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Posts Tagged ‘Vitamin D’

According to the survey in HealthDay News, February 27 indicates that more vitamin D than was initially thought to dramatically reduce the risk of several serious diseases, including breast cancer.

“We found that adults need to consume daily between 4,000 and 8,000 IU to maintain blood levels of vitamin D metabolites in the range needed to reduce the risk of several diseases such as breast cancer, colon cancer, multiple sclerosis and diabetes type 1, half, “said study co-author Dr. Cedric Garland, professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of California at San Diego, in a news release from the university.

Garland admitted he was surprised that the required levels were much higher than the 400 IU per day necessary to overcome rickets in the twentieth century.

Vitamin D supplements often come in pills or capsules containing between 1,000 and 2,000 international units. But taking between 4,000 and 8,000 IU a day is still much lower than the range considered safe by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, the researchers said.

The study, which also involved the Faculty of Medicine at Creighton University in Omaha, was based on a survey of several thousand people who took supplements ranging from 1.000 to 10.000 IU per day. The volunteers also underwent blood tests to determine levels of metabolites of vitamin D circulating in the blood.

Some studies suggest that only 10 percent of the U.S. population has the appropriate level as related to vitamin D in the blood that prevents the disease associated with a deficiency of this vitamin. They tend to work outside, so their vitamin D levels increase with sun exposure.

Last year, a committee of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) announced to take 4.000 IU per day of vitamin D seems safe for adults and children ages 9 and older.

However, the daily minimum recommended by the IOM is 600 IU; the Institute also noted that there were early signs that there could be some damage associated with consuming high levels of vitamin D a day, even in amounts below the recommended upper limit as insurance.

Garland and his colleagues suggested that 4,000 IU a day is a safe level.

“Now that we have the results of this study, taking 4000 IU per day will become commonplace for most adults,” Garland predicted in the press release. “This is below the 10,000 IU per day that the IOM Committee Report considered as the lower limit of risk, and the benefits are substantial.”

Vitamin D deficiency and low estrogen levels increase the risk of cardiovascular

Deficiencies in vitamin D and low estrogen levels are independent risk factors for hardening and narrowing of the arteries and weakened bones, according to a study by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions has been made public during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association to be held these days in Orlando (USA).

The study is the first evidence that men long-term adverse effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of estrogen but not testosterone.

Vitamin D is essential for maintaining a healthy body and can be obtained through fortified foods like milk and cereal and through exposure to sunlight. The blood levels below 20 nanograms per milliliter or less of vitamin D are considered harmful to health.

Explains Erin Michos, Study, “Our results confirm a link long suspected and suggested that vitamin D supplements, which are prescribed to treat osteoporosis, might also help to prevent heart disease.” Read the rest of this entry »