The Miracle of Vitamin D Goes On

Just when you thought you knew it all about Vitamin D, here comes some more of its amazing powers. It prevents premature births. Keep in mind that in America a very high percentage of Blacks have a deep deficiency of Vitamin D. This is in part due to poor nutrition, but also because pigmented skin converts less Vitamin D than lighter skin does. In the tropics that is protective, in temperate climes it is a health disadvantage.

Large dose of vitamin D in pregnancy cuts premature births: research

Women should take up to ten times the current recommended dose of vitamin D during pregnancy, experts have said after it was found to cut premature birth by half.

By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor

High dose of vitamin D in pregnancy could cut premature births, researchers have said. Photo: PA

In Britain pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are recommended to take ten micrograms of vitamin D daily but a study has suggested higher doses may be more beneficial.

Lack of vitamin D, which the body can make from sunlight in summer months in Britain, can cause rickets.

It has been estimated that two in ten adults in Britain could be deficient in vitamin D.

Vitamin D is found in foods like fortified cereals, eggs and fish but most people also need around 15 minutes of sunshine three times a week to ensure sufficient levels.

In the 1950s and 1960s it was thought vitamin D could cause birth defects but it is now known that it is vital for good health of the mother and the developing feotus.

Some pregnant women are advised to take doses of up to 25 micrograms a day but doctors have been cautious of higher doses as there is evidence that very high doses can cause calcium levels in the blood to rise causing nausea, thirst, dizziness and headaches.

In the study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Vancouver, in British Columbia, Canada, pregnant women were randomly assigned to take one of three doses of vitamin D daily.

The women took either ten microgram doses, 50 microgram doses, or 100 microgram doses.

They were monitored throughout, including calcium levels in their blood, and there were no ill effects at any of the prescribed doses. Their vitamin D levels before the study were the same.

The team from University of South Carolina found the women taking the highest dose were 50 per cent less likely to suffer from problems including premature labour, pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and infections, than those on the lowest dose.

Dr Carol Wagner, lead author of the study, said: "The spectacular part of the study was it showed women replete in vitamin D had lower rates of preterm labor and preterm birth, and lower rates of infection."

She said the results showed the high dose was safe and effective so they could recommend all pregnant women take 1,000 micrograms of vitamin D daily.

Patrick O'Brien, spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said the study was interesting but the full data was needed before drawing conclusions.

"He added: "When giving vitamin D supplements in pregnancy there needs to be a degree of caution as there have been some theorectical concerns in the past that too much vitamin D could be harmful but the initial data from this study appears reassuring on this aspect.

Vitamin D Makes You Smart

Vitamin D prevents the flu.
Vitamin D cures asthma.

Now it seems, vitamin D makes you smart!

Want to prevent or improve mental decline? Try vitamin D. The following study shows a clear cut association between cognitive decline and vitamin D levels. The lower the vitamin D, the lower the cognitive ability.

Vitamin D, the 'sunshine vitamin', tends be be very deficient in darker skinned people. Studies show a vast majority of blacks in the US are vitamin D deficient. Could this be why blacks tend to score lower on tests of mental ability?
Could it really be related to vitamin D?
Could it really be so simple? Poor nutrition makes you dumb. Wow!

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Low Vitamin D Level Tied to Cognitive Decline
Study Shows Elderly People With Higher Vitamin D Levels Performed Better on Mental Tests
By Charlene LainoWebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
April 16, 2010 (Toronto) -- Two new studies add to evidence that older people with low levels of vitamin D may be more likely to suffer from cognitive impairment.
The hope is that vitamin D supplements may be able to slow mental decline -- an intervention that one research team plans to put to the test this summer.
Vitamin D is best known for helping the body absorb calcium, which restores and strengthens bone, protecting against fracture.
But vitamin D also seems to have anti-inflammatory effects that may help keep blood vessels healthy, ensuring nutrient- and oxygen-rich blood flow to brain cells, says Amie Peterson, MD, of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.
In addition, the presence of vitamin D receptors throughout the brain suggests that it may directly affect brain tissue, she tells WebMD.
Testing Cognitive Impairment
Still, whether vitamin D has a role in memory and cognition is unclear at this point, Peterson says, and studies have had conflicting results.
To help answer the question, Peterson and colleagues studied about 150 people aged 70 and older living on their own. Their average age was 85, and about three-fourths were women.
Participants' vitamin D levels ranged from 9 to 90 nanograms per milliliter of blood. Levels of 30 or higher are considered normal, according to Peterson.
All participants were given a standard 30-point test that is used to screen for cognitive impairment.
Results showed that the lower their score on the test, the lower their vitamin D levels.
The average vitamin D level was 42.8 for the 42 participants with a perfect score of 30 on the test; 36.7 for the 89 participants who scored between 27 and 29 ("still normal but lower," says Peterson), and 34.8 for the 21 people with scores of 22 to 26 ("mild cognitive impairment").
The study also showed that lower vitamin D levels were associated with a greater risk of falling.
This summer, Peterson and colleagues plan to embark on a study of people with Parkinson's disease to look at the effect of vitamin D supplementation on cognition, balance, and gait. Still to be tested is whether the intervention will help older people who are otherwise healthy.
Vitamin D Deficiency Common in Elderly
The second study involved 752 women, aged 75 and older, in France.
A total of 129 of the women had vitamin D levels that were below 10 nanograms per milliliter, suggesting vitamin D deficiency, which is common among older women, says Cédric Annweiler, MD, of Angers University Hospital.
Compared to women with higher vitamin D levels, those with levels below 10 were about twice as likely to have cognitive impairment, as measured by a standard test of cognitive skills, he tells WebMD.
The researchers plan to follow the women for seven years to see whether those with low vitamin D levels are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease or other dementia, Annweiler says.
Studies like that are needed to answer the question of which comes first: vitamin D deficiency or cognitive impairment, says David Knopman, MD, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who was not involved with the new work.
"People with dementia or cognitive impairment tend to become socially isolated and less physically active, so they’re less likely to get outside" to get the benefits of the sun's vitamin-D-producing ultraviolet light, he tells WebMD.
The studies were presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.
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Japanese Study: Vit D Reduces Flu By 67%

Every now and then, a scientific study is done that confirms what many of us already 'know' is true from our common experience. The Japanese have conducted a double-blind placebo controlled study that proves the effectiveness of Vitamin D in preventing the flu. The study shows up to 67% reduction in cases of influenza A among children taking Vitamin D. Then, they ruin it at the end by saying that Vit D should be given at the time of vaccination! UGGG!

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Vitamin D better than vaccines at preventing flu, report claims

Oliver Gillie

(Richard Cannon/The Times)

Vitamin D could cut the risk of flu infection in children by half, the report claims

The risk of children suffering from flu can be halved if they take vitamin D, doctors in Japan have found. The finding has implications for flu epidemics since vitamin D, which is naturally produced by the human body when exposed to direct sunlight, has no significant side effects, costs little and can be several times more effective than anti-viral drugs or vaccine.

Only one in ten children, aged six to 15 years, taking the sunshine vitamin in a clinical trial came down with flu compared with one in five given a dummy tablet. Mitsuyoshi Urashima, the Japanese doctor who led the trial, told The Times that vitamin D was more effective than vaccines in preventing flu.

Vitamin D was found to be even more effective when the comparison left out children who were already given extra vitamin D by their parents, outside the trial. Taking the sunshine vitamin was then shown to reduce the risk of flu to a third of what it would otherwise be.

Altogether 354 children took part in the trial, which took place during the winter of 2008-09, before the swine flu epidemic. Vitamin D was found to protect against influenza A, which caused last year’s epidemic, but not against the less common influenza B.

The trial, which was double blind, randomised, and fully controlled scientifically, was conducted by doctors and scientists from Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo, Japan.

The children were given a daily dose of 1200 IUs (international units) of vitamin D over a period of three months. In the first month children in the group taking the vitamin became ill just as often as those taking the dummy tablet. But by the second month, when the vitamin level in the children’s blood was higher, the advantage of the vitamin was clear.

The Japanese scientists, writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, say that the anti-viral drugs zanamivir and oseltamivir reduce risk of flu infection by 8 per cent in children who have been exposed to infection, compared with a 50 per cent or greater reduction with vitamin D.

Anti-virals are also too expensive, and possibly too toxic, to be given to the population as a whole whereas vitamin D has additional benefits. The sunshine vitamin not only prevents bone fractures but is also believed to reduce risks of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other illness, including various bacterial as well as viral infections.

The Japanese finding supports a theory that low blood levels of the sunshine vitamin occurring in winter explain why flu epidemics generally peak between December and March.

Vitamin D activates the innate immune system, enabling the body to produce several proteins such as defensin and cathelicidin which trigger cell activity and disable viruses.

Dr Urashima said: “Vitamin D and vaccine work by quite different mechanisms. Vitamin D enhances innate immunity while vaccine enhances acquired immunity. So we do not have to select only one way of prevention, rather we should do both ways, I think.”

Dr John Oxford, professor of virology at Queen Mary School of Medicine, London, said: “This is a timely study. It will be noticed by scientists. It fits in with the seasonal pattern of flu. There is an increasing background of solid science that makes the vitamin D story credible. But this study needs to be replicated. If it is confirmed we might think of giving vitamin D at the same time as we vaccinate.”

Why You've Never Heard The Whole Truth About Vitamin D

Vitamin D Activates Immune System

Many of you who follow this blog remember that I recommended strongly that you and your family take Vitamin D (Cataplex D) as a part of our anti-swine flu protocol. Continuing research is showing why Vitamin D helps with the flu and everything else that requires immunity - infection, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis and all the so-called auto-immune disorders. Remember, Vit D is the "Sunshine Vitamin" that is obtained naturally from exposure of the skin to sunlight for at least 20 minutes a day in most parts of the world. Picured are natural Vitamin D crystals. Anyone who lives north of a line drawn from East to West through Atlanta will probably not get enough Vit D in the dark days of winter and will need a Vit D supplement.

Also, keep in mind that dark skinned people will produce less Vit D in their skin due to the action of melanin, so darker people tend to have more severe Vit D deficiency, and hence, a higher risk of diseases affected by Vit D.

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Vitamin D Activates the Immune System

NaturalNews) There is an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency sweeping across our modern world, and it's an epidemic of such depth and seriousness that it makes the H1N1 swine flu epidemic look like a case of the sniffles by comparison. Vitamin D deficiency is not only alarmingly widespread, it's also a root cause of many other serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis and heart disease.A new study published in the March, 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found that a jaw-dropping 59 percent of the population is vitamin D deficient. In addition, nearly 25 percent of the study subjects were found to have extremely low levels of vitamin D.Lead author of the study, Dr. Richard Kremer at the McGill University Health Center, said "Abnormal levels of vitamin D are associated with a whole spectrum of diseases, including cancer, osteoporosis, and diabetes, as well as cardiovascular and autoimmune disorders."This new study also documents a clear link between vitamin D deficiency and stored body fat. This supports a theory I've espoused here on NaturalNews for many years: That sunshine actually promote body fat loss. Vitamin D may be the hormonal mechanism by which this fat loss phenomenon operates.The research findings on vitamin D, by the way, get even better...
Activator for the immune systemRecent research carried out at the University of Copenhagen has revealed that vitamin D activates the immune system by "arming" T cells to fight off infections.This new research, led by Professor Carsten Geisler from the Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology at the University of Copenhagen, found that without vitamin D, the immune system's T cells remain dormant, offering little or no protection against invading microorganisms and viruses. But with vitamin D in the bloodstream, T cells become "armed" and begin seeking out invaders that are then destroyed and carried out of the body.Vitamin D, in other words, acts a bit like the ignition key to your car: The car won't run unless you turn the key and ignite the engine. Likewise, your immune system won't function unless it is biochemically activated with vitamin D. If you're facing the winter flu season in a state of vitamin D deficiency, your immune system is essentially defenseless against seasonal flu. That's why all the people who get sick are the ones who live indoors, work indoors and exist in a chronic state of vitamin D deficiency.That's also why virtually all the people who died from H1N1 were chronically deficient in vitamin D. They had virtually no immune system protection at all and were thus easy targets for the swine flu.These findings about vitamin D "arming" the immune system were published in Nature Immunology. Commenting on the findings, the researchers said, "Scientists have known for a long time that vitamin D is important for calcium absorption and the vitamin has also been implicated in diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis, but what we didn't realize is how crucial vitamin D is for actually activating the immune system -- which we know now." (UK Telegraph, source below).It seems the CDC and WHO remain utterly ignorant about this research or they would have been recommending vitamin D to fight the recent H1N1 pandemic rather than vaccine shots. Vitamin D would have been a far more effective (and less costly) defense against the pandemic than vaccine shots, especially given that even vaccines don't work unless there is an immune response, and that immune response requires the presence of vitamin D!And while vaccine shots have undesirable side effects such as causing severe neurological damage in a small number of vaccine recipients, vitamin D's only significant "side effect" is that it prevents 77% of all cancers, too. (http://www.naturalnews.com/021892.html)
The common denominator for diseaseWhat's becoming increasingly clear from all the new research is that vitamin D deficiency may be the common denominator behind our most devastating modern degenerative diseases. Kidney failure patients are almost universally deficient in vitamin D and diabetes patients are usually in the same category. People suffering from cancer almost always demonstrate severe vitamin D deficiency, as do people with osteoporosis and multiple sclerosis.

Ukraine Swine Flu Cases Double

Swine Flu Detonation Shock Wave Continues

The explosion of new flu cases and deaths continues to sky-rocket in the Ukraine with a doubling of reported cases in only 2 days. The unreported cases may be significantly higher. These are still very preliminary numbers, but they are all headed in the wrong direction. We can only wonder if what is happening in Ukraine is only a prelude to what will happen all over the globe. We certainly hope not. Protect yourself and your family now. Check out our flu prevention protocol and look at the video on the protective effects of Vitamin D. By the time you are sure it's headed our way, it may be too late.

What we don't know is if these cases occurred in vaccinated or unvaccinated persons.

Reported Cases in Ukraine Double in Two Days!!!

November 4, 2009

478,456 Influenza Cases

24,003 Hospitalized

60 Ventilators

81 Deaths

The above numbers are from the latest update from Ukraine. The number of infected patients has almost doubled to just under ½ million, compared to the report two days ago (see map). Hospitalized patients also have spiked higher, to 24K from 15K. ICU cases are not listed, but 60 on ventilators are. However, most (37) of those on ventilators are Chernivisti Oblast, but Lviv, which has the most fatalities and cases, has none, suggesting the data is incomplete or there are significant shortages of ventilators. The number of dead has risen to 81, but media reports describe additional fatalities, include those in the Kiev Oblast.The explosion of cases again raises concerns that the number of fatalities is significantly higher than the 81 listed. Media reports have described an equal number of pneumonia fatalities which were not considered flu related. The basis of these exclusions remains unclear. Similarly, anecdotal reports suggest the number of fatalities is markedly higher than the 81 in the table.The rapid rise in reported infections, hospitalizations, and deaths in the past few days raise concerns that the virus is transmitting very efficiently. Spikes in cases have been reported throughout the northern hemisphere, but the spike in fatalities and the frequency in hemorrhagic cases in Ukraine have raised concerns.Earlier media reports suggest that an update by WHO might be issued today and include preliminary analysis of samples sent to Mill Hill in London.Daily updates on the rapidly evolving situation in Ukraine, including sequence analysis, would be useful.

Vitamin D Prevents Influenza