Another benefit of vitamin D for women: reduced risk of caesarian section.

I have already written about the benefits of vitamin D for the reduction of breast cancer, autistic births, pre-eclampsia and infection of the placenta. Research now shows that the risk of giving birth by caesarian section is dramatically increased by vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy.[1]

The authors of the research point out that childbirth is a muscular activity, and that muscle weakness is an established symptom of vitamin D deficiency. No thinking person can believe that caesarean section is a normal way to give birth, yet nearly one-third of all births are by caesarian section.

It is obvious that something is seriously wrong, and that “something” in most cases is likely vitamin D deficiency.

The research pointed out that those with low levels of vitamin D had four times the risk of caesarian section as those who had higher levels. However, many in the group with higher levels had nowhere near optimal levels of vitamin D.

If they had had optimal levels, it is likely that they would have been even more protected. Ladies, this is just one more reason to make optimal vitamin D levels a priority.

Get yours checked and make sure your levels of vitamin D [25(OH)D] are at least 50-60 ng/ml. You can get an inexpensive and accurate test—without a physician’s prescription—by visiting ordervitamindtest.org.

You can also get out in the sunlight during spring, summer and early fall, and supplement or visit a tanning bed in the winter.

Remember never to burn! [1]

Merewood, A. et al. Association Between Vitamin D Deficiency and Primary Cesarean Section. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2008 Dec 23, 2008 [Epub ahead of print]

Vitamin D reduces the risk of placental infection: another boon for women.

Earlier, I wrote that autism was linked to vitamin D deficiency in pregnant mothers, and that women’s cancers were dramatically reduced by regular sunlight exposure. Now, research indicates that the risk of placental infection is impressively lowered by increasing vitamin D levels.[1]

This research did not surprise me. Immunity is enhanced by high vitamin D levels through the increased production of an antimicrobial peptide called cathelicidin, which keeps both bacterial and viral infections at bay. This is the exact reason that flu occurs almost exclusively in winter months in both hemispheres; blood levels of vitamin D are much lower in winter months (see my earlier posts)

In this research, placental cells were exposed to E. coli bacteria and then treated with vitamin D. The treatment reduced the risk of infection by about 50%.

Remember that there is also a dramatic reduction in the risk of breast and ovarian cancer among women with high sunlight exposure and high vitamin D levels; now we can add one more advantage of vitamin D to the list of benefits for female reproductive tissue.

[1] Liu, N. et al. Vitamin D Induces Innate Antibacterial Responses in Human Trophoblasts via an Intracrine Pathway. Biol Reprod 2008 Nov 12. [Epub ahead of print]

Vitamin D, U.S. needs how much? Why?

Video talks about the need for proper amounts of vitamin D. How and why?

The latest on vitamin D and cancer: Dr William Grant’s brilliant review.

Dr William Grant, who writes and compiles research as fast as I can read it, gave me a tremendous assist in keeping me abreast of the current research as I wrote my book.

His latest paper is entitled “How strong is the evidence that solar ultraviolet B and vitamin D reduce the risk of cancer?

An examination using Hill’s criteria for causality[1]” Although the link between vitamin D deficiency and cancer should well-established, there are those who stubbornly demand more proof while millions more die of cancer caused by vitamin D deficiency.

In this paper, there is sufficient proof to convince all but the most biased reader.

He uses a well-accepted scientific assessment, known as Hill’s criteria for causality, which determines whether the presence or absence of one factor causes the presence of another.

In this case the “causal” factor is vitamin D deficiency, and the caused factor (result) is cancer.

Here are the qualifications for causality as established by Dr. A Bradford Hill:

1. Strength of association

2. Consistency (repeated observation)

3. Specificity (one agent, one result)

4. Temporality (exposure precedes effect)

5. Biological gradient (dose-response relation)

6. Plausibility (e.g., mechanisms)

7. Coherency (no serious conflict with the generally known facts
of the natural history and biology of the disease)

8. Experimental verification (randomized, controlled trial)

9. Analogy with other causal relationships

Using these criteria, Dr. Grant discusses the voluminous research pointing out that the vitamin D-deficiency theory of cancer causality in most deadly cancers satisfies most, if not all, of Hill’s criteria.

In other words, there is little doubt that vitamin D deficiency is a primary cause of cancer.

For those who are scientifically inclined, I suggest you read the paper, which you can find online by searching the citation below.

If you are not so inclined, take my word for it; this paper makes an irrefutable case.

Neglect your sunlight and your optimal vitamin D levels at your peril.

But remember, never burn!

[1] Grant, W. How strong is the evidence that solar ultraviolet B and vitamin D reduce the risk of cancer? An examination using Hill’s criteria for causality Dermato-Endocrinology 2009:1:14-21.

Sarah Palin’s tanning bed, part 3. Will the tanning bed kill her, or will the vitamin D save her life?

Sunlight exposure and tanning have been vilified by many (but not all) dermatologists some of who call them “cancer machines.”

There are movements afoot to make it illegal for those under the age of 18 to even use them.

Perhaps we will soon see the “sunlight police” patrolling the beaches and arresting those who do not wear sunscreens.

Don’t laugh, it could happen. As I have already indicated in previous blogs, melanoma is the excuse for this madness, but melanoma is more common in those who stay out of the sunlight.

This is all woefully ill-advised.

Hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved by maintaining high levels of vitamin D, which tanning beds produce in abundance.

Every beneficial effect of vitamin D that is produced by sunlight (ultraviolet light or UVB) exposure is also produced by the use of high-quality tanning beds. And is it really UV light that causes melanoma?

In my last “Sarah-Palin” blog, I presented evidence that as we have moved out of the sunlight by opting for indoor jobs, there has been an incredible 25-fold increase in melanoma.

I also pointed out that 78% of melanomas occur on areas of the body that are seldom exposed to sunlight. What’s more, the risks associated with UV overexposure do not appear to be related to regular, non-burning exposure.

Remember that the key to safe tanning of any kind is NEVER BURN. The following is a list of tanning-bed benefits:

1. Tanning-bed use dramatically increases serum-vitamin D levels and bone mass.[1]
2. Whereas a daily 400 IU vitamin D supplement does not maintain healthful levels, tanning bed use increases vitamin D levels by 150% in only seven weeks.[2]
3. Tanning-bed use reduces chronic pain.[3]
4. Sun lamps are now being recommended by at least one British physician for use by pregnant women who will give birth in a winter month. The recommendation is being made to protect the unborn child from osteoporosis during adulthood.[4]
5. High quality tanning beds, because they provide UVB to both sides of the body simultaneously, stimulate the production of up to 15,000 IU of vitamin D in less than ten minutes.[5] Ten minutes of tanning-bed exposure can be done on a lunch break. That means they are more efficient than summer sunlight. Of course, those with darker skin will require a longer time to produce the same amount of vitamin D.
6. Tanning beds may be used regardless of outside weather, time of day or time of year.
It appears that Sarah is on the right track. We will shortly present specific research regarding tanning beds and melanoma. You may be surprised. Stay tuned!

[1] Tangpricha, V. et al. Tanning is associated with optimal vitamin D status (serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration) and higher bone mineral density. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;80:1645-49.
[2] Holick, M. et al. Boston University. “Effects Of Vitamin D And Skin’s Physiology Examined.” Science Daily 21 February 2008 .
[3] Kaur, M. et al. Indoor tanning relieves pain. Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed 2005;21:278.
[4] Bukhari, M. et al. 108. Sun Lamps help Unborn Babies Beat Osteoporosis. Quoted in London Times April 27, 2008.
[5] Grant, W. Personal communication with the author, June, 2006