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I just heard on the news today that there is a link between vitamin D supplements and juvenile diabetes. They are saying that if vitamin D is taken it lowers the risk by up to 30%. They were saying that the further away from the equator we are the higher the risk of diabetes. They were also suggesting that we give it to our children 1000IU to 700IUa day, even babies. They said that it lowers the risk of MS and breast cancer and there is no harm at all of taking to much, so take as much as you want. I was a bit shocked to hear that after reading some of the articles on the MP site, there is so much conflicting info out there. Just wanted to tell about it on this board, I know that there are many opinions on this subject, very interesting….
I have always felt Vit D was helpful for my RA. A bloodtest showed I was low in D so I added supplementation to my protocol. I take 1000 IU only on the days I don't get in the sun (many days since I work). It seemed to be very helpful.
Recently I am suffering a setback due to a stressful situation. I notice in my doctors lab requests this time, she is checking my Vit D and specifically 1,25. In the past, she stated she does not agree with Trevor Marshal about Vit D. In the past, she did not run specific 1,25 test. Not sure why she is now, but I'm thinking she wants to be sure the Vit D supplementation is not contributing to my current flare.
I am anxious to see the results. A recent study in Canada found that increased Vit D can cut certain cancer risks by 60%. The best, safest source of Vit D is the sun. If you supplement, it must be Vit D3. The Vit D that fortifies so many of our foods is D2 which is not absorbed well. BTW, American research labs confirmed the Canadian study and now endorse 15 mins sunshine daily.
Susan
A lot, if not all, of the Vitamin D research is tainted because the researchers are bought and paid for by the Vitamin D counsel or the indoor tanning lobby. Who knew there was an indoor tanning lobby???
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0404/19/ltm.01.html
http://www.medpagetoday.com/HematologyOncology/BreastCancer/tb/5021
There is a lot more – just Google the researchers name and 'conflict of interest' and you get some very interesting hits.
Again, not saying the MPer's are right, just saying it's the same dog and pony show as the biologics research.
Pip
A recent study in Canada found that increased Vit D can cut certain cancer risks by 60%.
Here is a problem that I have with medical science. In most of these studies they e.g., 'check cancer patients' and discover that their vitamin D is low. So they conclude that low vitamin D causes cancer and they do a press release. It may be so but it could be the other way around or both may be related to something different altogether. I mean for an absurd example, maybe people who consume chestnuts get both low D and cancer as a result, but the researchers don't look for a confounding effect. When you read the medical papers the researchers (use the term loosely) often draw the first conclusion that comes to mind, particularly if it fits a popular notion and particularly if it might lead to further funding, and they rarely concern themselves with alternate explanations. This kind of science drives me crazy and medicine is the richest field for finding this kind of science.
pet peeve. – john
Pip,
It is even worse than big pharma because people will have no CHOICE in the matter because they will supplement EVERYTHING with the stuff, and unlike with medications, we will have no way to avoid it!
Also, a recent article I read observed that breast cancer morbidity rates were the highest in those women with the highest levels of vitamin D. Clearly it IS possible to over-supplement, and the amount recommendations, especially for children have no basis in science.
John is right, medical science research is a mess. Very, very scary!
Isn't Vitamin D fat soluble? So I do believe one can take too much.
As for me, my doctor told me last month that my D levels were low. He gave me 4 booster pills and told me to take a daily supplement. As for as I can tell, it hasn't helped or hurt anything. I'm not a fan of the sun, and I don't drink milk, so I've been taking a Vit. D pill every other day. Curious to see how it affects my blood work next time I visit my Rheumy.
I agree with John about how misleading researh can be. In terms of research lingo, these correlational studies cannot show cause and effect. It's like how many with AI disorders have anemia. Noting two things at one point in time does not mean one caused the other; it could very well be, but it needs to be studied using a different research design.
I knew that there would be something to say about this topic. I just chuckled to myself when I listened to the piece about vitamin D supplements on the news, I have read a bit on the MP studies which make sense to me, just my opinion, but when they said go ahead, you can't take to much Vit.D, it almost made me want to contact them as I think this was bias reporting…there is so much info out there and we have to do our own research to decide what is best for us I just thought it was a poor article especially on the news, thats all…Wanted to hear what people thought.
Thanks for all your input
Rhonda
Crud – I don't know. I don't think he ever specified. I will send him an email and try to get more information. I'm very torn about the D debate.
[user=3]John McDonald[/user] wrote:
Why? Why is your D low? Which D metabolite is low? D2 or D3? 25D or the active metabolite 1,25D?
Serenity – my questions are rhetorical. Don't worry about it. Personally I never worried much about supplements outside of food until the early 2000's when I thought I might be getting old and should do something about it. So I started taking multi-vitamins plus whatever my wife handed to me, since wives know about these things. Besides, taking those supplements from her promoted marital harmony. But then in 2002 I acquired RA. I took a few more supplements to try to make my RA better but not long after starting AP I gave up all the supplements and excepting my AP/MP meds, I have returned to my dietary habits from the first 40 years of my life. I really question now whether supplements do no harm. I think I would just as soon avoid supplements for much the same reason that people choose organic food. Who knows what that stuff does? I feel much the same about vitamin D now. I am uncomfortable with food and supplement fads. I have about zero faith in news reporting and particularly so with respect to health. I have worked in sciences for a few decades now and I must say that I am not impressed with the average IQ of physicians. I mean, they are bright enough, but somehow they are trained more like a google machine that matches input to diagnosis and diagnosis to treatment. But they don't often seem to do critical thinking. It is as if they are graded by the speed of their google response, not the quality of that response. So where does that google response get them if the disease is idiopathic such as RA or scleroderma? In that case they are simply matching a handful of badly defined symptoms to a name (the diagnosis) and matching that to fashionable meds or supplements with no clue how, if or why these things work.
One popular RA drug is sulfasalazine. It was concocted 70 or 80 years ago to treat 'rheumatism' with a combination of sulfa to treat occult bacteria and salazine as a kind of aspirin stand in; just right for the concept of RA in that era. Then a few decades ago it was proven in studies to be useless for RA. Then 10 or 15 years ago another study showed it was efficacious after all. But certainly most modern rheumies don't agree with the original philosophy that created this drug. Nor do they have any idea why it offers some people some degree of relief. Medicine is a hopeless mess when they don't understand the actual cause of a disease. In that case it reduces to patent salves and smoke.
John – sulfasalazine was the ONLY thing that helped me – no other drug even touched the sides of my flares or the pain before mino. It kept me symptom-free for about 5 years. I now believe that it was the anti-bacterial side of it (sulfapyridine) that worked after 2/3 months. My new AP doc has said the same to me. She also believes the other portion of it (the 5-amino salicylic acid) may have done me damage. There's that salicylate-based drug thing again, that so many now believe a major cause of leaky gut and, paradoxically, the eventual cause of increased joint pain. Lynnie
Be well! Lynnie
Palindromic RA 30 yrs (Chronic Lyme?)
Mino 2003-2008 100mg MWF - can no longer tolerate any tetracyclines
rotating abx protocol now. From Sep 2018 MWF - a.m. Augmentin Duo 440mg + 150mg Biaxsig (roxithromycin). p.m. Cefaclor (375mg) + Klacid 125mg + LDN 3mg + Annual Clindy IV's
Diet: no gluten, dairy, sulphites, low salicylates
Supps: 600mg N-AC BID, 1000mg Vit C, P5P 40mg, zinc picolinate 60mg, Lithium orotate 20mg, Magnesium Oil, Bio-identical hormones (DHEA + Prog + Estrog)Lynnie – Cool! You can even describe the components. My doc started me on sulfasalazine but it made every meal a nauseous ordeal. I quit taking it 2 or 3 weeks before my next appt with him. He then scolded me roundly and told me that many of his RA patients considered nausea to be an acceptable trade-off. That was my first real clue about how bad my RA might become. Fortunately I discovered AP in an accidental Google result and my RA never got that bad. My problem isn't a leaky gut. It is leaky neurons.:sick: -john
Pip,
What “dog and pony show” are you referring to regarding biologic research? The biologic research I am familiar with was double blind and cleary showed the efficacy of these drugs. Are you saying the research was faked?
Hope all is well,
JoeJohn – you may have leaky gut and not know it. My AP doc says ALL people with chronic diseases such as ours do. I have no comment on your leaky neurons! Lynnie
Be well! Lynnie
Palindromic RA 30 yrs (Chronic Lyme?)
Mino 2003-2008 100mg MWF - can no longer tolerate any tetracyclines
rotating abx protocol now. From Sep 2018 MWF - a.m. Augmentin Duo 440mg + 150mg Biaxsig (roxithromycin). p.m. Cefaclor (375mg) + Klacid 125mg + LDN 3mg + Annual Clindy IV's
Diet: no gluten, dairy, sulphites, low salicylates
Supps: 600mg N-AC BID, 1000mg Vit C, P5P 40mg, zinc picolinate 60mg, Lithium orotate 20mg, Magnesium Oil, Bio-identical hormones (DHEA + Prog + Estrog)
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