Pregnancy Not Included for Serum Vitamin D Testing

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Mark Pegram

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force has an opportunity for Public Comment for vitamin D testing. In the draft proposal, pregnancy is not listed. Based on the work of Bruce Hollis of the Medical University of South Carolina and others, this is a very serious error. According to this work, higher vitamin D levels prevents very serious conditions during pregnancy and improved birth weight of the baby. Please take the time to read the drafts and make comments.

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Opportunities for Public Comment

Draft Recommendation:

Under Importance, the Draft Recommendation states that ”low levels of vitamin D are associated with increased risk for fractures, functional limitations, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, and mortality.”

The USPSTF is working in conjunction with the Health and Human Services AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program. This group writes the medical guidelines for medical care.

Following is a paper that was written by the Endocrine Society Task Force in 2011:

Evaluation, Treatment, and Prevention of Vitamin D Deficiency: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline (pdf)

Authors: Michael F. Holick, Neil C. Binkley, Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari, Catherine M. Gordon, David A. Hanley, Robert P. Heaney, M. Hassan Murad, and Connie M. Weaver

First published in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, July 2011, 96(7): 1911–1930

Conclusions: Considering that vitamin D deficiency is very common in all age groups and that few foods contain vitamin D, the Task Force recommended supplementation at suggested daily intake and tolerable upper limit levels, depending on age and clinical circumstances. The Task Force also suggested the measurement of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level by a reliable assay as the initial diagnostic test is patients at risk for deficiency. Treatment with either vitamin D2 or vitamin D3 was recommended for deficient patients. At the present time, there is not sufficient evidence to recommend a screening individuals who are not at risk for deficiency or to prescribe vitamin D to attain the noncalcemic benefit for cardiovascular protection.

Note in the Endocrine Society guidelines that it includes D2 as being equal to D3. This was considered good practice since the 1940’s at resolution of the US government law suit against seventeen multinational corporations for conspiracy to manipulate the vitamin D market. According to Bruce Hollis research, pregnant women should take at least 4000 IU of vitamin D3 per day to reach sufficiency. Most vitamins for pregnancy only contain 1000 IU of D3.

It is my belief that the serum 25(OH)D level should be tested for any chronic disease, syndrome, or other conditions. There are some very serious diseases that were not included like tuberculosis. Vitamin D Wiki shows that vitamin D works on 47 health issues as of May, 2014 . Please take the time to comment. Women that I know that have taken serious consideration for vitamin D testing have had very successful outcomes. – 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

Grassroots Health Webinars on Vitamin D

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Mark Pegram

The scientist, researchers, and doctors at Grassroots Health have been presenting webinars on vitamin D and various topics. This is a wealth of information about how a given disease works with vitamin D as well as the interaction of calcium.

I highly encourage you to go to the website and watch and listen to the webinars. There is a new one every Tuesday at 1PM eastern time. Also after becoming familiar with the information, I encourage you to ask your doctor to watch, if he is giving you a hard time about supplementing with vitamin D. It is important that you maintain your 25(OH)D level above 40 ng/ml.

If you don’t watch and listen to any of the others, I highly suggest that you watch – Why Test Vitamin D!? The question is always – How much should I take? This gives you and understanding that everyone responds differently to amounts. At the Grassroots Health home page you can find a table of how to start supplementing before testing. There is also a downloadable chart as a PDF.

Here is the link to the Video Page http://www.grassrootshealth.net/index.php/videos

Diabetes & Vitamin D
The Sun & Vitamin D I and II
Pregnancy & Vitamin D I and II
Upper Respiratory Infections & Vitamin DI and II
Ethic Disparities & Vitamin D
Premenopausal Breast Cancer & Vitamin D
The Cost of Vitamin D Deficiency: In Dollars & Disease
Vitamin D & Calcium, Fractures, & Kidney Stones What do we know?
Why Test Vitamin D!?
Prostate Cancer Positive Core Biopsies Reduced with Vitamin D
Prostate Cancer Lesions Reduced with Vitamin D
Vitamin D Stops Breast Cancer
Vitamin D & Gene Expression
Vitamin D & Treatment of Autism
Pregnancy & Vitamin D Interview
Alzheimer’s Prevention & Vitamin
Interaction of Vitamin D and Calcium
Vitamin D Requirements for Breast Feeding Mothers
Vitamin D & Breast Cancer
Vitamin D & Cardiovascular Disease
Vitamin D & The Immune System
Vitamin D & Cystic Fibrosis

Be well and stay healthy – Pandemic Survivor

ADD, ADHD, Autism, and Cretinism – Deficiency Diseases

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Mark Pegram

Bad parenting, video games, television, poor schools, and on and on have all been blamed for disorders in children. Add to that the claims of environment toxins from mercury in vaccines to additives in plastics leaves us grasping at straws as families deal with the ever growing issues. However, I believe the real bad actors in all the array of mental and physical malfunction is primarily caused by deficiencies of critical nutrients. The primary players in brain function and physical formation are iodine, vitamin D, and vitamin A. Depending on the level of deficiency of nutrients will give a varying degree of malfunction. Not only are the deficiencies important, it is also during the period of development of the child that the deficiency occurs that is critical.

A minor deficiency in iodine and vitamin D during the year of three to six or older may lead to ADD or ADHD. A severe deficiency of iodine during pregnancy will lead to Cretinism or severe mental and physical malformation. A deficiency of iodine during the first two years of life will lead to 10 to 15 points loss of IQ. The array and severity of various diseases are endless. It all depends on the nutrition of the person involved.

The solution for parents to relieve the worry of rearing children is relative simple. Be sure that the mother during pregnancy and the child during developmental years get enough of the required nutrients. You cannot sit back and expect government and your doctors to be all protective. Their goals are not necessarily a healthy developing child which conflicts severely with the goals of the parents.

The question then becomes how much of what nutrient do I need to be sure my children are healthy. Here is where the real conflict comes into play. The science is not limited in providing the correct understanding of what is needed. However, the needs of the child come in direct conflict with the needs of the institution’s economic health. I recently heard a doctor on Fox News describe the supplementation with vitamins and minerals as not necessary. Of course this would be true if you lived in the Garden of Eden. With today’s food processing removing nutrients and destroying the integrity of organic molecules, the need of supplementation is every present.

To keep it simple, I would suggest that you get the following amounts from all sources:

Vitamin D3 approximately 40 IU per pound of body weight per day
Vitamin A the same as D3
Iodine approximately 1 milligram for every fifty pounds of body weight should be adequate.

Otherwise, try to maintain a healthy diet by eating a wide variety of foods. Keep the amount of dense carbohydrates to a minimum. Avoid wheat and corn if possible and especially if it is GMO. Keep sugar to a minimum.

With that being said, I will leave you with two thoughts: “Food is Medicine.” – Randy Jirtle and don’t give up freedom for security. – Pandemic Survivor

Open Letter to Mothers

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Mark Pegram

This post was originally a note to my medically inspired daughters and mother of my grandchildren and loves of my life:

The art of medicine has now been overcome with the snake oil salesmen of the early twentieth century taking over the industry through manipulation of published papers, lobbying efforts in congress to make obscene regulations, manipulation of all the government authorities under HHS, and egregious greed. This has become apparent by looking at the fact that we spend 2.4 trillion on health care and 1.5 trillion on food. A complete reversal of how health should be considered. We spend twice as much per capita for health care as other industrialize countries in the world thus totally upsetting the ratio of food to health care. In the words of Dr. Randy Jirtle, an extraordinary pioneer in epigentics and genomics imprinting in his work at Duke University, “Food is medicine.”

Medicine has gone out of it way to diminish the effects of nutrients on our health for the sole reason of maintaining a large medical economy to enrich the pockets of the greedy. The only way that this large segment of the economy can be maintained is to have a large unhealthy population. We have the best medical system in the world when it comes to acute illness. When it comes to chronic disease, we rank about fifty in the world’s health care systems. The manipulation of medicine and food is atrocious. We continually wonder and worry about why the rate of chronic disease continues to rise and the health of our children degrades. GMO foods, the use of sugar and other compounds to drive our appetites, and drugs instead of nutrition have lead us down a road of much pain in our society.

There are many nutrients you must be concern about for the health of your families and the success of your medical practices. The most important are (not in order of significance): Vitamin A – not beta-carotene, vitamin D3, vitamin C, magnesium, iodine, sulfate. Understanding how these nutrients interact with the nutrients from our diet is important as well.

I believe that the onslaught of disease in our children, in particular mental degradation with ADD, ADHD, and autism, is cause not by any one nutrient deficiency, but the combination of deficiencies. If we consider autism, I believe this is a response to the reduction of vitamin D3, iodine, magnesium, and sulfate. With iodine being the leading cause of mental retardation according to WHO, it is a must that you and your children get enough. Iodine does not act alone. It is in combination with vitamin D3, vitamin A, and iodine that cellular differentiation works at the optimum levels.

Your grandfather and grandmother assured that we got enough of these nutrients in eating liver, consuming cod liver oil, spending time in the sun, and sulfured black strap molasses(loaded with minerals as the grass is cooked down). This practice has fallen out of favor as being just ‘old wives tales.’ It is very difficult in today’s world with its peer pressure to reach a reasonable compliance in these nutrients. You are very creative women and I know that you will develop your own procedures to reach a nutritionally rich diet for your families. Disease in our family can be traced directly to your grandmother’s concern for over exposure of her children to the sun.

I appreciate in how you women have developed your love of God, your success with beautiful families, and success in your medical practices. Live your life in pursuit of love, joy, and peace and all of your desires will be met. The light, the truth, and the way of God will find you.

Love, Dad -Pandemic Survivor

Vitamin D Replete Baby!

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Mark Pegram

This is what a vitamin D replete baby born to a vitamin D replete mother (6500 IU/d D3 during pregnancy) looks like at two weeks old. It is a yawner! – Pandemic Survivor

Low vitamin D in womb linked to more weight at age 6 Vitamin D Wiki

Vitamin D Yields Happy Mother’s Day

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Mark Pegram

I am the proud grandfather of a baby boy. My daughter gave birth to Lee Isaac yesterday afternoon. Mother and baby are doing great. What a great Mother’s day gift.

My daughter, a pharmacist at a local state university hospital, took vitamin D regularly during her pregnancy. She took five thousand IU per day and typically took an additional five thousand IU every third day. This averages out to about sixty five hundred IU per day.

She had irregular contractions throughout this past week. She slept fine on Thursday night and woke up in labor about five thirty on Friday morning. She was in the hospital by ten o’clock after a visit to her doctor’s office. During the week, her blood pressure remained low. Readings were typical of 110/65 with no danger of preeclampsia just as recent studies have shown. There were no need for pain meds during labor and the baby was born at 2:15pm.

This is my daughter’s second child and she took vitamin D with her first child as well. What are we to make of all this? If you are pregnant and want to have a happy Mother’s Day, then you should also assure that you are getting enough vitamin D. There is no guarantee that your pregnancy and birth process will go as well as my daughter’s, but why take the risk of being vitamin D deficiency? – Pandemic Survivor

Baby – Vitamin D!

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Mark Pegram

In last post, I berated the researchers for only using 400 IU of vitamin D as an amount to study. My reasoning was your body can make this amount in only a couple of minutes in the midday summer sun. However, the reason this amount has been used; it is the amount required for a baby to not get rickets. Think about a ten pound baby needing 400 IU or about 40 IU per pound of body weight per day. Since vitamin D is used throughout the body then the more your body weight the more you need. Ratio of body weight to the amount required should be carried out as the baby increases with weight.

I just rechecked the amount suggested by the governments NIH dietary fact sheet. This states that an infant 0-1 year old should get 400 IU per day for health. It then says that a lactating mother needs only 600 IU per day. So I guess they think that the mother can pass on 400 IU per day if she gets 600 IU? The idiots! Where is Dr. House when you need him? If we follow the rule of thumb, then a one hundred twenty five pound mother should be getting – 125 lb x 40 IU = 5000 IU per day of D3. At this level the mother may be able to pass along close to the requirement of the baby at 400 IU per day. Actually Dr. Bruce Hollis actually states that a lactating mother should be getting at least 6400 IU to assure that the baby gets the required 400 IU.

The NIH guidelines are made up out of the minds of the IOM Food and Nutrition Board. The tolerable upper limits for a baby is 1000 IU per day until six months and for the next six months the upper limit is 1500 IU per day. If we follow our rule of thumb, then the tolerable upper limit for a lactating mother would then be 12500 IU per day. This seems right to me. However, the guidelines state that the tolerable upper limit is 4000IU per day. This number is used for anyone over nine years old. It is like the government thinks when we hit nine, our body does not use anymore vitamin D with increased size – WOW! I think the researcher’s brains just stopped growing when they reached nine.

My daughter consistently took 7500 IU of D3 per day during lactation. She took five thousand IU’s one day and the next she would take 10,000 IU. The baby thrived. When she weaned the baby, she did not check to be sure the baby was getting vitamin D. The baby started to have colds. After two trips to the doctor, I convinced her to give the child supplements to assure the baby was getting between 400 to 1000 IU per day. When that happened the child got well and once again thrived. To accomplish this, she used vitamin D drops and put it in whatever liquid the child was consuming.

Always be sure that your baby is getting at least 400 IU per day throughout the first year of life. Or better, be sure the baby gets at least 40 IU per pound of body weight per day throughout its life. – pandemic survivor

How Much Vitamin D during Pregnancy

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Mark Pegram

The proper question to ask is not how much vitamin D during pregnancy, but what is the proper serum level of vitamin D during pregnancy. The reason for this is that every woman responds differently with serum level versus the amount of vitamin D they are getting from all sources. This has to do with the response of the body to various life processes that are ongoing.

Dr. Hollis in one study on pregnancy and vitamin D reported that a woman taking 6400 IU of D3 per day had a measured serum level of vitamin D of 20 ng/ml instead of the expected result; more than 50 ng/ml. The woman came down with the flu the next day. Whether it is a highly active need for vitamin D or a more long term need the body uses vitamin D at different rates. The only way to tell for sure is to have your serum level tested. The work of Dr. Hollis and Carol Wagner at MUSC has shown that in general pregnant women need around 4000 IU D3 per day to have a healthy baby and reduced complications.

What is the proper serum level? This has become the sticky issue. The IOM says that a level of 20 ng/ml is enough for 25(OH)D or the storage from of vitamin D in the body. The Society of Endocrinology has stated that everyone should have a minimum of 30 ng/ml. Grassroots Health has stated that the best level should be between 40 to 60 ng/ml. Dr. John Cannell of the Vitamin D Council says that the level should be above 60 ng/ml to get the best health effects. Are you confused yet?

The long established normal range for serum vitamin D, 25(OH)D, has long been used as 20 to 100 ng/ml. This is what is expected from the general population. People in a sunny country typically have a value in the range of 54 to 90 ng/ml (Grant and Holick). I suspect that the best that you can do for your body and maintain health is to be as if you lived in a sunny country. The studies that used only 400 IU of vitamin D and those that recommend this amount as adequate are well, quite frankly in the words of Dr. House –TV character, idiots. The value of 400 IU D3 only represents about two minutes in the sun and most likely will not affect your health one way or another. It disturbs me that we have spent huge amounts of money to study this amount of intake – we have been played by the researchers just so they have research money from the government.

Henry Lahore who has spent a great deal of time trying to put the facts together about vitamin D, has develop this web page specifically for mom’s and baby’s needs. This is really a great resource – thanks Henry! Overview Moms babies and vitamin D = Vitamin D: Before, During, and After Pregnancy Also the home page index so that you may explore other vitamin D specifics – VitamindWiki Home Page or www.vitamindwiki.com

Hormonal balance is the key to a happy pregnancy. Adequate vitamin D3 is the key to this balance. I love to be around women that are pregnant with a proper hormonal balance because they are so happy and full of love – the primary ingredient needed for health – pandemic survivor

Vitamin D Safety in Pregnancy

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Mark Pegram

The act of allowing a fetus to develop in the womb is wonderful and a blessing to and by humanity. To the give the baby the best start in the world I suspect love is the most important ingredient. However, giving the baby enough of the correct nutrients is also critical. I have several friends that are pregnant and are concerned about whether the mother is getting enough of the correct nutrients. So let’s look at the several things that modern medicine is ignoring that could have significant impact on a developing fetus and the mother and the safety.

It seems that modern medicine struggles with the two most important nutrients – vitamin D and iodine. Vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin D, and iodine work in a synergistic manager to allow the total expression of the genetic map. The World Health Organization says that iodine deficiency is now accepted as the most common cause of preventable brain damage in the world. I suspect most cases of postpartum depression are iodine deficiency because the baby took all that the mother had. It is not just this nutrient or that nutrient; it is the combination of all nutrients working together. Some day medicine will discover that using analysis of the variants is flawed and allows for too much misadventure. The change to analysis of the means will give a much better picture of the influence of a substance and more importantly the interactions.

My daughter took an average of 7500 IU of D3 per day and had a wonderful experience as I described in this post: Pregnancy and Lactating Mothers. The only misfortunate thing that happened was she had to change doctors because of incompetence of the doctor.

The best start to this exploration is to listen to Carole Baggerly of Grassroots Health interview Dr. Carol Wagner. They discuss a recent study on the safety of vitamin D and pregnancy. The study used 4000 IU per day of vitamin D3 as this is an amount that the IOM says is safe to use for supplementation without discussing it with your doctor. D*Facts Pregnancy is really interesting as the women are giddy with the results showing reduction in complications. I share their excitement. Here is the video –D*Facts Pregnancy.

An act of love results as a blessing – pandemic survivor.

Vitamin D Deficiency Survivor

Changing the Face of Health with Vitamin D

Category Archives: Pregnancy and Lactation