Genetic Influence of Vitamin D

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Mark Pegram

Vitamin D has been found to influence over 200 genes is a news article in Physorg.com. “Vitamin D status is potentially one of the most powerful selective pressures on the genome in relatively recent times,” says Professor George Ebers, Action Medical Research Professor of Clinical Neurology and one of the senior authors of the paper.”

We have discussed before the importance of vitamin D and its influence on genetics. The findings in this study show that are 2776 binding sites for the vitamin D receptor along the genome. This is a must read for those of you that like to assign the cause of disease to genetics. This shows that even with a perfectly good gene map, if it is not being adequately activated by vitamin D, that many disease states can follow.

You may want to review a prior post on how vitamin D works with genetics. D3 Epigenetic Master Switch.

Worldwide Policy Change for Vitamin D

Posted on August 15, 2010 by Mark Pegram

Anthony Norman, distinguished Professor of Biochemistry & Biomedical Science, Emeritus Presidential Chair of Biochemistry at the University of California Riverside, and leading international expert in Vitamin D, has proposed that a worldwide policy change is needed on the daily intake of vitamin D to prevent many diseases that vitamin D has been found to impact during the last 25 years. These diseases include rickets, adult osteomalacia, cancer, autoimmune type-1 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and muscle weakness. Dr. Norman leads with this statement, “A reduction in the frequency of these diseases would increase the quality and longevity of life and significantly reduce the cost of medical care worldwide.”

Here is the link to the press release: Biochemist proposes worldwide policy change to step up the intake of vitamin D.

Here is the paper that was presented to the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.

Anthony Norman seems hesitant to state where the level of intake should actually be to meet the requirements of the body. He says there is no science to substantiate the safety of long term higher levels of vitamin D and suggest four possible scenarios of policy change. He does however state the observational data of populations at the various latitudes support safety for higher intake levels. I believe that Anthony is just trying to appease the powers in control of national policy because of the huge change in medical economics that will occur. The science for adequate amounts that the body needs, as stated by Dr. Heaney of Creighton University at 75 IU /kg/d, is found in all the people that live in the sunny latitudes where the serum 25(OH)D levels range between 54 ng/ml to 90 ng/ml. This serum level range is adequate to take care of most of the chronic disease issues.

We indeed are at a crossroad and now it is a matter of political will to see if we go for health or if we will follow the principles of former HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt of ‘markets before mandates.’

A. Catherine Ross, chairman of the FNB on vitamin D and calcium, we patiently await your guidance in the report to be issued in November.

What you can do while we wait to see what the “powers” do to advise doctors and the population as a whole is to be sure that you follow Dr. Heaney’s discovered amount of vitamin D required by the body of 75 IU of D3 per kilogram per day. If you need help with the math, that is about 35 IU of D3 per lb. A hundred pound person would need 3500 IU per day and a 200 pound person would need 7000 IU per day.

The interesting thing about how much the population should be advised to take seems to hinge on past practice of stating a single amount per day as if the population is not capable of doing simple math. What is wrong with telling everyone that they should get 800 to 1000 IU per 25 lbs of body weight per day from all sources to maintain and adequate amount of vitamin D.

Solving Obesity – Vitamin D

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Mark Pegram

The resources on vitamin D and obesity are long and deep. Getting your serum level to that of a sunny country will not magically make your weight fall off. As we begin to review the obesity issues we listed many causes. Vitamin D is just one of those. If you turn off your air conditioning and allow yourself to feel the extremes of temperature during the summer you most likely will not desire as much food. I have tried this and it works. However, I also enjoy being comfortable. There are many papers on cows and pigs and how to fatten them by controlling the temperature of their environment. I do believe that both temperature driving appetite and not being outside during the highest incidence of UVB radiation both lead to increased weight gain. Think about as the temperature cools in the fall, Americans consume more calories in October than any other month of the year. I have always written this off to a natural instinct to build food storage for the winter that is driven by temperature, but also may be driven by falling vitamin D levels. Air conditioning gives you both of these environmental effects.

The storage form of vitamin D, calcidiol, 25(OH)D, stores in all tissue in your body. As you become more obese the amount of vitamin D per weight decreases because you have not increased your production and\or intake of vitamin D. The reduction of vitamin D levels because of obesity puts you at significant risk for all diseases.

People, who are trying to lose weight, typically, do not ‘plateau’ if they are vitamin D replete. Vitamin D directly combats metabolic syndrome so if you have been suffering from this there is hope. I personally know four people that were type II diabetic that after taking enough vitamin D to get their serum level above 60 ng/ml found that they did not suffer the munches. They have all lost more than 30 lbs. Only one fines that it is still necessary to take the diabetic med. If you have type II diabetes and want to try this then be sure to work with your doctor.

I would suggest that you have your doctor read this paper by Dr. Heaney – Vitamin D requirements in health and disease This paper shows how calcium absorption flattens and blood sugar is blunted at serum 25(OH) D levels above 32 ng/ml. If you are extremely obese, it may take a significant amount of vitamin D to get you to a healthy level.

Here is a link to Pub Med for the medical research from the Vitamin D Council: http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/researchObesity.shtml

On the lighter side, you may enjoy this group of graduate students as they perform the dance of Vitamin D and Beta cells. I really like this because I know this group of future vitamin D researchers gets it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiTFBRPFRh8

Henry LaHore in a recent email, offered this info on vitamin D and obesity:

Studies so far disagree about losing weight by taking vitamin D without low calorie diet, etc.

Obese have decreased bioavalability of vitamin D – 2000 PDF

Clinical Trials of Obesity and Vitamin D

Clinical Trials for Weight Loss and Vitamin D

Trial to Assess Response to Oral Vitamin D3 Supplementation in Obese Individuals with 2000 IU to 4000 IU for 8 weeks. should have completed March 2010

Henry Lahore http://www.VitaminDWiki.com has 2000+ Vitamin D files – subscribe to news in some/all categories, get latest vitamin D news from web, etc.

Well there you have more than you would ever want to read about vitamin D and obesity. Turn off your air conditioning and spend some time outside this summer. You may find you sweat more than you want but it will make you less hungry. – Pandemic Survivor

Vitamin D as a Megatrend

Posted on August 8, 2010 by Mark Pegram

In 1982 John Nesbitt wrote a book named “Megatrends.” John’s idea was to track change based on what is going on in the present by tracking newspaper articles. This process was originally developed during World War II as a means to find out what was happening in countries that were at war and information about socioeconomic conditions were kept secret. There were several principles that built confidence in the process.

“The news-reporting process is forced choice in a closed system.”

“Societies, like individuals, can handle only so many concerns at one time.”

The first principle above really no longer exists as we do not have a closed system on the news. Now news can be obtained by the internet and not just from the major media outlets. With the internet, each individual if they choose, can be become a source of news.

The second principle however is still very sound. The health and wellness movement that started as a vitamin movement in California in the late sixties and early seventies continues to pick up steam. This continued trend in personal wellness is developing because of the failure of institutional medicine to fully define proper nutrition and the lust for profits driving allopathic medicine’s directions.

Fast forward to the year 2000 and we find Malcolm Gladwell’s book “The Tipping Point”. Tipping point is the level of interest in any given topic which builds enough momentum to become unstoppable. Has enough interest in vitamin D been built so that the understanding of health from sunshine has become unstoppable? This is an extremely difficult question to answer.

I believe a simple answer to the question is yes. We are starting to see new news articles every day now where only five years ago, news on vitamin D was limited to several articles per week. This is exactly how John Nesbitt’s method for determining the level of activity on any given topic worked. To use a sports example, they typically looked at ‘box scores’ instead of analyst comments to determine level of interest. They would simply look at the final score of the game instead of a commentator’s statement that the failure of a good throw to first by the third baseman caused the loss of the game.

Tracking healthy outcomes and death from vitamin D would be great way to determine if the trend was increasing. Healthy outcomes are virtually impossible to track because who knows how much everyone is taking. Deaths from overdose should be an easy number to find. In 2008, there were no deaths reported from vitamin overdose which has been the case for the last 17 out of 25 years according to Wikipedia if that is reliable. In 2003 there were 59 deaths from aspirin poisoning and 147 deaths from acetaminophen products.

Word of mouth and healthy outcomes is the most likely way that the momentum of vitamin D will increase. This falls into the model presented by Malcolm Gladwell. He suggests that changes in populations spread like viruses with three primary rules. The ‘law of the few’ states ‘connectors’ or information hubs, ‘mavens’ or information specialist, and ‘salesmen’ or persuaders are necessary parts of the information network. The specific content of the message that makes it memorable is called the ‘law of the stickiness factor’. The final law of the ‘power of context’ is in agreement with Nesbitt’s principle that societies can only handle a limited number of concerns at one time or the general impact of environmental conditions.

Economic conditions and health appear to be the major concerns of the time (‘power of context’). With special emphasis placed on flu like infections and cancer. I believe that tracking flu and cancer changes are going to be a great way to track what is happening with vitamin D. Vitamin D has a significant impact on both the flu and cancer. Of course the emphasis on the flu and cancer is being driven by economic forces. However, it locks up nicely with personal emphasis of health as distrust of our medical institutions increase. In other words when people hear of significant outcomes with vitamin D they will start to take it regardless of what institutions are saying (‘stickiness factor’). So a friend tells you that they have not had a cold since starting to take vitamin D two years ago, most likely you will start to supplement with vitamin D as well. As we move into the flu season we will continue to monitor the CDC statistics on the flu and look for anomalies. Also there is the beginning of a trend in the reduction of cancer rates. When we move from 180 neoplasm (tumors) per 10,000 to Mexico’s rate of 90 neoplasm per 10,000 we will know that we have reached the cancer rate for a sunny country. Think what a reduction of fifty percent in the cancer rate would do the medical economy in the US.

The other thing about the course of the Vitamin D Revolution is that it started in California which according to Nesbitt is one of the key states for lasting trends to start. (‘law of the few’) I contribute this to the work of Garlands (much later Grass Roots Health) at University of California SD, the work of the University of California Riverside for vitamin D research and organizing meetings every several years, and because of John Cannell’s exposure to these two institutions his development of the Vitamin D Council which has grown like wild fire as the internet source of information. Thanks, guys.

The sun is shining and the path is lit and vitamin D’s time is now. – Pandemic Survivor

NCI is up to no good on vitamin D

Posted on August 1, 2010 by Mark Pegram

When I first saw the headline, I thought well that is great news. Then as I read the article I became increasingly alarmed at how once again our tax dollars are being used not to promote science, but to further misinformation about vitamin D. Here is the headline:

“Roswell Park Team Receives Grant from the National Cancer Institute to Study the Anticancer Effects of Vitamin D”

That sounds really great and noble until you start to read how the trials are being run. They are not using just plain D3 in the trials but giving directly the active steroid, calcitriol, 1a,25(OH)₂D₃. What about the other 35 plus metabolites that are produced from the parent, D3? Another mater of confusion that comes to mind is the calcitriol going to be made from D3 or D2. You think that I may be picking at something that is not of importance. However, when there have been over two thousand genes identified that vitamin D impacts; the difference of a methyl group between vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 can be HUGE! If you do not believe that then go read Dr. Randy Jirtle’s work at Duke University about how metylation affects genetic expression.

From what I have read of the science of vitamin D the metabolites appear to work synergistically for the full benefit of sunshine. Why would you fund a project that is not part of the normal process of the human body when many studies have already been done to show the necessity of all the derivatives of sunshine? To help you understand my concern read this statement from vitamin D researchers at the University of California Riverside:

“Over the past 25 years, research efforts have largely focused upon understanding how 1a,25(OH)₂D₃ generates biological responses; an enormous scientific literature of over 5,000 scientific papers exists on this subject. By comparison, the biological actions of 24R,25(OH)₂D₃ have been relatively less studied. However, evidence has been presented to support the view that the combined presence of both 1a,25(OH)₂D₃ and 24R,25(OH)₂D₃ are required to generate the complete spectrum of biological responses attributable to the parent vitamin D.” http://vitamind.ucr.edu/biochem.html and http://vitamind.ucr.edu/about.html

The statement above is amazing but even more amazing when you consider that the dimmers that are formed with other nutrients like vitamin A are necessary for complete genetic expression.

In the words of the TV actor Dr. House these guys may be idiots. I really feel empathy for the ones participating in the study that could be healed with just plain D3. DO THE TRIAL WITH LARGE DOSES OF VITAMIN D3! -Pandemic Survivor

Vitamin D’s Time is Now

Posted on July 31, 2010 by Mark Pegram

The media is finally starting to get it. Or should I say willing to write about vitamin D and forgoing the fear of losing medical industry advertising. Now we read that more than half of the world’s population is vitamin D deficient. What does this mean as far as disease states and pain, suffering, and death from these diseases? What does it mean for the medical economy and economy in general?

Some media outlets are writing about vitamin D like it is some new discovery when actuality the understanding goes back to at least the late 1930’s. Then there is the fact that a huge campaign has been waged against sun exposure since the 1960’s. The science has been there all along and now with the internet and not depending on newspaper reporters to tell us what is actually happening; people are finally starting to see the medical industry for what it is.

Here is the news:

NY Times – What Do You Lack? Probably Vitamin D, Jane E. Brody July 26, 2010.

USA Today – Vitamin D Researchers May Have Doctors Prescribing Sunshine, The Associated Press, May 21, 2005

Wait, I thought that you said this is news? Yes that is right, five years later some changes have started to happen as the public is becoming more aware of the reality of sunshine. The USA Today article from 2005 shows a good indication of the battles that are being waged for your health care dollar and your health. Obviously the sicker the population, the greater the opportunity is for that industry to make money.

Statements are now being made that just maybe the minor cancers that you get from sun exposure are not as significant as the cancers that you get because of being vitamin D deficient. Interestingly enough, this same thing was said by researchers in 1941. In one medical peer reviewed journal paper, Dr. Cedric Garland states that there are over three thousand peer reviewed medical journal papers showing the inverse relationship between vitamin D and cancer. That is as vitamin D levels increase, the cancer rates go down. Every cancer patient’s vitamin D level should be checked and normalized to that of a sunny country.

So what does this look like for other chronic disease? Here is a chart that has been complied by wiki vitamin D. So what you see is a significant decrease in all levels of chronic disease and just maybe eradicating many of them. So how does the serum 25(OH)D levels on the chart represent where my serum level should be? If you notice from the chart that most chronic disease starts to go away at 50 ng/ml. Typically, people in a sunny country have serum levels of vitamin D between 54 ng/ml and 90 ng/ml.

Everyone is now holding their breath and waiting for the release of the vitamin D and calcium report of the Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board. The report was supposed to come out in May but now has been put off until November. Can you just imaging what is going on in the board rooms of medical institutions across the world. Given the above chart of the decrease of chronic disease, we could easily be looking at a 25 to 50 percent reduction in disease states, which means a similar reduction in the medical economy. Ouch! Will a spoon full of sugar really make this ‘medicine’ go down? – Pandemic Survivor

Solving Obesity – Iodine

Posted on July 17, 2010 by Mark Pegram

Of the several nutrients in which we are deficient, iodine should be high your list as one to be concerned with. When consuming large amounts of vitamin A your serum vitamin D reduces as the body uses it with vitamin A. A similar thing happens with iodine and vitamin D levels. Here is an interesting article to give you pause: Vitamin D / Iodine

There are number of great articles on iodine and I would suggest that you read all three of these articles:

Michael B Schachter MD – http://www.mbschachter.com/iodine.htm

Donald W. Miller, Jr. MD – http://www.lewrockwell.com/miller/miller20.html

William Davis MD – http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/oct2009_Halt-on-Salt-Sparks-Iodine-Deficiency_01.htm

The path of iodine has gone a similar way as the path of vitamin D. There is no profit in a very inexpensive nutrient and analogs are not easy to develop. However, with iodine, the use of meds to control the thyroid has been reasonably successful, certainly for profit.

The reason that the amount of daily iodine requirement is so low as specified by the government is because of concern of shutting down the thyroid. I believe this response in the thyroid is because the iodine depletes the levels of vitamin D and this causes the thyroid to shut down.

The balance of iodine, magnesium, vitamin D, calcium, potassium, sodium, vitamin B, vitamin C, and vitamin A is a magical dance that occurs in the body and when you get it right your body celebrates.

Iodine is necessary to make the hormones in the thyroid that control your body temperature and energy production. Not only are these hormones essential for energy, they are also powerful neurotransmitters and help you from getting depressed or becoming manic.

I will not even comment on how much iodine that you should take as this is really yet to be determined. I do believe that about 35 to 40 IU per pound of body weight for vitamin D is correct. I am sure there is a correct level for iodine but it has been difficult to determine what that level is. One hundred fifty micrograms is too low as a total intake. I suspect that twenty five milligrams is too high as a total intake. The Japanese on average get around 12 mg per day of iodine because of the amount of seafood and kelp that they eat.

Dr. Davis has reported that two of his patients has toxicity issues when taking 12.5 milligrams iodine per day. http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/iodine-update.html

I will simply tell you what I have done and then you will have to make your own decisions. I tried to build my iodine stores to reasonable levels by taking two milligrams everyday for a year. I was not replete until I took 50 mg a day of Iodoral for two weeks and then to taking one of the 12.5 mg tablets per day. Please note that I am a large guy at 228 pounds. Yes, that is right if you have been following my weight loss – down twelve pounds.

As the halides that were improper in my body started to resolve, I did note some reddish sores develop on my shoulders and back. This is from the fluorine, chlorine, and bromine that the body has used because I was not getting enough iodine. These eruptions disappeared after several days. I also noticed that some fatty lumps that I had under my skin have also disappeared. I would suppose this is because iodine is significant in promoting cellular apoptosis or cellular death when a particular cell is no longer required by the body. Not giving iodine to cancer patients is outrageous as it is significant in stopping tumor growth.

If you currently have thyroid issues that you are controlling with meds then be very careful in supplementing with iodine. The thyroid hormones are so powerful in their effects on the brain and mind, that it will literally drive you crazy if you get the balance wrong. Work very closely with your endocrinologist as you try to reduce your meds with iodine, magnesium, and vitamin D supplementation. The thyroid meds will have to be adjusted to keep a proper balance. If your doctor does not want to work with you and just keep you on the meds then find another doctor.

Death is an essential part of life when cells have reached their end. – Pandemic Survivor

Statins – Number Needed to Harm

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Mark Pegram

Just this past week there were two studies reporting that statin drugs were not effective in reducing death in people that are at risk for cardiovascular disease. How could this be when that is all we see in commercials on tv about the advantages of lower cholesterol. Does lower cholesterol really prevent strokes and heart disease?

Here is a study where data from eleven studies on statin drugs were pooled and it was found that there were 1447 deaths in the group taking a placebo and 1346 deaths in the group that were taken statins. The writer concludes that there is no statistical significance in the difference.

Business Week June 28, 2010 – Statins May Not be as Helpful to Those Without Heart Disease

In another article as reported by Mike Adams, The Health Ranger; there were more people harmed than helped when taking statins. Out of every 10,000 people tested there were 271 fewer people with heart disease. However, out of every 10,000 people tested there were 443 harmed. Attributed to the statin use were cases of cataracts, muscle weakness, liver damage, and kidney failure.

Also here is Dr. Mercola’s take on statins: New Bombshell of Diastrous Statin Side Effects from Statins.

Number needed to treat and number needed to harm are the most important thing that you should know about a drug before deciding to take it. Ideally, the number needed to treat should be one. That is it benefits everyone that takes the drug. Also you would expect the number needed to harm should be zero. These are ideals and no drug will live up to this. Antibiotics most likely have the best outcomes in number needed to treat. However, they can be very damaging to the body and the number needed to harm may be large. The FDA has required that medical providers most make this information available to you on request. If you ask your doctor about this, he may not have the information at hand, but he can look it up for you. Also a great source for this information is your pharmacist.

I have written previously on heart disease and cholesterol and it may be worth your time to read this post again. Thinking about Cholesterol

It may just be that statins are a poor substitute for vitamin D. It has been found that people with statins have on average a higher serum level of vitamin D. Most people that I know have found that when they take vitamin D their cholesterol levels go done. This makes a lot of sense. Vitamin D is made by exposing cholesterol on your skin to UVB and it converts to pre vitamin D. Once your body becomes replete with vitamin D; your liver and skin will stop producing so much cholesterol.

Try getting your serum level to that of a sunny country with vitamin D (25(OH)D between 54 ng/ml to 90 ng/ml) and see what happens to your cholesterol levels. – Pandemic Survivor

Solving Obesity – Wheat

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Mark Pegram

I am happy to report that since I have given up wheat and sugar that I have lost a total of eight pounds as of the past Monday, June 28 (three weeks). This is especially amazing as I have had a series of family get together’s over a three week period and ate everything that was presented. Especially, since I consumed most all of the desserts. One out of town wedding lasted for four days. It is important when on a diet or eliminating foods that you do not insult anyone including yourself during special events.

I did not come up with the wheat thing on my own. I thought when I first read about this from Dr. William Davis, cardiologist, The Heart Scan Blog, that surely wheat was not that bad of an actor. I was wrong. I have also noticed that my mind clears on days that I am completely wheat free. I also noticed that my vision is significantly better since I have stopped eating wheat. I have noticed as well that I have less anxiety about everyday life. Dr. Davis reports that the wheat we eat today is not the same as wheat that was consumed two thousand years ago. The significant difference is in the amount of protein. The old wheat was about 40 percent protein and today’s modern varieties are about fifteen percent protein. That is a huge difference. When you throw in modern processing of flour with the fiber removed and bleached; then, it becomes a real ‘killer’.

Here is a link to Dr. Davis blog, The Heart Scan Blog. This link is for his Posts on Wheat. If you know someone with heart disease, please tell them about this site. You may save their life.

Who would think that wheat is this bad of an actor? We are indeed doing ourselves long term damage by consuming products that are modified to make the large agricultural companies more profitable. The other thing that you should know about wheat and bread is that the US is the only country in the world to allow bromine as potassium bromate to be used. The bromate replaced iodine in the bread to stabilize the cell walls that are formed when the bread rises. This happens by the bromate affecting the protein in the bread. Bromine and fluorine are bad actors in blocking iodine receptors in particular if you are iodine deficient. But that is a topic for next blog. The reason that bromine is band is that it has been found to be cancer forming. Now why would the FDA continue to allow this toxin to be used when the US is the only country in the world that allows it? Our tax dollars at work!

Okay, imagine that I was vitamin D deficient, iodine deficient, and magnesium deficient. All of these directly affect the workings of mitochondria or our energy engines in each cell. Next up is iodine.

Skinnier in the Sun – Pandemic Survivor

Vitamin D Deficiency Survivor

Changing the Face of Health with Vitamin D

Author Archives: Mark Pegram