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The Willner Window Product Reference Catalog, Fall 2017
Since 1911
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Willner Chemists: The Nutritional Supplement Professionals
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them, and how to use them.
. . . and remember to visit Don’s Blog
Vitamin D: Is the Blush off the Rose?
The list of health conditions that may
have been influenced by sub-optimal
vitamin D levels was extensive, running
the gamut from osteoporosis to cancer,
diabetes, and depression. Conventional
medicine is always more accepting when
there are clinical tests that can be used to
determine a need–and such a test, 25-
hydroxyvitamin D is readily available,
and now widely used. Low results have
supported the need for supplementation.
“Vitamin D insufficiency, based on
blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D
below 20 ng/mL, is common in the
northern latitudes such as Canada and
the northern half of the US. Interestingly,
these levels also occur in as many as 40%
of older people even in sunny climates
such as South Florida. Prevalence of
vitamin D considered insufficient and
deficient among young, healthy people
appears to be increasing, possibly
because of excessive use of sunscreens. .
. Vitamin D deficiency, based on blood
levels <20 ng/mL, is particularly common
in adults over age 50 years. More than
50% of North American women receiving
therapy to prevent or treat osteoporosis
have inadequate vitamin D stores. . .”
(Natural Medicines)
Inevitably, however, the pendulum
starts to swing the other way. In some
cases, further research has failed to
support various enthusiastic claims for
vitamin D curing this or healing that. This
is only to be expected. Unfortunately, to
the general public, this news is often
presented in a way that gives the general
impression that vitamin D has been
discredited. Nothing is further from the
truth.
For example, here are four
recent studies revealing new
vitamin D benefits:
- Diabetic Retinopathy:
Poorly controlled glucose levels in
diabetes can cause changes in the retina
of the eye that may lead to blindness.
Doctors in this study wanted to know
what role, if any, vitamin D might play.
Reviewing 11 publications covering
6,000 study participants, those diabetics
who were deficient in vitamin D were 27
percent more likely to have diabetic
retinopathy than diabetics who had
sufficient levels of vitamin D. Explaining
the findings, doctors said vitamin D may
improve insulin secretion, and may also
discourage abnormal blood vessel
growth.
(Reference: Canadian Journal of
Ophthalmology; 2017, Vol. 52, No. 2,
219-24)
- Headache Relief:
In this study, doctors compared 100
adults over age 18 who complained of
chronic tension-type or migraine
headaches with 100 similar people
without headaches. Those with
headaches had an average of 14.7
nanograms of vitamin D per milliliter of
blood compared to 27.4 nanograms for
healthy participants.
(Reference: Headache; May, 2017,
13096, Published Online)
- Avoid Early Menopause
About one in 10 women experiences
menopause before the age of 45, raising
chances for heart and circulatory events,
osteoporosis, and other conditions.
Analyzing vitamin D in the diets of
participants in the large Nurses' Health
Study II, those who got the most vitamin
D were 17 percent less likely to develop
early menopause compared to women
who got the least vitamin D.
(Reference: American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition; May, 2017, Published Online)
- Better Sleep, Less pain
Doctors reviewed pain- and sleep-
disorder studies and found those who
took vitamin D supplements combined
with good sleep patterns were able to
increase the effect of pain-management
treatments. The conditions that improved
in the studies included fibromyalgia,
chronic back pain, menstrual cramps,
and arthritis. Doctors said vitamin D may
help regulate immune and nervous
system mechanisms to reduce pain.
(Reference: Endocrinology-Journals; May,
2017, Published Online)
- Re-Synchronizing Heartbeat,.
The left chamber of the heart is
responsible for pumping blood to the
body, while the right chamber pumps
blood only to the lungs. In systolic heart
failure, the left chamber does not
contract normally and fails to push
enough blood into circulation.
To treat the condition, doctors send
small electrical impulses to the lower
chambers of the heart to re-synchronize
the heartbeat, enabling the heart to
pump efficiently, a procedure called
cardiac resynchronization therapy, or
CRT. About one-third of those who
receive CRT typically do not respond.
In this study, 57 people with systolic
heart failure received CRT, with 60
percent responding. Doctors found the
responders had significantly higher
circulating levels of vitamin D compared
to non-responders; 26.17 vs. 21.15
nanograms per milliliter of blood,
respectively.
(Reference: Turk Kardiyol Dern Ars; 2016,
Vol. 44, No. 8, 670-6)
- Improving Heart Function.
People with chronic heart failure (CHF)-
when the left heart chamber does not
pump sufficient blood to the body-are
often low in vitamin D. In this study, 163
people with CHF and vitamin D
deficiency, below 20 nanograms per
milliliter of blood, took a placebo or
4,000 IU of vitamin D per day. After 12
months, those taking vitamin D saw a
6.07 percent increase in left-chamber
pumping capacity and, compared to
placebo, greater improvement in
chamber dimensions and volume.
Doctors said vitamin D may be an
inexpensive, safe treatment option for
CHF.
(Reference: Journal of the American
College of Cardiology; 2016, Vol. 67, No.
22, 2593-603)
- Fewer Heart and Circulatory
Events.
In this review of long-term heart studies
covering 180,667 people, doctors
discovered that for every 10 nanograms
per milliliter of blood increase in vitamin
D, chances for fatal and non-fatal heart
events decreased by 10 to 12 percent.
(Reference: American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition; 2017, 116.140392)
In summary, the benefits of ensuring
optimal vitamin D levels clearly
outweighs any downside. Your doctor
should be happy to run a vitamin D level
for you if he has not already done so.
Look at your multivitamin supplement,
and your bone health supplements to see
how much vitamin D you are taking
daily. While 400 IU per day used to be
considered adequate, it is now thought
that 800IU-1,000IU is more appropriate.
F
or some time now, vitamin D has been the darling
of not only the natural medicine community, but
also conventional medicine as well. Evidence that
many people were actually deficient in vitamin D, along
with an ever-increasing list of conditions that seemed to
be related to vitamin D levels, led to supplement
recommendations and increased dosage levels.
