Blog Entries tagged 'vitamin d'

Vitamin D Deficiency Common in Pre-menopausal Women with Breast Cancer

rwilson@etstan.com — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Studies are finding pre-menopausal women in early stages of breast cancer also suffer from Vitamin D deficiency, indicating there might be a link. Vitamin D is a booster of the immune system and helps the body fight off a variety of bacterial infections � and possibly more. There�s an increasing amount of evidence which shows breast cancer is less likely in women with high levels of Vitamin D.

Researchers at Columbia University reported that in their study of 103 pre-menopausal women [...]

A Weapon in the Fight Against Flu and the Blues

rwilson@etstan.com — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +0100

The recent swine flu scare had everyone worried about their health, but there�s good news for those �ounce of prevention� types and it�s called Vitamin D. Having enough is important because recent studies have shown when levels of vitamin D are low, we�re more susceptible to colds and flus. So while not exactly a cure, it is effective in staving off those rampant viruses floating around at the office.

Vitamin D is actually a hormone which encourages and empowers your immune system thr [...]

Vitamin D and UV-B May Help Treat Multiple Sclerosis

rwilson@etstan.com — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +0100

There just may be a reason multiple sclerosis (MS) is less common in countries that have more year �round sunshine. At least, there is new research which indicates Vitamin D (acquired orally or through the skin via sunshine or UV-B rays from indoor tanning beds) helps in the treatment of the disease.

MS is a medical disorder in which the body doesn�t recognize itself. As a result, the body�s own immune system attacks and eventually destroys the sheath (covering) that protects the nerv [...]

How Can Vitamin D Help Your Athletic Performance?

rwilson@etstan.com — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:00:00 +0100

This month, the American College of Sports Medicine published an article in their Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise journal that says vitamin D can actually help athletic performance .

While a few sessions of indoor tanning isn't going to turn you into Shawn Johnson or Michael Phelps, the article, titled 'Athletic Performance and Vitamin D' , found that because vitamin D is actually a steroid hormone that regulates over a thousand vitamin D-responsive genes, it may postively a [...]

Why You Need More Vitamin D

rwilson@etstan.com — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Even Forbes, a business magazine, is getting on the vitamin D bandwagon with an article about the importance of vitamin D that covers a new study promoting the connection between sunshine, UV-B rays and your overall health .

What I like about this latest study from the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine is that the author, Dr. Adit Ginde, stresses that fortified food typically isn't sufficient enough when it comes to vitamin D. Too often, I think most people assume that [...]

Vitamin D Helps Kidney Patients

rwilson@etstan.com — Thu, 28 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

I recently stumbled across a 2008 study, done in part at the University of Washington, that found vitamin D administered to patients suffering from chronic kidney disease can actually reduce mortality rates by about 26 percent.

Instead of obtaining vitamin D through exposure to UV-B rays, a portion of the 1,418 patients in the study were administered calcitrol, an oral and activated vitamin D supplement. This was to ensure that vitamin D intake and levels could be carefully monitored [...]

Rickets is Back With a Vengeance

rwilson@etstan.com — Tue, 26 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

When I was a kid, we played outside every day from about April to November and if it wasn't too cold in the winter, our mothers sent us out in the snow. Today, kids are inside playing video games, watching movies, surfing the Internet and simply not getting the sunlight and vitamin D they need to maintain their personal health.

While I don't want to turn this into a story about how I had to walk ten miles to school (it was actually only eight), I think this downturn in sun exposure c [...]

Vitamin D Links to Colorectal Cancer Patients

rwilson@etstan.com — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Yet another personal health study has been published linking vitamin D deficiency to colon or colorectal cancer. According to the scientists at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, "vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of developing colorectal polyps and cancer ."

And while this isn't necessarily new news, it's one of the first studies to measure the impact of vitamin D supplements as opposed to simply measuring the outcome of a vitamin D deficiency or measuring vit [...]

Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Aggravated Asthma Symptoms

rwilson@etstan.com — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

I'm definitely not a regular reader of the American Journal of Respiratory and Clinical Care Medicine and I'm going to guess that neither are most of my readers. However, next month's issue of the journal has a compelling article connecting vitamin D deficiencies with increased or aggravated asthma symptoms.

And while the article title, Serum Vitamin D Levels and Markers of Severity of Childhood Asthma in Costa Rica , may not suggest it's the most compelling nighttime reading, anyone [...]

Low Vitamin D Levels Can Increase Swine Flu Risk

rwilson@etstan.com — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

If you're like me, you've been following the swine flu outbreak with cautious interest, you're aware of it, know how to keep yourself safe, but you certainly aren't in a panic. Basically, I know it's out there, I'm practicing good hygiene (frequent hand washing, avoiding shaking hands or touching people, avoiding groups and public gatherings), but I'm not letting it run my life.

That doesn't mean my ears don't perk up when I hear a swine flu story on the news or see a mention of it i [...]

The Importance of Vitamin D Levels in Critically Ill Patients

etstanningbeds+bill@gmail.com — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a high percentage of critically ill patients also suffered from vitamin D deficiencies.

Now, I'm all about vitamin D and its incredible health benefits (bone health, immune boosting, etc), but I'm a little concerned about the quality of this study.

First, it only followed 20 male and 22 female patients, [...]

Skin Type May Affect Vitamin D Levels

rwilson@etstan.com — Thu, 14 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Last month, USA Today published an interesting article covering the relationship between skin types and vitamin D absorption .

While dark-skinned or darker-skinned individuals always thought themselves to be safe when it came to sun exposure, it seems they may now have to worry about being too safe. You see, darker-skinned people tend to absorb sunlight and synthesize vitamin D at a much slower rate than light-skinned individuals.

According to Boston University professor Mi [...]

Vitamin D Helps Reduce Chronic Pain

rwilson@etstan.com — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

In a recent study in the journal Pain Medicine, Mayo Clinic researchers have found a correlation between inadequate vitamin D levels and the amount of pain medication taken by patients with chronic pain .

They found chronic pain patients with inadequate levels of vitamin D were taking nearly twice as much medication as those with adequate vitamin D

Also, low vitamin D has been l [...]

Why Is Vitamin D Important For Our Bodies?

rwilson@etstan.com — Mon, 04 May 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Vitamin D is essential to our health and luckily, it's one of the few vitamins that our body can create on its own, simply by synthesizing sunlight. It's responsible for maintaining calcium and phosphorous levels, improving bone growth and boosting the immune system.

Osteoperosis, Rickets, Osteomalacia and arthritis have all been linked to vitamin D deficiency. A recent 2006 study published in the American Journal of Public Health even determined that healthy vitamin D levels could [...]

What is Your Optimal Vitamin D Level?

rwilson@etstan.com — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Vitamin D is critical to our health. It helps us build strong bones, absorb calcium, and ward off diseases. But are we getting enough of this wonder vitamin and how do we know?

Finding Your Optimal Vitamin D Level

Your optimal vitamin D level depends on a number of factors, including your age, weight, skin color and even surrounding environmental factors.

According [...]

Texas Wants to Ban Tanning for Teens

rwilson@etstan.com — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:00:00 +0100

After solving the economic crisis, immigration issue, and all crimes and poverty, the Texas legislation is now considering a bill to make it harder for Texas teens to use tanning beds . Supporters of the bill have compared its importance to the law which makes it illegal for teens to buy cigarettes.

Naturally, this bill is getting a strong reaction from both sides--the ones trying to enforce the law and the ones against it, the teens and not surprisingly, the tanning salon owners.

Canadians, People of Northern Hemisphere Suffer Vitamin D Deficiencies

etstanningbeds+bill@gmail.com — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:00:00 +0100

We all know what happens when humans suffer from vitamin D deficiencies. Osteoporosis can occur, as well as osteomalacia, a bone-thinning disorder that happens in adults, and rickets, a childhood disease that retards the strength, growth and stability of the long bones.

Very few nations have higher levels of vitamin D deficiency than Canada.. According to a recent article in the Calgary Herald, studies by Dr. Michael Holick of Boston University shows that showed Canadians haven't been [...]

Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Alzheimer's

etstanningbeds+bill@gmail.com — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 01:00:00 +0100

The importance of vitamin D for a healthy body is well known, but health experts have been in the news raising a hue and cry about a vitamin D deficiency crisis in this country .

Apparently we're just not getting enough vitamin D in our bodies, and many people are wondering if the warnings of staying out of the sun and tanning booths are starting to swing this health pendulum too far the other way.

One of the most vital roles of vitamin D is to boost the absorption of calci [...]

The Vitamin D Crisis

rwilson@etstan.com — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:00:00 +0100

In the tanning bed business, there has been almost nothing as polarizing, nothing getting as much news attention, or generating as much controversy, as vitamin D. Some experts say we shouldn't be out in the sun. But other medical experts are now saying a vitamin D deficiency is being linked to teenage obesity, increased chronic pain, seasonal affective disorder, breast cancer, and many other ailments.

We're told that a vitamin D deficiency could result in rickets and other disorders t [...]

The Link Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Breast Cancer

rwilson@etstan.com — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:00:00 +0100

There's a strong statistical link between Vitamin D deficiencies and breast cancer, says William B. Grant, Ph.D., in his March 2004 essay. The essay was featured on the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center website .

Grant's research showed that more than 200,000 women across the United States get breast cancer yearly with diet and lifestyle being the two determining risk factors. Proper diet and exercise can help reduce the risk of breast cancer, however a key benefit is get [...]