GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER: IS VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY A MAJOR PLAYER IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES, DIABETES AND HIGH CHOLESTEROL?

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A most interesting piece of research on the relationship of heart disease to blood levels of vitamin D was recently published in the American Journal of Cardiology.[1] Researchers from the Intermountain Heart Collaborative (IHC) Study Group studied 41,497 subjects with at least one vitamin D measurement from 2000-2009. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the subjects was 63.6%. The researchers found that during that time period, those with the lowest levels of vitamin D had highly significantly increased risk of developing diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol and triglycerides) and peripheral vascular disease, all diseases in their own right, and all risk factors for developing heart disease. They also found that those who had none of these risk factors, but who had severe D deficiency, had an increased risk of developing diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia.

Low vitamin D levels were also correlated closely to coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction (heart attack), heart failure, stroke and overall risk of death (not surprising). Of particular interest was the fact that hypertension was nearly 90% more likely in those with low vitamin D levels (less than 15 ng/ml) compared to those who had high levels (greater than 30 ng/ml). Unfortunately, the analysis did not compare those who were severely deficient with those who had "optimal levels," which I would consider to be 60 ng/ml or more. Had they done that, it is likely that the differences in disease and death rates would have been even more impressive. Other findings of this study showed that infections, kidney failure and fractures were more likely among those with the lowest levels of vitamin D.

This research is one of the best conducted and controlled that I've seen, but it is hardly the only finding that showed a dramatic increase in these diseases when comparing people with low vitamin D levels to those with higher levels. One of the most impressive compared the risk of heart attack with vitamin D levels and found those with the lowest D levels to have 2.4 times the risk of heart attack compared to those with the higher levels.[2]

As you can see, vitamin D makes a difference. if you'd rather not have a heart attack, it behooves you to optimize your vitamin D levels!

There are another dozen research papers that point out a terrific difference in heart disease rates among people with different vitamin D blood levels; however, they all come to the same conclusion. Get some sunlight and optimize your vitamin D levels!


[1] Jeffrey L. Anderson, MD, Heidi T. May, PhD, MSPH Benjamin D. Horne, PhD, MPH
Tami L. Bair, BS Nathaniel L. Hall, MD,, John F. Carlquist, PhD, Donald L. Lappé, MD, and
Joseph B. Muhlestein, MD Relation of Vitamin D Deficiency to Cardiovascular Risk Factors,
Disease Status, and Incident Events in a General Healthcare Population. Am J Cardiol 2010;106:963–968)
[2] Giovannucci E, Liu Y, Hollis BW, Rimm EB. 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and risk of myocardial infarction in men. Arch Intern Med 2008;168:1174–1180.

High blood pressure? Head for the sun!

A recent medical-journal article reported research showing that there was a direct correlation between higher temperatures and lower blood pressure.[1] We should expect this to be the case, since it is very-well established that higher vitamin D levels lead to a dramatically reduced risk of hypertension (high blood pressure). (See my previous post for more information on the relationship of blood pressure to vitamin D levels. http://drsorenson.blogspot.com/search?q=hypertension)

In summer, when temperatures are higher, the sun stimulates the production of vitamin D very efficiently; in winter, there is little or no production of vitamin D by sunlight, because the ultraviolet B light (UVB) is filtered out. It is also true that people like to go outside more in summer than winter, and that they use less clothing, thereby exposing more skin to the sunlight and making more vitamin D.

Therefore, if you suffer from hypertension, get outdoors in the summer (never sunburn). In winter, use a tanning bed (never burn), which is exceptionally efficient at stimulating vitamin D production, or take supplements of 3,000-5,000 IU daily.

One of the biggest lies in medicine is that a person must stay on hypertensive drugs for a lifetime if he/she is hypertensive. It is simply not true. In most people, sunlight and a plant-based nutrition program can easily bring blood pressure levels to normal. Ask your physician before changing any prescribed medication, of course.

[1] Alpérovitch, A. et al. Relationship between blood pressure and outdoor temperature in a large sample of elderly individuals: the Three-City study. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Jan 12;169(1):75-80.

Is your high-blood-pressure (hypertension) medication slowly killing you? Try vitamin D.

The Web MD alert today discussed the “Seven side effects of your blood pressure medication.”[1] Here are the common side effects that they listed for these noxious drugs: 1. fatigue and dizziness, 2. persistent cough, 3. frequent urination, 4. Fluid retention, 5. sexual dysfunction in men, 6. heart arrhythmia, and 7. allergies. They forgot to mention that beta blockers, a popular med for hypertension, has been shown to double the death risk from heart attacks, congestive heart failure and other major cardiovascular events.[2]

It is interesting that this article fails to mention that a change in nutrition that dramatically reduces fat, sugar, processed foods and animal products is quite effective in preventing and reversing hypertension, with the only side effects being weight loss, increased well-being, greater endurance and increased energy.

Furthermore, the article ignores the fact that men who have low vitamin D levels are more than six times as likely to be hypertensive as those who have high levels, or that women with low levels are nearly three times as likely to be hypertensive. [3]

A cocktail of laboratory-produced chemicals has never been the answer to our health problems. God has already provided us with an astounding internal laboratory that will produce what we need when given the raw materials of whole plant foods and plenty of sunshine. In the winter, however, it may be necessary to take supplements or use a tanning bed (never burn). These methods are certainly more natural and a lot less dangerous than hypertensive drugs.

[1] http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/features/high-blood-pressure-aftermath?ecd=wnl_hyp_012909
[2] Wassertheil-Smoller, et al. Association between cardiovascular outcomes and antihypertensive drug treatment in older women. JAMA. 2004 Dec 15;292(23):2849-59.
[3] Forman, J. et al. Plasma Hydroxyvitamin D and risk of Incident Hypertension. (Hypertension. 2007;49:1-7.)

How much vitamin D do you need to reduce risk of cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease, gum disease, diabetes, hypertension, etc.?

My book cites research from over 800 medical/scientific journals research that consistently demonstrates a direct correlation between vitamin D deficiency and more than one hundred diseases and disorders. Only those whose heads are buried in the sand could believe that optimal levels of D are not necessary for excellent health. However, along with vitamin D’s newfound popularity, there is bewilderment about what is “optimal.”

What is the optimal level of vitamin D?

Dr. Bruce Hollis and his colleagues conducted research in which they determined that no circulating vitamin D3 can be measured in the blood until 25(OH)D levels are greater than 40-50 ng/ml.[1] This means that all vitamin D3 is used by the tissues to make 25(OH)D until the level is greater than 40-50. At that point, vitamin D3 begins to be measurable, meaning that the tissues are no longer so “hungry” for D3 that they use up every molecule made by the skin or taken orally. Therefore, optimal levels are probably somewhere over 50. Dr. John Cannell and I, in researching our book on vitamin D and athletics, found that athletic performance improves up to about 50-60 ng/ml and declines slightly at higher levels. In addition, a recent study showed that those with high vitamin D levels lived 26% longer than those with low levels; however, beyond 50 ng/ml, higher levels did not confer further advantage.[2]

How much vitamin D does it take to produce the optimal level of 50-60?

Each intake of 100 IU per day of supplementation raises the blood levels of vitamin D about 1 ng/ml. Therefore, if there were no sun exposure or a source of dietary vitamin D, it would require 5,000 IU of supplemental D3 per day to achieve a level of 50. This rule of thumb, of course, varies according to the size of the person; a large person will require more vitamin D than a small person. It is also interesting to note that men who have high levels of vitamin D (due to outdoor summer activity) must take 5,000 IU during winter to maintain those levels.[3]
A special case: nursing mothers

Nursing mothers must furnish sufficient vitamin D3 for themselves and their babies; if they are deficient, the babies have a greater risk of autism, schizophrenia and osteoporosis as they grow older. Dr. Hollis and his colleagues have demonstrated that nursing women need at least 6,400 IU per day to maintain adequate levels of 25(OH)D in both mother and child.[4]

Remember that in Caucasian skin, twenty minutes of full-body sunlight exposure (both sides) will produce from 10,000-20,000 IU of vitamin D. A good tanning bed will produce about 10,000 IU in ten minutes. In either case, be sure not to burn.

Hopefully, this information has reduced any confusion about optimal levels of vitamin D and how to maintain them. Get those levels up to 50-60 ng/ml!

[1] Hollis, B. et al. Circulating Vitamin D3 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D in Humans: An Important Tool to Define Adequate Nutritional Vitamin D Status. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 March; 103(3-5): 631–634.
[2] Melamed, M. et al. 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and the risk of mortality in the general population. Arch Intern Med. 2008 Aug 11;168(15):1629-37.
[3] Heaney, R. et al. Human serum 25-hydroxycholecalciferol response to extended oral dosing with cholecalciferol. Am J Clin Nutr 2003;77:204-10.
[4]Wagner C. et al. High-dose vitamin D3 supplementation in a cohort of breastfeeding mothers and their infants: a 6-month follow-up pilot study. Breastfeed Med. 2006;1:59-70.

Critical vitamin D deficiency and critically poor health among African Americans: Part 1

Why do African Americans suffer more from heart disease, cancer, hypertension, diabetes and other degenerative diseases than white Americans? One reason is that vitamin D deficiency is far more common in blacks.

In my book, I documented the relationship of vitamin D deficiency to dramatically increased risk of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and numerous other diseases and conditions--105 in all. If dark-skinned Americans are more likely to be deficient, it stands to reason that they would be more likely to succumb to those diseases.
Here are some interesting facts that relate vitamin D deficiency to poor health in black Americans:

1. When USA white and black women are compared for vitamin D levels, black women are ten times more likely to be vitamin D deficient.[1]

2. In patients in Minneapolis, Minnesota who were being treated for chronic pain, 100% of African Americans, along with Native Americans, East Africans and Hispanics were vitamin D deficient.[2]

3. Vitamin D is known to be a potent inhibitor of tuberculosis. African Americans have lower resistance to tuberculosis, lower levels of D and lower ability to produce cathelicidin, a natural internal bactericide.[3]

4. A 37-year-old disabled Black woman with myopathy (a muscle disease) and severe vitamin D deficiency was able to leave her wheelchair and function normally after six weeks of vitamin D therapy.[4]

5. Vitamin D deficiency leads to increased death from the major internal cancers, and a disproportionate number of those cancer deaths occur in African Americans.[5] Dr. William Grant, in summarizing the findings of his study on African Americans and cancer, wrote that “Solar UVB was found significantly inversely correlated with mortality rates for breast, colon, esophageal, gastric and rectal cancers for black Americans.” Other research in 2008 corroborated his findings, showing that in the Southeast USA, vitamin D deficiency is about four times more common in African Americans as whites, suggesting that the greater cancer risks among African Americans is due to that deficiency.[6]

Shortly I will post another blog citing research that further establishes vitamin D deficiency as a likely culprit in the poor health of dark-skinned Americans.

[1] Nesby-O’Dell, S. et al. Hypovitaminosis D prevalence and determinants among African American and white women of reproductive age: third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994. Am J Clin Nutr 2002;76:187-92.
[2] Plotnikoff G. et al. Prevalence of severe hypovitaminosis D in patients with persistent, nonspecific musculoskeletal pain. Mayo Clin Proc. 2003;78:1463-70.
[3] Liu, P. et al. Toll-like receptor triggering of a vitamin D-mediated human antimicrobial response. Science. 2006;311:1770-73.
[4] Prabhala, A. et al. Severe myopathy associated with vitamin D deficiency in western New York. Arch Intern Med 2000;160:1199-1203.
[5] Grant, W. Lower vitamin-D production from solar ultraviolet-B irradiance may explain some differences in cancer survival rates. JNMA 2006;98:364
[6] Egan, K. et al. Vitamin D insufficiency among African Americans in the southeastern United States: implications for cancer disparities (United States). Cancer Causes Control 2008;19:527-35.