Vitamin D the under represented vitamin

I first got interested in Vitamin D a few years ago when a professor of Dermatology at a high profile institution in the North East got kicked out of his job for recommending that people get more sunlight. I was a little curious as to what sparked such controversy as clearly, an Ivy League dermatologist would be unlikely to put his job on the line over a vitamin!

After that I started receiving emails from the 'Vitamin D Research Council' an organization apparently funded by a doctor who believed so much in the importance of vitamin D that he put his career and a fair amount of his own money into proving the point.

Initially I was a little skeptical of the apparently far reaching consequences of Vitamin D deficiency: from possible association with Autism and ADHD to an increase in Cancer and infections. Then my skepticism turned to concern, the more I read and the more I checked my patients' vitamin D levels. Almost 90% of my patients were vitamin D deficient and at least 50% severely so. As a result, I have been checking Vitamin D levels routinely in all patients presenting for an annual physical exam for at least 2 years.

Most patients are not aware that they are deficient and have no symptoms but sometimes people are markedly symptomatic. Fairly often I find that Vitamin B12 deficiency and Vitamin D deficiency go hand in hand.
Such was the case with a patient of mine who came in to my office complaining that she thought she was developing Alzheimer's. She was very distressed and told me a story of constantly forgetting things and her anxiety about this. She became emotional when she explained how she did not want her children to find out. I suggested she see a neurologist and get some labwork done while she was waiting for that appointment.
Apparently she was so demotivated and forgetful she didn't get the labs done, continued with the neurologist who told her she didn't have Alzheimer's but she could try some medicine if she wanted, in case it helped. She declined.
She came back to see me 3 months later more tearful and agitated than before, she could hardly get out of bed in the morning because she was so tired. Her legs hurt and everything was a struggle. This time she got her labwork done and both her Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D level were extremely low.
With replacement she is fine, two weeks later she was back working the garden she loves and now she laughs when I remind her that she was convinced she had Alzheimer's.

Most cases are not as dramatic but is Vitamin D deficiency another one of those 'silent killers'?
Andrew Weil recently wrote an article stating that he is raising his recommendation for Vitamin D to 2000 daily (something most of my patients are already doing) because of a recent study out of the University of San Diego California which suggested that raising vitamin D levels could prevent one-half the cases of Breast cancer and two-thirds the cases of Colon cancer.
Hello this is HUGE!! As Dr Weil points out: a 50 percent reduction in Breast cancer would have saved the lives of more than 20,000 American women in 2009.

Vitamin D is thought to affect the immune system, it controls the utilization of calcium by the bones and so is important for bone strength, lack of it contributes to fatigue, it helps seniors retain their balance. It is important for cardiovascular health, in Diabetes, Psychosis and every month a new article comes out with different attributes.

In short, we need it! You can get it through fortified foods like milk and cereals but the main way is either supplementation or the sun. The latter recommendation being what cost my dermatology colleague his job because he suggested patients go out in the sun for half an hour a day without sunscreen.

Bottom line vitamin D is beginning to be recognized as a critical vitamin, if you have not had yours checked, do it now and take the necessary steps to keep it above a level of 32 (ideally closer to your age).

As always wishing you good health

Dr Tuakli