no difference for hemorrhagic stroke.

Stroke ranks fourth among the leading causes of death in the United States. New or recurrent strokes strike about 795,000 Americans annually. Ischemic strokes account for 87 percent of all strokes, and 10 percent are from an intracranial hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain). The remaining 3 percent result from bleeding in the subarachnoid space between the brain and the tissues covering it.

Kojima said it is unclear whether the study results could be applied to different ethnic groups or to women.

While previous studies focused on blood concentrations of vitamin D, this investigation used dietary intake.

Co-authors are Christina Bell, M.D.; Robert D. Abbott, Ph.D.; Lenore J. Launer, Ph.D.; Randi Chen, M.S.; Heather Motonaga, M.D.; G. Webster Ross, M.D.; J. David Curb, M.D.; and Kamal Masaki, M.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institute on Aging funded the study.

The American Heart Association offers information on Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations. For information on stroke visit strokeassociation.org.
Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association’s policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at www.heart.org/corporatefunding.

In this randomized trial of 126 people, 62 received the vitamin D  + antibiotic while the remaining received the antibiotic + placebo.

Further analysis showed that individuals with the TT genotype of the Taq1 vitamin D receptor polymoprhism had the best response and their sputum cultures converted from positive to negative more rapidly when compared to the others in the study.  There were no reported side effects from the vitamin D.

While at this time, this type of genetic testing is not carried out due to cost, treatment of all tuberculosis (TB) patients with high dose vitamin D  would be prudent.   The overall safety profile and low cost of vitamin D would make this a reasonable approach.

Read more about the health benefits of Vitamin D.

Source:  Martineau AR et al. Lancet. 2011, January 15;377[9761]: 242-50

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/study-vitamin-d-kills-cancer-cells/story?id=9904415

The team from Warwick University tested the effect of vitamin B1, which is found in meat, yeast and grain, on 40 patients from Pakistan.

The treatment stopped the loss of a key protein in the urine, the journal Diabetologia reports.

Charity Diabetes UK called the results “very promising” – but said it was too early for any firm conclusions.

The latest findings build on earlier work by the Warwick University team, showing that many diabetes patients have a deficiency of thiamine.

According to the researchers, this cheap and readily available supplement could benefit most people with diabetes – both type 1 and type 2 – as between 70% and 90% of people with diabetes are thiamine deficient.…read more of story here.

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Your birthday may decide your risk of asthma
By Sue Mueller

Saturday Nov 22, 2008 (foodconsumer.org) — Your birthday may decide your risk of asthma, according to a new study led by Dr. Tina Hartert, director of the Center for Asthma Research and Environmental Health at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn.

The study in the first December issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine found babies born in autumn, 4 months before the peak of winter virus season, were 30 percent more likely to acquire asthma.

The researchers speculated that winter viruses like respiratory syncytial virus or RSV may be responsible for the elevated risk of asthma and suggested that preventing these viruses could prevent asthma.

For the study, Hartert and team followed up more than 95,000 infants born between 1995 and 2000 under the Tennessee Medicaid program from birth through early childhood to examine whether the timing of birth and seasonality of winter virus was associated with the development of asthma.

They found that babies born in the fall or autumn, which is about four months before the peak of the winter virus season, had a 29 percent increased risk of asthma.

The speculation as to what causes the elevated risk of asthma is not new.

A study led by Jackson DJ and colleagues from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and published in the Oct 2008 issue of American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine has already shown that RSV was strongly associated with asthma symptoms like wheezing.

Kackson et al. found “from birth to age 3 years, wheezing with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) (odds ratio [OR], 2.6), rhinovirus (RV) (OR, 9.8), or both RV and RSV (OR , 10) was associated with increased asthma risk at age 6 years.

Hartert was cited as saying that parents should practice good hygiene and take infection-control measures such as washing their hands frequently to prevent viral infections and the development of asthma in their babies.

A health observer affiliated with foodconsumer.org said babies and their mothers in winter are less likely to be outdoors and suffer vitamin D deficiency, which would reduce the immunity and increase the risk of winter virus infection. Because of this, supplements may be taken during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Or eat some oily fish

This bill would give entire control of supplements over to drug companies by only allowing MDs to “Prescribe” them as they see fit. Of course we know here in this country the government controls the doctors and the pharmaceutical companies tell the government what laws they want inorder to make more profit.

What this means is that if you want to take a multivitamin or some Omega-3, you have to book an appointment with your doctor, go in and try to convince your doctor that you are in need of these supplements. If you doctor doesn’t approve or better yet decides a certain drug would be better off for you then you unfortunately won’t have access to your supplements anymore.

On top of this the entire natural supplement industry will collapse on itself, thousands of jobs will be lost and even more stress will be placed on our already crumbing over-stressed medical system. Imagine waiting over a month to get in to see your MD just to request if you can take some oregano oil for a cold that has now come and past, only to have your request denied anyway.

The irony of all this is that MDs who are NOT trained in the use of herbs and supplements for the most part will have full control over what you can and CANNOT TAKE. To summarize:
….read more here….

 
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent letters warning more than two dozen companies to stop selling fraudulent products that claim to prevent or cure cancer.

The agency is also cautioning consumers not to buy or use these products, which include tablets, teas, tonics, black salves, and creams, and are sold under various names on the Internet.

“Health fraud has been around for years, and it is a cruel form of greed,” David Elder, director of FDA’s Office of Enforcement in the Office of Regulatory Affairs, said during a morning teleconference Tuesday. “Fraud involving cancer treatments can be especially heartbreaking.”

The warning letters, sent to 23 U.S. companies and one Canadian and one Australian company, cover 125 unapproved products with labeling claims to cure, treat or prevent cancer. “These claims are unproven, unreliable, and they are unkind to the patient who is seeking help,” Elder said.

Elder said the FDA is concerned that some of the products present a safety hazard to consumers. “Others can interfere with medicines that a patient has already taken. And they could be used to forgo medically acceptable treatment plans,” he said.

The bogus cures include ingredients such as bloodroot, shark cartilage, coral calcium, cesium, ellagic acid, Cat’s Claw, an herbal tea called Essiac, and mushrooms such as Agaricus Blazeii, Shitake, Maitake, and Reishi, the FDA said.

“These products pose either a direct health risk to consumers because the products themselves can cause harm, or a serious indirect health risk because the products are marketed for a serious disease, in this case cancer,” Michael Levy, director of FDA’s Division of New Drugs and Labeling Compliance in the Office of Compliance, said during the teleconference.

For example, so-called black salve products, touted to treat skin cancer, can be particularly hazardous, Levy said. “Black salve products essentially burn off layers of the skin and are supposed to also burn away skin cancer,” he said. “But what we have seen is that it actually burns away healthy skin. There is documented evidence of black salve products destroying large parts of people’s skin and the underlying tissue.”

Levy also said the FDA is concerned that consumers will purchase these products instead of products that are proven to be safe and effective.

Elder said: “As a result of these warning letters, FDA expects prompt and complete corrective action. Firms that don’t heed the warnings we have delivered, and other firms marketing similar unapproved products, may face further regulatory action from the agency.”

According to the FDA, the fraudulent claims found on the products include:

• “Treats all forms of cancer.”
• “Causes cancer cells to commit suicide!”
• “80% more effective than the world’s number one cancer drug.”
• “Skin cancers disappear.”
• “Target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone.”
• “Shrinks malignant tumors.”
• “Avoid painful surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or other conventional treatments.”

Companies that don’t stop these violations can have their products seized or injunctions placed upon them and also are liable for criminal charges, according to the agency.

More information

For more on fake cancer cures, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

This is another study which shows the health beneifts of Vitamin D.  I personally take 4000 IU daily of Vitamin D and recommend most my patients do the same.  Recent posts show that   Vitamin D may help curb breast cancer ,  and  Sunshine Prevents Cancer .   To Purchase vitamin D for $0.21 cents per day- please visit here

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By Andrew Stern

Monday June 2

CHICAGO, June 2 (Reuters) – Many young children do not get enough vitamin D, an often invisible deficiency that can show up later as broken bones or a weakened immune system prone to disease, researchers said on Monday.

Two out of five U.S. children aged 8 months to 2 years who took part in a 380-patient study at Children’s Hospital Boston had less-than-optimal blood levels of vitamin D.

The main risk factors were not drinking enough fortified milk, not taking vitamins and being overweight, said the report published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

Lead researcher Catherine Gordon of Children’s Hospital Boston said the 40 percent deficiency rate “is higher than expected in a country that has vitamin D fortified milk.”

The study adds to a growing body of evidence that vitamin D, made when sunlight hits the skin and used to fortify many foods, is important for preventing chronic diseases. It is key to maintaining strong bones but has also been linked with a lower risk of cancer, artery disease and even kidney disease.

The lack of symptoms, at least initially, led Gordon to call it a “silent disease.”

“What was striking to us was how many infants were vitamin D deficient but they were asymptomatic. The silence of what we saw worries me more,” she said in a telephone interview.

The alternative to a blood test to discover a deficiency is to routinely give vitamins that can be consumed easily in the form of liquid drops, she said.

Only three children in the study showed signs of the soft and weakened bones characteristic of rickets, a dangerous condition. Another 13 had symptoms of demineralization, where lack of vitamin D causes minerals to leach out of the bones.

Canadian researchers recently reported that breast cancer patients with lower levels of vitamin D were far more likely to die or have their cancer spread than women with normal levels.

Children with vitamin D deficiency sometimes have bowed legs or easily fractured bones. They can also appear tired, or shaky, or suffer seizures in severe cases.

Overweight children were found to be prone to vitamin D deficiency, perhaps because the vitamin dissolves into fat, Gordon said. Diabetes is one disease linked to the deficiency.

Her findings complemented previous research she did on teenagers in 2004 that found a similar percentage with the deficiency. In that case, soda consumption and exposure to sunshine was a factor, and could be reversed during summer.

But sun exposure did not have an influence on younger children’s risk, perhaps because they were often covered against exposure to the sun’s rays.

Also at risk for a vitamin D deficiency were breast-fed infants, because “breast milk is the perfect food except that it lacks vitamin D,” Gordon said.

However the study found 6 percent of the children fed fortified formula also were vitamin D deficient. The researchers said this raised questions about whether the fortification was sufficient. (Reporting by Andrew Stern; Editing by Maggie Fox and Chris Wilson)