Dealing with Diabetes2 and remembering Goldi Community Group
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Dr Mark Porter: Should we all be taking vitamin D?
It could protect us against colon cancer, improve bone strength and make us happier. Dr Mark Porter asks, 'should we all take Vitamin D?'
Dr Mark Porter
4 COMMENTS
RECOMMEND? (6)
New research showing that vitamin D may protect against cancer of the colon is the latest in a long line of studies suggesting that there is far more to this vitamin than its traditional role in helping to maintain healthy bones. And although this new study involved more than 500,000 people from ten different European countries, it is pertinent to the UK because so many of us have low levels of vitamin D â especially at this time of year.
So should more of us be considering supplements?
Vitamin D is required to help the body make proper use of calcium â the basic building block of bones â which is why interest in it has traditionally centred on rickets, a condition that results from severe deficiency. But we now understand that it does far more than maintain the skeleton, and that milder degrees of deficiency may predispose to a range of other illnesses including diabetes, lung disease, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis, various cancers, and even Alzheimerâs disease.
The vitamin is manufactured in the skin when weâre exposed to sunlight but our northern latitude and short summers mean that for six months of the year UV levels are so low that most of us donât make enough of the vitamin to meet basic requirements.
RELATED LINKS
Is vitamin D the new wonder supplement?
Schoolboy campaigner backs vitamin D summit
Vitamin D shortage linked to bone fractures
The problem is compounded by the use of sunscreens, which further reduce natural UV exposure during the summer months when vitamin D stores are replenished, and the popularity of supplements containing vitamin A (it is thought that as many as 1 in 5 of the population take one), which antagonise some of the Dâs actions.
As well as manufacturing the vitamin in our skin, we also take it in from our diet. It occurs naturally in oily fish, such as tuna and herring, and liver, milk and eggs. In most industrialised countries it is added to margarine, some powdered milks, bread and breakfast cereals.
The scale of the potential problem is nicely outlined by researchers from the University of Sheffield, who looked at vitamin D levels in the cord blood of babies born at the hospital at the end of spring â the time when their mothersâ vitamin D stores were likely to be at their lowest. Seven out of ten of the babies had lower than ideal levels of vitamin D, 90 per cent of whom were white, dispelling the myth that deficiency is principally a problem in ethnic minorities with darker skin (the extra pigment reduces UV penetration even further).
Meanwhile in Finland researchers tracking a group of people born in the Sixties turned up evidence suggesting a link between low levels of vitamin D and Type 1 diabetes later in life. Children brought up in the gloomy winters of Finland are more than a hundred times more likely to develop the condition than their peers in sunny Venezuela. Since then UK research has shown that children given vitamin D supplements are around a third less likely to develop diabetes.
Vitamin D is a steroid and there are receptors on almost every cell in the body. Its link with diabetes could be explained by an action on receptors in the pancreas and on the various cells in the immune system, but there are similar vitamin D specific targets in almost every other organ, including the brain, heart, muscles, kidneys and, of course, the skeleton. Little wonder then that there is growing interest in the role of the vitamin in diseases, ranging from MS to Alzheimerâs.
Should we all be taking a supplement? Itâs too early to tell whether mass supplementation is the way forward, but it is now widely agreed that the following key groups are those most likely to benefit:
Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
Children under 5 (particularly breastfed infants)
The over-fifties
Vegetarians who donât eat oily fish
Anyone who is housebound or who covers up when outside
Those who are dark-skinned â particularly Asians.
The standard dose for an adult is 10mcg day and trials looking at the safety of long-term supplementation have reported no adverse effects at intakes of more than double that. Much higher doses (50mcg a day or more) can weaken bones and increase the risk of calcium deposits (such as kidney stones) forming elsewhere.
During the summer most people will manufacture enough vitamin D by exposing their face and arms to the sun for an hour across the week. You donât have to sunbathe, just accumulate around ten minutes of exposure while going about your normal business â assuming you are not wearing a sunscreen, or a moisturiser that contains one.
For more information: food.gov.uk and vegsoc.org
drmark@thetimes.co.uk
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Oliver Gillie wrote:
Modern life styles make it difficult to get enough sun exposure to make optimal vitamin D in the UK without deliberate careful sunbathing whenever possible. Casual exposure of face and arms was at one time thought to be enough but we now know this is not the case. This has been shown by Rhodes et al (Journal of Investigative Dermatology advance online publication, 14 January 2010) who exposed volunteers to simulated midsummer midday sunshine at UK strength (as measured in Manchester) for 13 minutes three times a week. The volunteers wore T shirts and shorts. Only a quarter of the volunteers reached an optimum blood level of vitamin D, but the accepted optimum as measured in summer is not high enough because summer exposure needs to reach much higher levels if a person is to maintain optimum levels that will last through the six months of winter when the sun is not strong enough to make vitamin D.
Unless you teach outdoor sports, are a professional gardener, builderâs labourer or in an equivalent outdoor job an optimum vitamin D level can only be obtained in practice by sunbathing or taking a vitamin D supplement. Provided burning is avoided the risk of skin cancer from sunbathing is minimal, and a high vitamin D level almost certainly reduces risk of cancers including probably melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. To achieve a high level of vitamin D remove as many clothes as possible when sun bathing and in the UK sunbathe as often as possible because we get few enough opportunities. Begin with short exposures and build up. Donât use sunscreen when sunbathing to get D because suncream blocks UVB which makes D in skin. Take great care when abroad, exposing the body for short times only until confident. It is a good idea to wear a hat when sunbathing because the face gets much more sun than the rest of the body and too much sun may induce wrinkles although that is rare in the UK.
Oliver Gillie BSc PhD Health Research Forum
February 3, 2010 9:18 AM GMT
RECOMMEND?
Rufus Greenbaum wrote:
16 eminent USA scientists have signed a "Call To Action" suggesting that everyone should take at least 2,000IU of Vitamin D3 each day.
The objective is to get your blood serum level up to 60 ng/ml (150nmol/L)
At this level, your chances of suffering most cancers is reduced by nearly 80% compared to 25 ng/ml (62.5 nmol/L)
Most people suffering from cancer are below 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L)
Find out more by searching for GrassRootHealth.
.
February 1, 2010 3:45 PM GMT
RECOMMEND? (4)
mike barnes wrote:
The data on vitamin D is growing by the day. Garland one of the earlist researchers on vitamin D gave a lecture recently called "Breast cancer-a vitamin D deficiency disease" He showed data that suggests if you bring everyones levels up to those proposed by Edward in the above coment, we would wipe out the disease. You can see a report on this in the "in the news" section of www.vitaminD3world.com
It could protect us against colon cancer, improve bone strength and make us happier. Dr Mark Porter asks, 'should we all take Vitamin D?'
Dr Mark Porter
4 COMMENTS
RECOMMEND? (6)
New research showing that vitamin D may protect against cancer of the colon is the latest in a long line of studies suggesting that there is far more to this vitamin than its traditional role in helping to maintain healthy bones. And although this new study involved more than 500,000 people from ten different European countries, it is pertinent to the UK because so many of us have low levels of vitamin D â especially at this time of year.
So should more of us be considering supplements?
Vitamin D is required to help the body make proper use of calcium â the basic building block of bones â which is why interest in it has traditionally centred on rickets, a condition that results from severe deficiency. But we now understand that it does far more than maintain the skeleton, and that milder degrees of deficiency may predispose to a range of other illnesses including diabetes, lung disease, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis, various cancers, and even Alzheimerâs disease.
The vitamin is manufactured in the skin when weâre exposed to sunlight but our northern latitude and short summers mean that for six months of the year UV levels are so low that most of us donât make enough of the vitamin to meet basic requirements.
RELATED LINKS
Is vitamin D the new wonder supplement?
Schoolboy campaigner backs vitamin D summit
Vitamin D shortage linked to bone fractures
The problem is compounded by the use of sunscreens, which further reduce natural UV exposure during the summer months when vitamin D stores are replenished, and the popularity of supplements containing vitamin A (it is thought that as many as 1 in 5 of the population take one), which antagonise some of the Dâs actions.
As well as manufacturing the vitamin in our skin, we also take it in from our diet. It occurs naturally in oily fish, such as tuna and herring, and liver, milk and eggs. In most industrialised countries it is added to margarine, some powdered milks, bread and breakfast cereals.
The scale of the potential problem is nicely outlined by researchers from the University of Sheffield, who looked at vitamin D levels in the cord blood of babies born at the hospital at the end of spring â the time when their mothersâ vitamin D stores were likely to be at their lowest. Seven out of ten of the babies had lower than ideal levels of vitamin D, 90 per cent of whom were white, dispelling the myth that deficiency is principally a problem in ethnic minorities with darker skin (the extra pigment reduces UV penetration even further).
Meanwhile in Finland researchers tracking a group of people born in the Sixties turned up evidence suggesting a link between low levels of vitamin D and Type 1 diabetes later in life. Children brought up in the gloomy winters of Finland are more than a hundred times more likely to develop the condition than their peers in sunny Venezuela. Since then UK research has shown that children given vitamin D supplements are around a third less likely to develop diabetes.
Vitamin D is a steroid and there are receptors on almost every cell in the body. Its link with diabetes could be explained by an action on receptors in the pancreas and on the various cells in the immune system, but there are similar vitamin D specific targets in almost every other organ, including the brain, heart, muscles, kidneys and, of course, the skeleton. Little wonder then that there is growing interest in the role of the vitamin in diseases, ranging from MS to Alzheimerâs.
Should we all be taking a supplement? Itâs too early to tell whether mass supplementation is the way forward, but it is now widely agreed that the following key groups are those most likely to benefit:
Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
Children under 5 (particularly breastfed infants)
The over-fifties
Vegetarians who donât eat oily fish
Anyone who is housebound or who covers up when outside
Those who are dark-skinned â particularly Asians.
The standard dose for an adult is 10mcg day and trials looking at the safety of long-term supplementation have reported no adverse effects at intakes of more than double that. Much higher doses (50mcg a day or more) can weaken bones and increase the risk of calcium deposits (such as kidney stones) forming elsewhere.
During the summer most people will manufacture enough vitamin D by exposing their face and arms to the sun for an hour across the week. You donât have to sunbathe, just accumulate around ten minutes of exposure while going about your normal business â assuming you are not wearing a sunscreen, or a moisturiser that contains one.
For more information: food.gov.uk and vegsoc.org
drmark@thetimes.co.uk
YOUR COMMENTS
4 Comments
(Displaying 1-4)
Order By:
Newest first Oldest first Most recommended
Oliver Gillie wrote:
Modern life styles make it difficult to get enough sun exposure to make optimal vitamin D in the UK without deliberate careful sunbathing whenever possible. Casual exposure of face and arms was at one time thought to be enough but we now know this is not the case. This has been shown by Rhodes et al (Journal of Investigative Dermatology advance online publication, 14 January 2010) who exposed volunteers to simulated midsummer midday sunshine at UK strength (as measured in Manchester) for 13 minutes three times a week. The volunteers wore T shirts and shorts. Only a quarter of the volunteers reached an optimum blood level of vitamin D, but the accepted optimum as measured in summer is not high enough because summer exposure needs to reach much higher levels if a person is to maintain optimum levels that will last through the six months of winter when the sun is not strong enough to make vitamin D.
Unless you teach outdoor sports, are a professional gardener, builderâs labourer or in an equivalent outdoor job an optimum vitamin D level can only be obtained in practice by sunbathing or taking a vitamin D supplement. Provided burning is avoided the risk of skin cancer from sunbathing is minimal, and a high vitamin D level almost certainly reduces risk of cancers including probably melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. To achieve a high level of vitamin D remove as many clothes as possible when sun bathing and in the UK sunbathe as often as possible because we get few enough opportunities. Begin with short exposures and build up. Donât use sunscreen when sunbathing to get D because suncream blocks UVB which makes D in skin. Take great care when abroad, exposing the body for short times only until confident. It is a good idea to wear a hat when sunbathing because the face gets much more sun than the rest of the body and too much sun may induce wrinkles although that is rare in the UK.
Oliver Gillie BSc PhD Health Research Forum
February 3, 2010 9:18 AM GMT
RECOMMEND?
Rufus Greenbaum wrote:
16 eminent USA scientists have signed a "Call To Action" suggesting that everyone should take at least 2,000IU of Vitamin D3 each day.
The objective is to get your blood serum level up to 60 ng/ml (150nmol/L)
At this level, your chances of suffering most cancers is reduced by nearly 80% compared to 25 ng/ml (62.5 nmol/L)
Most people suffering from cancer are below 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L)
Find out more by searching for GrassRootHealth.
.
February 1, 2010 3:45 PM GMT
RECOMMEND? (4)
mike barnes wrote:
The data on vitamin D is growing by the day. Garland one of the earlist researchers on vitamin D gave a lecture recently called "Breast cancer-a vitamin D deficiency disease" He showed data that suggests if you bring everyones levels up to those proposed by Edward in the above coment, we would wipe out the disease. You can see a report on this in the "in the news" section of www.vitaminD3world.com
Iv'e been sent in to Clean up with all the alley cats, causing everyone Grief, while TC is on vacation!
Thanks Lost.. now we know that there are a lot more reasons to take vit D than just the bones.
Officer Dibble I don't know anything a green helmet, I so see a cute kittie with froggie hat!! But she is to little to do harm. Infact I think she will run away when she see's your new prowl animal...