Vitamin D Deficiency is a Major Health Risk

With winter fast approaching and the topic of Vitamin D being in the news almost daily, I thought I would provide some reliable information for you on this topic. This is something that I am addressing with each of my patients, friends, and family. Hope this helps to clarify this topic for you.

Many Americans, particularly African Americans, may be suffering from unrecognized deficiencies of a key nutrient -- vitamin D -- that increase the risk of bone problems and perhaps a host of other diseases, a growing number of scientists say.

Pediatricians scattered around the country have been surprised to see children suffering from rickets, a bone disorder caused by vitamin D deficiency that had been largely relegated to a bygone era. A few doctors have come across adults who were disabled by severe muscle weakness and pain, sometimes for years, until they were treated for undiagnosed vitamin D deficiency. And recent studies suggest low vitamin D may be putting the elderly at higher risk for the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis and life-threatening falls and fractures.

But beyond bone and muscle problems, some evidence suggests a dearth of vitamin D may be associated with an array of more serious illnesses, including many forms of cancer, high blood pressure, depression, and immune-system disorders such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes.

In response, many scientists have begun pushing to sharply boost the official recommendations for how much vitamin D everyone should get daily, either by taking supplements, by eating more food that contains the nutrient or from the sun -- a major source of vitamin D.

Suggestions that people get more sun exposure, however, have sparked an unusually intense, and sometimes bitter, debate. Skin cancer experts are alarmed that people will disregard warnings about unprotected sun exposure, making them more vulnerable to what is the most common malignancy.

Vitamin D is a nutrient that's been around for a long time, but it's relatively recently that there's been a lot of evidence emerging that indicates there's more to vitamin D than we thought.

All along the northern United States, where we have long winters, a lot of snow, not much sunshine all winter, there is endemic vitamin D deficiency. In response, the American Academy of Pediatrics last spring instructed pediatricians to prescribe that all children, especially breast-fed babies, take vitamin D supplements through adolescence.

While it is clear that low vitamin D levels can lead to rickets in children, muscle problems in older people and probably brittle bones in the elderly, there is a link to other serious illnesses. For example, many cancers, most notably breast, colon and prostate cancer, seem to increase the farther you get from the equator, where exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun is greatest.

Some studies suggest vitamin D can reduce blood pressure, which would cut the risk for heart disease and strokes -- the nation's leading causes of death. Others suggest that low vitamin D levels may contribute to depression and other psychiatric conditions.

One of the best sources to obtain appropriate levels of Vitamin D is Cod Liver Oil. But careful when choosing which Cod Liver Oil! You want an oil from a reliable source and that of good quality. Stay tuned for my thoughts on which Cod Liver Oils are best, where to get them, and why everyone should take it.

Be well,

Dr. M