D3 Improves Bone Markers in Teens

Vitamin D supplementation improves D levels and bone markers in adolescents, but might not fully address D deficiency... (Click link below for more)

http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/news/2010/09/d3-improves-bone-markers-in-teens.aspx

Understanding Vitamin D Cholecalciferol

The high rate of natural production of vitamin D3 cholecalciferol (pronounced koh·luh·kal·sif·uh·rawl) in the skin is the single most important fact every person should know about vitamin D—a fact that has profound implications for the natural human condition.

Technically not a "vitamin," vitamin D is in a class by itself. Its metabolic product, calcitriol, is actually a secosteroid hormone that targets over 2000 genes (about 10% of the human genome) in the human body. Current research has implicated vitamin D deficiency as a major factor in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more.
Vitamin D's influence on key biological functions vital to one's health and well-being mandates that vitamin D no longer be ignored by the health care industry nor by individuals striving to achieve and maintain a greater state of health.
Sunshine and Your HealthIf well adults and adolescents regularly avoid sunlight exposure, research indicates a necessity to supplement with at least 5,000 units (IU) of vitamin D daily. To obtain this amount from milk one would need to consume 50 glasses. With a multivitamin more than 10 tablets would be necessary. Neither is advisable.
The skin produces approximately 10,000 IU vitamin D in response 20–30 minutes summer sun exposure—50 times more than the US government's recommendation of 200 IU per day!

This article has been provided by Vitamin D Council. http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

THE LANCET PUBLISHES STUDY CONFIRMING DONA™ REDUCES PROGRESSION OF OSTEOARTHRITIS

London - January 27, 2001

THE LANCET PUBLISHES STUDY CONFIRMING DONA™ REDUCES PROGRESSION OF OSTEOARTHRITIS

UK-Today's issue of The Lancet reports the results of a clinical trial that showed administration of the nutritional supplement, glucosamine sulfate, slows disease progression in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

The three-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (Long -term effects of glucosamine sulfate on osteoarthritis progression: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial .Reginster J-Y, et al ) was performed using 212 patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis who were randomly selected to receive 1500 mg once-a-day of oral original glucosamine sulfate or a placebo for the three-year period. Disease progression was evaluated by measuring the joint space width on x-rays of the knee. According to the study, patients who received a placebo experienced progressive joint space narrowing, representing further loss of cartilage, but patients who received original glucosamine sulfate showed no further joint space narrowing. Additionally, pain and function limitation worsened with the placebo, but improved with original glucosamine sulfate. The study also showed that original glucosamine sulfate is a safe compound.

"For the first time, we have shown that a treatment may be able to at least reduce the progression of osteoarthritis," said principal investigator, Professor Jean-Yves Reginster, MD PhD, University of Liege in Belgium.

"Further studies may be necessary to see if administration of glucosamine sulfate for even longer periods may reduce substantial disability after decades and/or the need for surgical joint replacement," added co-investigator Lucio Rovati, MD from Milan, Italy. The Lancet article warns against generalizing the results of this study to glucosamine products other than the one used in this study, DONA™, which is manufactured by Rotta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. DONA™ is sold as a prescription drug in Europe, and is also available in the United States as a dietary supplement.

Tim McAlindon, of the Arthritis Center at the Boston University and author of The Lancet Commentary about the glucosamine sulfate research, offers an interesting and accurate perspective on bringing effective nutritional supplements, such as the original glucosamine sulfate, closer to the forefront of the health care profession. Currently, health care professionals generally expect to be involved in medical decisions of public health importance, but the reality is that they are not regarded as a repository of objective advice about nutritional products and are generally kept out of the loop. Since glucosamine sulfate as a nutritional supplement is generally self-prescribed, there needs to be a shift in the medical profession to accommodate the possibility that many nutritional products, including the original glucosamine sulfate, may have valuable therapeutic effects and to regain the credibility of the public at large.

Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, is the deterioration of cartilage that cushions bones in the joints, leading to pain and function limitation. In the United States nearly 12% of the population suffers from osteoarthritis, accounting for 46 million physician visits, 3.7 million hospital admissions, 185 million bed days, and 68 million workdays lost per year. Many osteoarthritis sufferers eventually undergo surgical joint replacement or become disabled.

The most common treatments for osteoarthritis are analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs which can relieve symptoms for short periods of time, but leave the progression of the disease unaltered, or may even make it worse. Availability of nutritional supplements such as the original glucosamine sulfate that give similar relief of symptoms and, in addition, could delay the progression of osteoarthritis offer hope for the future.

Harmful Vitamin D Deficiency Common Around World

By Meredith Hegg Washington, D.C. 20 July 2009

While scientists have known for decades that vitamin D deficiency leads to bone diseases like rickets, more recently they have found connections between low vitamin D levels and a wide range of other illnesses, including cancer, autoimmune disorders and caradiovascular disorders.

The human body creates vitamin D through exposure to sunlight, and yet some of the sunniest parts of the world have the highest rates of vitamin D deficiency. Several factors have contributed to dangerously low vitamin D blood levels among people in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Vitamin D necessary for bone strength

Healthy bones depend on vitamin D, says Ambrish Mithal of the Indian Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

"Vitamin D is what absorbs calcium into our body and helps it reach the bone. Vitamin D deficiency, therefore, results in weak bones and bones that are soft, that will bend and break."

Getting enough vitamin D should be relatively simple.

"The major source of vitamin D is sunshine," Mithal says. "We make vitamin D under the influence of UV rays that we get in the sunlight. We make it in our skin."

Vitamin D deficiency common, even in sunny places

But some of the world's sunniest regions have the highest rates of vitamin D deficiency. That's the finding of a recent report from the International Osteoporosis Foundation, which reviewed research done over the past three decades. Mithal is a coauthor of that report.

Even in sunny regions of the world, people can be severely deficient in vitamin D, contributing to serious health problems

"Vitamin D deficiency is a global phenomenon. But certain parts of the world, they're prone to severe vitamin D deficiency - for example, South Asia, like India, or Middle East, like Lebanon. There have been studies from these areas which have shown that almost 80 percent, or maybe even more, of the urban population is significantly vitamin D deficient."

He points to several factors to explain why people who live in sunny areas still may not get sufficient vitamin D.

"Those who live closer to the equator are actually less prone to vitamin D deficiency, but at times this, can be overshadowed by other factors like skin pigmentation, less outdoor activity and more skin cover with clothes," Mithal says.

Vitamin D expert Michael Holick, of the Boston University Medical Center, explains why people with darker skin generally have lower levels of the nutrient than lighter-skinned people, even in the same country.

"The major reason is that their melanin, which protects their skin from excessive exposure to sunlight, also prevents them from making vitamin D," he says. "We showed that African-Americans need to be exposed three to five times longer to sunlight to be able to make the same amount as a white person."

Another coauthor of the vitamin D review, Ghada El-Hajj Fuleihan, describes how people in the Middle East can spend time outdoors without absorbing enough vitamin D.

Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and keep bones healthy

"In these, the Middle Eastern countries, people tend to follow a very much more conservative clothing style, in a large proportion of subjects. And the other thing is that with modernization, women who do not follow the conservative clothing style use sunblock. Sunblock with sun protection factor as low as six and eight can completely block the ability of the skin to make vitamin D."

El-Hajj Fuleihan, of the American University of Beirut Medical Center, says this may explain why women in general have lower vitamin D levels.

Deficiency could be dangerous

There is new concern about vitamin D deficiency because, as Michael Holick explains, recent medical discoveries show it may be much more dangerous than previously thought.

"What we haven't appreciated until about the past decade is that vitamin D seems to be important for reducing risk of many chronic illnesses that span anywhere from autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, to infectious diseases like tuberculosis and influenza, reduces risk of heart attack, stroke and most importantly, reduces risk of deadly cancers."

Ways to get more vitamin D

People can get more of the nutrient in their diet. In the United States and other countries, some foods are fortified with vitamin D. But Holick says that's generally not enough.

Researchers recommend spending a little more time in the sun to get an adequate supply of vitamin D

"Children probably need a thousand units of vitamin D a day. Teenagers and adults need two thousand units of vitamin D a day to satisfy their requirement… You cannot get an adequate amount of vitamin D to satisfy your body's requirement from your diet."

So, he and other experts like Ghada El-Hajj Fuleihan, now recommend spending a little more time in the sun.

"We are fully aware of the risk of skin cancer with sun exposure but suggest that there may be a happy compromise and that maybe the first 10 minutes or so three times a week… let the skin get some ability to make vitamin D, and then put the sunblock on."

In addition, she says, those who spend their days indoors should take a vitamin D supplement.

Although the World Health Organization has said that most people get enough vitamin D through sun exposure and diet, in light of the new research, it has commissioned its own report and may issue new recommendations.

Vitamin D interesting fact

Ultraviolet light from sunlight is responsible for the production of Vitamin D in the human body. Many anthropologists theorize that this fact accounts for the differences in skin color between different races of people. The theory suggests that as early humans migrated north from Africa into areas with decreased amounts of sunlight, skin tones lightened to increase Vitamin D absorption.

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