Medicine…Money…Economics…Ethics

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Mark Pegram

Health or Wealth Which of the above is more important to you? Are great economics with poor health your desire. Is it okay for the most elite scholars to avoid ethics so that they and the institution they work for have a better opportunity for wealth? We, as Americans, have paid for the research on vitamins and minerals and food (VMF). Yet, the value of VMF is hidden from us for the sake of a robust economy.

All the above are inexorably intertwined. There cannot be a large medical economy without a large sick population. Many have coined the word “sick care” for the present state of healthcare in the US. Drugs and cutting are the typical treatments for chronic disease. Disease that could be treated with VMF. If you had proper VMF before you age, then most likely, you would never reach the state of chronic disease. You would simply age and then with a few months of illness, you would pass. Please read Looking Good, Feeling Better for a better understanding.

Many researchers have not published the benefits of VMF in the hopes of being able to make an analog (prescription drug with side effects because it is not natural to the body) of the VMF for profit. We cannot point our finger at any one institution and say that they are at fault. We are all at fault. Government for allowing institutions to profit from illness while cures in VMF exist. Americans for allowing our government to get away with it in a democratic republic. In our Declaration of independence are the words— “life, liberty, and happiness.” Where is the happiness when you are in so much pain from chronic disease that life is miserable? Are you really going to turn to opiates for relief?

We hold doctors up as being the final decision makers for health. This is not the case. Let me state that again. Doctors are not responsible for the interpretation of the science of medicine. They must follow the medical guidelines as set up by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. AHRQ takes its lead from the Secretary of Health and Human Services and ultimately the President and Congress. Do you think that HHS has your best interest in mind for life, liberty, and happiness? They operate by the principle of “markets before mandates” as clearly stated by Secretary Michael Leavitt in 2008. Note that to value life is the very last. The economy is more important than your health and consequently your happiness.

The archived site that stated these principles has been taken down. Here are government’s nine principles for taking care of your health:

National standards, neighborhood solutions
2.      Collaborations, not polarization
3.      Solutions transcend political boundaries
4.      Markets before mandates
5.      Protect privacy
6.      Science for facts, processes for priorities
7.      Reward result not programs
8.      Change a heart, change a nation
9.      Value life

Do you need to have a robust economy for happiness? The government believes so. Is this where the institution of government is more important than the individual it serves. Isn’t this the very definition of evil? M. Scott Peck in his book, “People of the Lie,” uses the Me Li massacre in Vietnam to explain this very point. The squad was given the command that it must survive at all cost because of the importance of the mission that lay ahead. They went into a village with this understanding and proceeded to kill anyone that posed a treat including defenseless women and children.

Instead of bullets that kill you instantly, the institutions that profit use a disinformation playbook that has been around for years or least since WWII when the government sued seventeen multinationals for conspiracy for manipulation of vitamin D pricing and amounts in over the counter supplements. Dr. William B. Grant has published his version of it at Orthomolecular.org.

(OMNS Oct 1, 2018) A “Disinformation Playbook” has been used for decades by corporations to delay government action on matters of public interest that would adversely affect their income and profit. Some well-known examples include the big tobacco companies, the coal and oil industries, the sugar industry, and the National Football League. The Union of Concerned Scientists has outlined five “pillars” of the Playbook [Disinformation Playbook], [Alvord 2017]. Big Pharma may be using the Playbook to slow the adoption of strong support for vitamin D. This article is the product of my further analysis.

The Disinformation Playbook
1. The Fake
Conduct counterfeit science and try to pass it off as legitimate research.
2. The Blitz
Harass scientists who speak out with results or views inconvenient for industry.
3. The Diversion
Manufacture uncertainty about science where little or none exists.
4. The Screen
Buy credibility through alliances with academia or professional societies.
5. The Fix
Manipulate government officials or processes to influence policy inappropriately.

William B. Grant published a paper in 2009 called “In Defense of the Sun.” In the paper he shows that by just raising the level of serum vitamin D (25OHD) to 45 ng/ml, 400,000/yr. premature deaths could be stopped in the US. That is just vitamin D. What about the rest of the vitamins and minerals that we are deficient—vitamin C, magnesium, iodine, organic sulfate, zinc, vitamin B12, folate (not folic acid), and omega 3 fats. That is just the beginning of health. When is science going to admit that the placebo effect or the mind/body connection is just as powerful as most drugs that are on the market? Living longer and feeling better should be our goal. Otherwise, a strong economy is just that and cannot bring happiness because of illness. –Mark Pegram

Climate Change Deniers vs Nutrition Deniers

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Mark Pegram

jailed Medicine has denied the science of nutrition since the earlier 1900s. This because there is not a lot of money to be made from non-patentable nutrients. Science has shown that nutrition or getting enough vitamins and minerals will treat and prevent chronic disease. Doctors are trained in medical school to ignore this science. This has allowed the “great invisible hand” of economics to create the largest segment of our gross domestic product (GDP) as the healthcare sector (about 18% of GDP or almost one in five people in the US derive their income from healthcare). The government has continued to allow this growth in the medical economy because wealth creating manufacturing jobs have been moved out of the country and healthcare has been adopted as a poor substitute.

There is not settled science on manmade global warming. The climate change appears to be more coordinated with the intensity of the sun than with what humans are doing. There does appear to be a move afoot to go after people that do not agree about the science. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has said, in comparing how the tobacco industry treated science, “Under President Clinton, the Department of Justice brought and won a civil RICO action against the tobacco industry for its fraud. Under President Obama, the Department of Justice has done nothing so far about the climate denial scheme.” Attorney General Loretta Lynch has responded, “This matter has been discussed. We have received information about it and have referred it to the FBI to consider whether it meets the criteria for which we could take action on.” If there is so much upset over science that is not settled, how can we deny the science of nutrition without acting? Shouldn’t all people responsible be held accountable. If we are allowing over 1,000 deaths per day from just vitamin D deficiency per Dr. William Grant, then shouldn’t the Secretary of Health and Human Services be charged? What about all the doctors, scientist, and medical insurance people? Shouldn’t they be charged for fraud and criminally negligent manslaughter?

Criminally Negligent Manslaughter : It seems that responsible parties could be charged with criminally negligent manslaughter because of the “taking of an unreasonable and high degree of risk.” The risk (denial of the science of nutrition) is being taken, to prevent a perceived failure of the economy if there was a sudden rush of health with proper nutrition. What an interesting and destructive conundrum. What a great opportunity to take away much misery and pain in the population. Proper nutrition for general wellness and treatment of chronic disease with nutrition could resolve opiate abuse and spur a surge in every day effectiveness. When I think of the suffering, pain, and death it breaks my heart. We have all been victims of power brokers.

The lack of agreement on the science of medicine is being allowed with the understanding that medicine is not science but art. At least that is the weak excuse that is being used. The population is being played like ping pong balls for the benefit of the medical/medical insurance industry. The propaganda about nutrition that happens in medical school is then relayed to the general population by doctors. Our smartest and best educated are being used like puppets. Power centers pull the doctors strings and the marionette plays for the general population. If you do not agree with your doctor, then you must be an idiot. It was such stage craft when Obama was trying to get Obamacare approved. He dressed a bunch of people in lab coats and put them on the White House lawn. How can I be wrong, look at all these people in lab coats—you’ve got be kidding me! And the politicians wonder why the population is so upset.

Doctors mostly are victims also. Duped into believing that patented medicine is the only way, they eventually just become a part of the system. Like a kidnapped victim begins to become assimilated to a kidnapper after a significant amount of time in captivity. We, as the medical consuming public, fall into lock step and believe that there is no other way than what the doctor tells us.

This is a very complicated problem with many power centers and with a century of misdirection. It will take strong leadership to break us free of this downward spiral. A large healthcare sector of GDP means that we are headed for a significant downfall. To keep and maintain a large market for a large healthcare sector means that there must be a lot of illness, suffering, and pain. I was a victim of the suffering for three decades of my life. As an engineer, I read research papers and determined the vitamins and minerals needed to heal from chronic disease. There should be no problem with doctors doing the same if it were not for the forced assimilation. Only when the government reaches consensus of how nutrition should be delivered in food and medicine will we begin to heal and our economy improve. Perhaps the better solution would be for government to just get out of the way. The government that is to protect us from criminals has become the criminal actor. I am more than willing to forgive all the manipulation and propaganda if our leaders will make policies that gives us health. –Pandemic Survivor

Assault on the Nervous Systems by Anti-Cognitive Chemicals

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Mark Pegram

What do chloramines, fluoridation, lead corrosion, vitamin D deficiency, bromine, mineral sulfate removal, and iodine deficiency have in common? They should all be classified as anti-cognitive biological chemical processes. We can be our own worst enemy. We have been highly successful in our use of chemicals for technological advancement. We try to protect ourselves from toxic substances and pathogens, while creating health problems through unintended consequences. This has been the case for increases in Alzheimer’s, ADD, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and other general cognitive impairment. Halogen (iodine, bromine, fluorine, etc.) physiology along with mineral deficiencies needs to be significantly reviewed in the US and the use of halogens in our food supplies and water sources need to be adjusted accordingly.

Consider in the late 1990’s that the EPA decided it would be a really great thing to reduce the amount of chloromethane created from the chlorination of water. They did this by forcing the use of ammonia added to water at the treatment plants creating chemicals in the water called chloramines. Chloramines formed in water are so toxic that fish cannot live in it. However, it is a longer lasting water disinfectant and it does not seem to generate as much chloromethane, a carcinogen. However, the other toxic disinfectant byproducts (DBP’s) that are created and unregulated are of concern. One of these may be halogen acetic acids. HAA’s have a stated standard with standards for chloro-acetic acid and iodo-acetic acid, but no standard for fluoro-acetic acid.

Chloraminated water is much more corrosive, most likely from the created HAA’s. This causes the leaching of lead from water pipes in supply and distribution systems (my city has thousands of miles of iron pipe held together at the joints with lead like must municipalities) and home potable water systems that are joined with solder lead joints. There have been several studies showing an increase in lead content in water after the start of chloramination or the use of chloramines.

Fluoride has been shown to aid the build-up of the concentration of lead in the human body. So by fluoridation of water to supposedly improve our dental health along with the use of chloramines, we have inadvertently created higher amounts of lead. This is of major concern for the developing brains of our children and the aging brains of elderly.

The US is the only country in the world that allows the use of bromine in baking and in cloudy citrus drinks. This iodine mimic causes significantly physiological malfunction in the thyroid as well as other functional biological iodine processes. Consider that children have a ten to fifteen times higher uptake of iodine versus adults and consider the damage. Bromine is not used in other countries because it is a carcinogen.

Add to this vitamin and mineral deficiency. Vitamin D is responsible for mineral balance in the body, in particular the sodium-sulfate co-transporter. Adequate sulfate is necessary for the formation of cerebroside sulfate that is necessary for proper neuron development. Also consider that iodine deficiency is considered by the World Health Organization as the number one cause of mental illness in the world. Sulfate also is the body’s best defense against toxins as it removes them through water soluble sulfate esters. Cities remove the sulfate minerals from the water because it is stinky and plugs the pipes. Iodine, D3, and sulfate deficiencies combine as a disaster for mental function.

Take away iodine, vitamin D3, sulfate and add neuro-toxins and iodine mimics and you have the perfect conditions necessary for cognitive impairment. Well the cause is idiopathic the experts claim. Is Dr. M. Scott Peck accurate in his description of group evil through specialization? One thing is certain, idiots and unintended consequences always seem to find each other. In the case of water disinfection and vitamin and mineral deficiencies, you might say that this meeting of idiots and unintended consequences has created epicentric waves of causation for cognitive impairment. For now, your cognizant commenter – Pandemic Survivor

Disability – A System Issue

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Mark Pegram

There are multiple things in our present society that are causing a rise in disability rates. In a recent article for NPR “Unfit for Work: The Starling Rise of Disability in America” Chana Joffe-Walt writes: “The federal government spends more money each year on cash payments for disabled former workers than it spends on food stamps and welfare combined.” Where have we gone wrong?

Personal Responsibility

Our leaders have failed us as it has happened in the past history of the US. When settlers first came over on the Mayflower, it was thought that everyone should share equally whatever the community provided. This system failed miserably because of human nature. That is if someone is willing to give you something and you don’t have to work; you take it. Work is the thing that gives added value and increase. The leaders saw what the issues were and changed it so that everyone was on their own. If you didn’t work you didn’t eat. At some point, hopefully not too late, our current leaders will see the error of their ways and change. There is no something for nothing.

Food Causing Illness

There has been a false science permeating the US solely for the purpose of creating markets. This has been particularly dangerous in the food industry. Under the guise of generating large yields to stave off world hunger, our grains and other foods have been genetically modified. This would not be an issue if the foods had been properly tested for health consequences. Since the early 1980’s, I have not been able to eat wheat without getting indigestion. Also, my joints ache; I lose focus, and in general feel miserable. The wheat you eat today is not your grandfather’s wheat. Dr. William Davis in his book, “Wheat Belly” believes that the change in wheat is the cause of the obesity problem in the US and many other types of disease.

We can consider the five major things that have created problems in the food industry and it always seems to be about creating markets instead of the best benefit of mankind. GMO (genetically modified organism) wheat, GMO corn, processed and GMO soy, concentrated juices and the consumption of two much sugar, and trans-fat as in margarine have all lead to serious generalized pain and illness. Avoid these things and you will not believe how much better you will feel. You may even feel like you want to go back to work.

Corn seems to be another issue that will ultimately cause severe damage to the population. In a recent study released from Australia, hogs that were feed GMO corn had severely inflamed guts. Also rat studies have shown huge tumors being formed in GMO fed animals. I have a friend that lives in central Piedmont North Carolina. He has always raised corn for both animal feed and for his own food supply. He remarked to me recently that years ago he had to constantly scare the crows away from his sweet corn. Now with GMO corn, the crows will not even bother to eat it. If the crows want eat it why should we? After all the EPA has given corn a number as a registered pesticide. This has been a major help in the shelf life of the corn by inserting a gene that creates a pesticide, but the next morning you are having that bowl of corn flakes, think pesticide.

Nutrients

And then there are nutrients: Vitamin D, Iodine, magnesium, and sulfate are recent deficiencies that have been made worse in the last fifty years. Over seventy percent of healthcare spending is for chronic disease. I believe science has been manipulated for the purpose of having a large population with chronic disease to support a large health economy. After all, when your Secretary of Health and Human Services writes the nine principles of government intervention into healthcare with four being “markets before mandates” and number nine “to value life”, then what would you expect.

So Many Wrongs – Where to Start

After two failed back surgeries, severe sleep apnea, and many years of chronic severe pain, my doctor offered to write a letter for disability. He suggested seventy percent disability because of my apparent mental and physical impairment. However, I was reared to understand that we are responsible for our own provisions. I did not have my legs shot off in the war or was born with severe disability. My problems have been because of a government system of creating markets over the health of the population. We have simply become nothing more than cows for the profits of the medical insurance industry. Regardless of recent commercials that have been run by that industry saying they are not the bad guys, I ask you this – would you buy insurance so that you could have regular oil changes. This is exactly what you are doing when you pay an insurance company for preventative care.

Start by repelling the affordable healthcare act. We passed it to see what was in it. IT is now time to send it away. Take away the monopoly of the insurance companies by state and make your insurance national. Allow all health insurance companies to compete in all markets. Take away groups and force insurance companies to put everyone in the same group with the exception of a high risk group like car insurance. Health insurance for preventative care should not be allowed or at least closely controlled.

Restructure the Health and Human Service agencies so that there is real science and not science pointed to a healthy economy, but pointed toward health of individuals.

Allow doctors to practice their art and not be simply technicians that do the biding of HHS and large pharmaceutical companies. Remove all forms of pharmaceutical advertizing and leave that to the professionals.

Clean up our food sources. Train the population in nutrition.

That should about do it. Have a good day! – Pandemic Survivor

Least Expensive Vitamin D Supplementation

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Mark Pegram

While writing a recent post, the thought occurred as to what the cost would be for the entire population to obtain their vitamin D3 through supplementation. Obviously, this is not the best way to obtain vitamin D3, naturally from the sun, but it helps to think about the cost/benefit of vitamin D3. If the entire population were replete in vitamin D3, it would impact the medical economy by hundreds of billions of dollars. It would also improve the general economy by productive increase from the wellness.

The least expensive price that I could fine on the web is a company called Vitalady, Inc. The company was founded for the purpose of helping obesity surgery patients maintain nutritional balance for a healthy life. Their pricing is very reasonable for all of the nutrients that they provide.

To determine what the cost would for a replete population, I decided to use 7000 to 7500 IU of vitamin D3 per day. This is a ‘middle of the road’ amount. At Grass Roots Health, their research has found that the population needs 9600 IU per day to achieve their desired goal of a serum level above 40 ng/ml for 25(OH)D. I have assumed the normal person would get around 2000 IU per day from the sun and other sources like food fortification as a first approximation.

To supplement once per day using Vitalady brand Tender Dry Vitamin D3 5000 IU 250 count would require three capsules every two days (one and then two every other day). The cost for this product is $14.80 for a cost of $0.089 per day or $32.50 per year which works out to about 9.7 billion for the entire population for a year. Tender Dry is manufactured by Bio Tech Pharmacal for distribution by Vitalady, Inc.

If we use Tender Dry Vitamin D3 50,000 IU 100 count, we would require one capsule per week to achieve about 7000 IU per day. The cost of this product is $23.75 and would represent a two year supply or $11.87 per year. This would then require 3.6 billion dollars to get the entire population replete.

So for less than three and half cents per day, you can become vitamin D replete. What is even more amazing is that the entire population can become replete for less than four billion dollars. How much is four billion in the grand scheme. For production of Tamaflu, the US spent seven billion dollars to stockpile enough for a year. Not only would you get protection from the flu for the entire population with D3, you most likely would reduce all chronic disease by at least fifty percent if not more – a truly well population.

This is a goal worth pursuing. Please try to be replete with vitamin D3. About 40 IU per pound of body weight per day of D3 should allow you to reach the goal set by Grass Roots Health for a healthy serum level. (full disclosure – I have no association with Vitalady, other than to inform them that I was going to highlight their website for the least expensive vitamin D that I could find) – Pandemic Survivor

All Governments Should Promote Vitamin D3 Supplementation

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Mark Pegram

The best and most effective way to immediately reduce the cost of healthcare, have a more effective medical system because of less chronic disease, a healthier population where wellness will increase productivity, and a better economy is to promote the supplementation of vitamin D3 and sun exposure without sunburn. All citizens could be given free vitamin D3. This program would be by choice of the individual so as to not force government on the people.

This would be very effective for all countries of the world except for the US. For countries with single payer medical insurance or government medical insurance for the entire population, this would be particularly beneficial for cost reduction in healthcare. Also, it would solve a lot of problems with doctor shortage because physicians would be freed up from treating as much chronic disease.

Mary Meeker, in her report to promote general discourse on economic conditions in the US, USA, Inc. (image below is plate 315 from the slides– for full report visit KPCB where Mary works: http://www.kpcb.com/insights/usa-inc-full-report ), had very interesting suggestions in how to bring a dying US economy back to life. This report suggests treating the US as a company and handle revitalization in a similar manner as a corporate rescue. She suggested that the largest drain on the economy of the US is entitlements, in particular Medicare and Medicaid.

And then there is this graph that is most startling from her discussion of healthcare cost in the US:

The thing that is blatantly obvious about this graph is that we are not getting the benefit from our healthcare dollar as the rest of the world. Why is this? There is approximately $4000 per capita that goes as the cost of medical insurance (!?) every year and not medical treatment. We truly have given up freedom for security. The medical industry has become this bloated by extremely poor government policy that allows insurance companies to profit without providing wealth creation to the population. If the US was being treated as a company, the CEO and board of directors would be replaced by the stock holders (or citizens should vote to replace all of our present leaders – congressmen and president). I believe the Affordable Health Care Act was designed intentionally to fail in an effort to force all medical insurance under government control, but not necessarily to correct this blotted system. It certainly has driven the cost of healthcare higher. Just imagine what we could do with national debt if we used 1.2 trillion dollars ($4000 x 300 million people) each year as an investment in things that would create wealth (insurance does not create wealth – just imagine if you were paying a third party to pay for your oil changes – why you do this with preventative healthcare?).

To President Barack Obama and the Congress: If you want to solve the healthcare dilemma, then, create a healthy population by being sure we have enough proper nutrition to prevent disease and allow a long healthy life through your administrative departments. This includes in particular magnesium, sulfur, iodine, vitamin C, and vitamin D3. Limit the things that cause disease as most of the rest of the world has already done – ban fluorine in our drinking water, stop the use of bromines in food and citrus drinks, limit the use of genetically modified plants and animals until complete assessment of safety and efficacy can be made, and require labeling on existing genetically modified foods so that we know what we are consuming. Yes, there would be a struggle as people in the healthcare insurance industry, a non-wealth creator, find new jobs, but poor government policy has already slammed the economy as manufacturing, a wealth creator, has been run out of the country. If your beliefs are; we have limited resources in the world and population should be controlled, then continue to allow us to die off for the benefit of the elite. You still have time to act even if the ‘stock holders’ kick you out of office in January. – Pandemic Survivor

Vitamin D Awareness in Decline

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Mark Pegram

It is apparent from the number of newly reported cases of rickets that the UK has a severe problem with vitamin D deficiency. The Guardian reports: “England’s chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, is concerned that young children and some adults are not getting enough vitamin D.” It appears that since the free give away of supplements has stopped at clinics that the population is using less vitamin D. I suspect this problem is more than just an awareness problem as it has been pushed by the medical profession for more than five decades that sun exposure is bad for you. The problem in the UK now, as the Guardian reports, is “the hard bit – ideas on how to get more of us to get more vitamin D.” The encouraging news is that he chief medical officer in the UK is aware and feels that new initiatives should take place.

The practice of giving away cod liver oil was stopped in the fifties because it was felt that it was not really needed. How could such an incompetent decision be made? The question now is will there be a new emphasis placed on the deficiency issue here in the US. It seems that the Institute of Medicines decision that a serum level of 20 ng/ml has thrown a real monkey wrench into the works. A level of twenty may prevent the worse cases of rickets, but how do you explain the continued issue of osteoporosis that is ongoing in the US if that is high enough level. At least the committee said that there was no issue with using up to 4000 IU of vitamin D3 per day in children over nine. The real issue is the statements made that a serum level of over 20 ng/ml could be detrimental to your health. Again, this is the confusion over vitamin D2 versus vitamin D3. Vitamin D2 is good for rats because they are nocturnal animals. Vitamin D3 is good for humans because this is what our body makes when exposed to UVB from the sun. Normal levels for sun exposed populations range for 54 ng/ml to 90 ng/ml. This is the level required for health. Vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 are not equivalent!

The question now: Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, will you come to the same level of awareness as Dame Sally Davis? How many more cases of vitamin D deficient children with rickets will be taken from their parents because it is mistaken for child abuse? This sad problem falls directly in the lap of dermatologist that have been used by the medical institutions seeking to garner profits from a sick population. Of course the dermatologists plead complete unawareness because the cases of skin cancer have increased. Skin cancer has increased from the use of sunscreen in a real catch 22 that has been played out on the people served by our health institutions. Normally in a situation like this, the Surgeon General of the US issues a statement giving the population the latest health information. This happened with tobacco use in the 1960’s, even though it was ignored by most of the population. So Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Regina M. Benjamin, what are you going to do? I think that you should have a conversation with Dame Sally Davies and start a vitamin D initiative in conjunction with Canada. The US, UK, and Canada taking such an action would bring the rest of the world along.

If not now, when? – Pandemic Survivor

Food and Nutrition Board Delay

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Mark Pegram

During a recent visit to the Food and Nutrition Board website for vitamin D and calcium I was alarmed to find that the report had been delayed from May of this year until the end of the summer.

Most likely this will continue until the boards deadline of 24 months has ended. That would put the report to sometime in the fall of 2010. I would not be so concerned except for the 100,000 or so deaths each month that we delay because of vitamin D deficiency to say nothing of the suffering.

A. Catherine Ross, a vitamin A researcher, as chair most certainly is having a very difficult time in resolving the issues of a board that ultimately could have a huge effect on health as well as more of an impact on the medical economy than the recently passed health care bill. Don’t you find it strange that a board for the Institute of Medicine that was seated to set standards and guidelines for vitamin D is chaired by a person who’s life’s research has been vitamin A?

I hope this is science and not politics at work. It is for your health that I am concerned. The scientist are saying that an upper limit of 10,000 IU per day needs to be set and I say that this may not be enough for an obese person. However, anything less than this and we know that is more concerned with the medical economy than your health. It would seem that the best DRI or daily required intake should be set for IU’s/per body weight. It is the only thing that makes sense.

Doctor’s should also be instructed that long term levels of less than 200 ng/ml is safe for 25(OH)D. This information already exist in the NIH Fact Sheet on Vitamin D in Table 1. It is also stated that no toxicity has been found in levels of less than 400 ng/ml. Even though these numbers sound large they are still very small numbers.

Typically an intake from all sources of about 35 IU’s per pound of body weight should get your 25(OH)D above 50 ng/ml. However, there is no way of knowing for sure without testing and because of the serious health consequences of vitamin D deficiency, testing should become a standard and doctors required to take enough CME’s to understand the complexities.

The longer we delay in not having a national intervention for vitamin D deficiency the suffering will continue. Number one in this issue is that doctors need to be educated.

Death Panels in US Health Care

Posted on December 23, 2009 by Mark Pegram

During the present conversation on Health Care Reform legislation, there has been a lot of discussion about death panels. It seems that proponents of the present legislation have claimed that these panels are just scare tactics by those that do not want the legislation to pass. Here is an article from the New York Times discussing this issue. False ‘Death Panel’ has some Familiar Roots. Could it be that the real death panels are those groups that are appointed specifically as ‘non-biased’ for reporting to HHS, NIH, FDA, Department of Defense, and other government sponsoring bodies? The NY Times article claims “There is nothing in any of the legislative proposals that would call for the creation of death panels or any other governmental body that would cut off care for the critically ill as a cost-cutting measure.”

A committee or Food and Nutrition Board was appointed in September, 2008 to discuss and report on Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin D and Calcium. This committee is an arm of the Institute of Medicine and a sub-division of the National Academy of Sciences. The NAS was formed specifically to keep political views from entering into scientific decisions. From the Project Information for this FNB: “The project is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion), U.S. Department of Agriculture (Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, Agricultural Research Service), U.S. Department of Defense (Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center), and Health Canada.”

Dr. John Cannell, Vitamin D Council, was upset at the appointment of the members of this committee because he felt that the committee was biased because there was no one on the committee that been a leader in the ‘Vitamin D Revolution’. That was reported in his January 21, 2009 newsletter. Here is a feel for his upset from that newsletter: “Are these statements the reason the IOM excluded these vitamin D experts? Perhaps the IOM dislikes criticism more than it loves candor? When the new FNB vitamin D recommendations come out next summer, will those recommendations continue to “offend the most basic principles of pharmacology and toxicology?” If any member of the new board disagrees with the consensus of the board, will that scientist be allowed to produce a minority opinion without risking the loss of research grants in the future? “ I agree somewhat with John’s statements but it is also necessary not to have biased viewpoints on the committee which will make their report stronger evidence of the effects of vitamin D on the human body. This from their Conflicts of Interest Policy: “Finally, it is essential that the work of committees that are used by the institution in the development of reports not be compromised by issues of bias and lack of objectivity.”

They certainly would not want me on the committee having been pulled from the ‘jaws of death’ by vitamin D. I am exceptionally and without shame biased!! Dr. Cannell’s point is that there is no money to be made in the sale of vitamin D because it is one of the least expensive nutritional supplements on the market and it is free from sun exposure. Why not have some of the scientists on the committee that are the closest to the research? After all, these researchers have already demonstrated their character and their lack of bias by risking their careers in objecting to current practices. There are people in this esteemed list of doctors and scientist appointed to the committee that have done research on vitamin D so there is a body of knowledge that is inherent in this committee. So the question – is there any bias on this committee? List of committee members and a brief bio of their work.

When you look at bias you are always concerned about a scientist taking a strong viewpoint that could undermine his objectivity to the decision making process. Also you do not want a scientist that will gain materially from the decision that is being made. This last statement excludes everyone on the board. Not only does everyone on the board stand to not profit from their decision, the decision could reduce funding to their research projects by as much as half of everything they do. When it becomes knowledge that vitamin D is an essential hormone necessary to sustain life the amount of death from illness by chronic disease will be reduced by half and the medical industry including medical research will shrink accordingly.

This Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine on Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin D and Calcium, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, is by definition a death panel. Through their decisions they stand to significantly impact the centers of commerce and the flow of money throughout the world by improving the health of the world or holding to status quo. Financial Times has already discussed the fact that the reason the vitamin D science has not come forward is because of the money. Read this article: Why Governments are Selling Vitamin D Short – Sam Apple – published October 23, 2009 Financial Times: and my comments from my post ‘A Major Newspaper Gets It”

Dr. Cannell you are absolutely correct about the possibility of bias and so the question is will the members of this committee recuse themselves? Every member of this committee stands to lose. It is now a matter of character if the correct decisions are made. Dr. A. Catherine Ross, Chairman of this FNB, has the lives of millions of people in the world in her hands as well as the weight of the economic future of the world. The decisions of this committee will be the most powerful influence on health and economics that have been made in the history of the world since the death camps and declaration of war during World War II. I do not envy this appointment. My prayers are for you Dr. Ross and the committee.

Life, sometimes, is not easy in the sun. – Pandemic Survivor

Millions Needlessly Die of Vitamin D3 Deficiency

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Mark Pegram

Well, in my satire on the presidential declaration of a national emergency it seems that I got my numbers wrong about the amount of death from vitamin D deficiency. I had used 400,000 deaths that is an extrapolation used in William Grants paper on what would happen if everyone in the US were to take 2000 IU of D3 per day. “Reducing the Burden of Disease Through Adequate Intake of Vitamin D3.” http://www.sunarc.org/GrantGrassrootsHealth.pdf Since Dr. Grant wrote this paper that used data from 2001 new research has come to light.

I received an email today from the John Cannell, Vitamin D Council, that said that William Faloon, Co-Founded of Life Extension Foundation, had written a new article with a retraction of his data from the letter of 2007. http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2007/oct2007_awsi_01.htm His new numbers that appeared in the January, 2009 issue of Life Extension Magazine shows that there could be well over a million deaths in the US every year from vitamin D deficiency. http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/jan2009_Millions-of-Needless-Deaths_01.htm

So what are we to believe? I always like to check my data from an independent source. If we consider that vitamin D has the possibility of reducing all chronic disease by 40 percent what would that mean for America? If you will recall my post on Health Care Reform Heal the People we found that the death rate in Mexico is 4.8 per 1000 per year and in the US the death rate is 8.4 per 1000 per year, or 43% less deaths per year in Mexico. CIA Fact Sheets: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2066rank.html So you ask what the disparity of data is. Do they have a better health care system? The answer of course is that they are a sun-splashed country in the lower latitudes which means they most likely have higher vitamin D levels than the US. And not only that, but much of the population lives above 5000 ft which is above much of the atmospheric moisture and pollutions and this allows a higher incidence of UVB radiation to make vitamin D. Also their winters are not as cold so more of the human body is exposed because they simply wear fewer clothes.

The death rate in the US of 8.4 minus the death rate of 4.8 is 3.6 per 1000 population per year. If we take that most of this is from the difference in vitamin D levels then the US could reduce death by 3.6 times 307,000 thousand (307 million US population) per year. This works out to 1,150,000 people per year. If we say that there are more deaths because we have more cars and higher incidence of toxins because we are (were) a more industrialized nation, we would still have well over a million less deaths from vitamin D3 deficiency every year. This would decimate the medical and medical insurance industries to say nothing of big pharma and over-the-counter goods sold at retail as remedies for whatever. If the deaths are reduced by this much imagine how much less suffering and pain there would be from disease.

This is one heck of a survivor story as Mexico has significantly less death and suffering than the US because of vitamin D3. I know the above may not be very scientific but it makes a lot of just plain common sense. Imagine the millions of needless deaths in other countries because of this dread deficiency in a world with a population 6.7 billion people with a large portion living at the higher latitudes.

William Faloon sent this article to all Congressmen and Senators: http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/jan2009_Millions-of-Needless-Deaths_01.htm

While you are basking in the sun write your Congressman, The President, and the Secretary of Health and tell your friends. – Pandemic Survivor

Vitamin D Deficiency Survivor

Changing the Face of Health with Vitamin D

Category Archives: National Emergency