Low Vitamin D in Childhood Linked to
Heart Risks Later in Life, and Raises Adults’ Risk of Severe Stroke and
Cancer
February 23, 2015
Story at-a-glance
-
Vitamin D deficiency in childhood may double your
risk of hardening of the arteries in middle-age
-
People who have low vitamin D status are far more
likely to suffer more severe strokes, and they also
have poorer outcomes after suffering a stroke
compared to those with more adequate vitamin D
levels
-
Patients diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer
who have higher levels of vitamin D have a far
greater progression-free survival rate than those
who are deficient
By Dr. Mercola
Researchers such as Dr. Robert Heaney, who I previously
interviewed in the above video, have now realized that
vitamin D is involved in the biochemical “machinery” of all
cells and tissues in your body, which is why it has such a potent
impact on health and disease.
When you don’t have enough, your entire body will end up
struggling to function properly, because all cells need the active
form of vitamin D to open up the genome and access the information
retained within its genetic plans.
When you’re deficient in vitamin D, your health can deteriorate
in any number of ways from this lack of access to the cells’ genetic
blueprint.
Researchers have previously pointed out that increasing levels of
vitamin D3 among the general population could prevent chronic
diseases that claim nearly one million lives throughout the world
each year.
Chances are this number would reach even higher if more recent
research were to be taken into account. Either way, compelling
evidence suggests that optimizing your vitamin D can reduce your
risk of death from any cause,1
making it a foundational component of optimal health.
Childhood Vitamin D Deficiency Can Be Costly in Terms of Health
For years, it’s been known that children born to vitamin
D-deficient mothers are at increased risk for type 1 diabetes.
Vitamin D deficiency in childhood is also associated with more
severe
asthma and allergies.
Recent research also suggests that having low vitamin D levels in
childhood may raise your risk of hardening of the arteries in
middle-age. The study,2
published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism,
involved nearly 2,150 people who were enrolled in 1980 at the age of
3-18. As reported by the New York Times:3
“All underwent periodic physical exams, including
measures of serum vitamin D levels, blood pressure, lipid
levels, diet, smoking, and physical activity and were examined
up to age 45.
Doctors used ultrasound to examine arteries, including
the carotid artery in the neck; thickening of the arteries is
considered a marker of higher cardiovascular risk.
A vitamin D level of between 30 to 50 is generally
considered adequate. Children in the lowest one-quarter for
vitamin D levels, about 15 nanograms per milliliter, were nearly
twice as likely to have thickening of the carotid artery as
those in the other three quarters.”
According to lead author, Dr. Markus Juonala, a professor of
internal medicine at the University of Turku in Finland, the
findings suggest that vitamin D plays a role in long-term arterial
health.
Here, they did not find that low vitamin D in childhood resulted
in any specific heart conditions or stroke later in life, but other
studies have indeed noted a strong connection between low vitamin D
in adults and such health problems.
Low Vitamin D May Predict More Severe Stroke
According to veteran vitamin D researcher Dr. Michael Holick,
research has shown that vitamin D deficiency can increase your risk
of heart attack by 50 percent. Moreover, if you have a heart attack
and you're vitamin D deficient, your risk of dying from that heart
attack is upwards of 100 percent!
Similarly, findings presented at this year’s annual American
Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference suggest that
people who have low vitamin D status are far more likely to suffer
more severe strokes.
They also have poorer outcomes after suffering a stroke compared
to those with more adequate vitamin D levels. As reported by the
American Heart Association:4
“[Stroke] patients who had low vitamin D levels –defined
as less than 30 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) – had about
two-times larger areas of dead tissue resulting from obstruction
of the blood supply compared to patients with normal vitamin D
levels...
For each 10 ng/mL reduction in vitamin D level, the
chance for healthy recovery in the three months following stroke
decreased by almost half, regardless of the patient's age or
initial stroke severity.”
Virtually All Cancer Patients Have Low Vitamin D Levels
Low vitamin D is also strongly associated with an increased risk
for well over a dozen different cancers, including breast and colon
cancer. Theories linking vitamin D deficiency to cancer have been
tested and confirmed in hundreds of epidemiological studies, and
understanding of its physiological basis stems from more than 2,500
laboratory studies.
Its anticancer effects include the promotion of apoptosis (cancer
cell death), and the inhibition of
angiogenesis (the growth of blood vessels that feed a tumor),
and the level of protection afforded by vitamin D can indeed be
significant. For example:
- One recent meta-analysis5
found that having a high serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D was
associated with a 25 percent reduction in relative risk of
bladder cancer
- A 2007 study published in the American Journal of
Preventive Medicine6
concluded that a vitamin D level of more than 33 ng/mL was
associated with a 50 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer
- Researchers7,8
Joan Lappe and Robert Heaney found that menopausal women given
enough vitamin D to raise their serum levels to 40 ng/ml
experienced a 77 percent reduction in the incidence of all
cancers after just four years’ of supplementation
- According to Carole Baggerly, founder of GrassrootsHealth,9
the evidence suggests as much as 90 percent of ordinary breast
cancer may be related to vitamin D deficiency
Link Between Vitamin D Levels and Colorectal Cancer Strengthened
Not only does vitamin D protect against tumor proliferation in
the first place, it also affects treatment outcome and recovery. The
connection between vitamin D status and cancer survival was most
recently demonstrated in research presented at the annual
Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.
Patients diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer who had
higher levels of vitamin D had a far greater progression-free
survival rate than those who were deficient. As reported by Clinical
Oncology:10
“The study’s lead investigator, Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH...
said the research adds to the existing evidence that vitamin D
levels have an effect on cancer. Vitamin D is known to inhibit
cell proliferation and angiogenesis, induce cell differentiation
and apoptosis and have anti-inflammatory effects.
“Many of these processes are dysregulated in cancer,
which led to the hypothesis that perhaps vitamin D had
anticancer activity,” said Dr. Ng. Laboratory data support this
hypothesis, with experiments demonstrating that administering
vitamin D to mice with intestinal cancer reduces tumor burden.”
Nearly 1,045 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer were
included in the study, and the median vitamin D level among them was
just over 17 ng/ml. Few of them reported taking any kind of vitamin
D supplement. Typically, anything below 20 ng/ml is considered a
serious deficiency state that increases your chances of any number
of health problems, including cancer. Many studies show that having
adequate vitamin D is critical in order to optimize treatment
outcome. Here, Dr. Ng noted that: “Patients who had levels in
the highest quintile had a median survival of 32.6 months compared
with 24.5 months for patients with levels in the lowest quintile.”
The Many Health Risks of Low Vitamin D
Vitamin D is one of the most well-researched nutrients out there,
and the evidence overwhelmingly points to the fact that it is
critical for optimal health and disease prevention. By the end of
2012, there were nearly 34,000 published studies on the effects of
vitamin D, and there are well over 800 references in the medical
literature showing
vitamin D's effectiveness against cancer alone.
I’m thoroughly convinced that optimizing your vitamin D stores
can go a long way toward preventing disease and living a longer,
healthier life, as the known health
benefits of vitamin D now number in the hundreds, if not
thousands. Besides cancer and cardiovascular disease, other benefits
of vitamin D include protection against:
Autoimmune diseases. Vitamin D is a
potent immune modulator, making it very important for the
prevention of autoimmune diseases, like
multiple sclerosis11
(MS) and inflammatory bowel disease. |
Lung disease. In those who are
deficient, vitamin D supplementation may reduce flare-ups of
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) symptoms by
more than 40 percent.12
Other research13
suggests vitamin D may protect against some of the adverse
effects of smoking as well. |
Infections, including influenza.
Vitamin D also fights infections, including colds and the
flu, as it regulates the expression of genes that influence
your immune system to attack and destroy bacteria and
viruses. I believe it's far more prudent, safer, less
expensive, and most importantly, far more effective to
optimize your vitamin D levels than to get vaccinated
against the flu. |
DNA repair and metabolic processes. One
of Dr. Michael Holick’s studies showed that healthy
volunteers taking 2,000 IUs of vitamin D per day for a few
months upregulated 291 different genes that control up to 80
different metabolic processes. This included improving DNA
repair; having a beneficial effect on autoxidation
(oxidation that occurs in the presence of oxygen and /or UV
radiation, which has implications for aging and cancer, for
example); boosting the immune system; and many other
biological processes. |
Brain health,(depression,14,15
dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease). Vitamin D
receptors appear in a wide variety of brain tissue, and
activated vitamin D receptors increase nerve growth in your
brain. Vitamin D is therefore important for optimal brain
function, mental health, and for the prevention of
degenerative brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease.
According to one recent study,16,17
seniors with low vitamin D levels may double their risk of
dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Another study18,19,20
found that people with the highest average intakes of
vitamin D had a 77 percent decreased risk for Alzheimer's.
Researchers believe that optimal vitamin D levels may
enhance the amount of important chemicals in your brain and
protect brain cells by increasing the effectiveness of the
glial cells in nursing damaged neurons back to health.
Vitamin D may also exert some of its beneficial effects on
your brain through its anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting
properties. |
How Much Vitamin Do You Need?
Dr. Robert Heaney is a professor and a well-respected vitamin D
researcher, having studied this nutrient for more than 50 years. In
the interview above, he shares many of his insights into this
question. As a general guideline, an ideal, and what needs to be
reclassified as normal, vitamin D level is in the range of 40-60
ng/ml. According to Dr. Heaney, research has shown that 40-60 ng/ml
is the level a nursing mother needs in order to ensure her milk
will contain the vitamin D her nursing infant needs. The 40-60
ng/ml range is also the same range needed for thyroid health, and
it’s the range found in tribal populations living on the equatorial
plains of East Africa.
Dr. Heaney has pointed out new research showing that oral
sources of vitamin D are much higher than previously
thought, and this provides compelling justification for the use
of oral supplementation. But virtually every expert I have asked
does believe that vitamin D produced from the UVB exposure
provides additional therapeutic benefits. But for most people,
winter precludes anything other than to increase their oral
vitamin D supplementation.
That said, sensible sun exposure appears to be the best way to
optimize your vitamin D level. Dr. Heaney stresses that you need to
get approximately 5,000 to 6,000 IUs of vitamin D per day from
all sources – sun, supplements, and food – in order to reach
and maintain a blood level of 40-60 ng/ml.
Keep in mind that the specific dosage is a very loose guideline,
because people vary widely in their ability to respond to vitamin D.
GrassrootsHealth—which
Dr. Heaney is Research Director of—also has a helpful chart showing
the average adult dose required to reach healthy vitamin D levels
based upon your measured starting point. Ideally, make sure to
monitor your levels at regular intervals, and take whatever amount
of vitamin D3 you need to maintain a clinically relevant level
year-round. Do remember to take vitamin D3—not synthetic D2—along
with
vitamin K2 and magnesium. To learn more about the reason for
this recommendation, please see my previous article, “Magnesium—The
Missing Link to Better Health.”
Sources
How Vitamin D Performance Testing Can Help Optimize Your Health
A robust and growing body of research clearly shows that vitamin
D is absolutely critical for good health and disease prevention.
Vitamin D affects your DNA through vitamin D receptors (VDRs), which
bind to specific locations of the human genome. Scientists have
identified nearly 3,000 genes that are influenced by
vitamin D levels, and vitamin D receptors have been found throughout
the human body.
Is it any wonder then that no matter what disease or condition is
investigated, vitamin D appears to play a crucial role? This is why
I am so excited about the
D*Action Project by GrassrootsHealth. Dr.Heaney is the Research
Director of GrassrootsHealth and is part of the design of the
D*action Project as well as analysis of the research findings.
GrassrootsHealth shows how you can take action today on known
science with a consensus of experts without waiting for
institutional lethargy. It has shown how by combining the science of
measurement (of vitamin D levels) with the personal choice of taking
action and, the value of education about individual measures that
one can truly be in charge of their own health.
In order to spread this health movement to more communities, the
project needs your involvement. This was an ongoing campaign during
the month of February, and will become an annual event.
To participate, simply purchase the
D*Action Measurement Kit and follow the registration
instructions included. (Please note that 100 percent of the proceeds
from the kits go to fund the research project. I do not charge a
single dime as a distributor of the test kits.)
As a participant, you agree to test your vitamin D levels twice a
year during a five-year study, and share your health status to
demonstrate the public health impact of this nutrient. There is a
$65 fee every six months for your sponsorship of this research
project, which includes a test kit to be used at home,
and electronic reports on your ongoing progress. You will get a
follow up email every six months reminding you "it's time for your
next test and health survey."
Copyright 1997- 2015 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/02/23/childhood-vitamin-d-deficiency.aspx
|