Beauty Health for Life

Importance of Vitamin D for Smokers | In addition to bone health, recent research reveals about the benefits of vitamin D which is great for health, including preventing cancer. In a recent study revealed that: the benefits of vitamin D in protecting the lungs, especially for those who smoke.

In his study, Nancy E. Lange, MD, MPH, of the Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Womens Hospital studied 626 Caucasian men over a period of 20 years. The study assessed three time periods are completely different between 1984 and 2003. Pulmonary function of each participant was measured using a spirometer.

"Our results indicate that vitamin D may modify the damaging effects of smoking on lung function. This effect might be due to vitamin D has anti-inflammatory properties and anti-oxidants,"

said Lange.

This study has several limitations, including the observational information. Vitamin D levels are also likely to vary from time to time. Another limitation of this study involved only older men.

Alexander C. White MS, MD, chairman of the committee of the American Thoracic Society Tobacco Action, said: enough or not vitamin D levels in a person, should not overshadow the health risks and dangers associated with smoking. Those who smoke should be aware of the consequences of health problems that may be obtained.

The study is published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Low levels of vitamin D have been implicated as a potential cause of diseases ranging from cancer to diabetes. Now an extensive review suggests its really the other way around: Low levels of the "sunshine vitamin" are more likely a consequence -- not a cause -- of illness.

In their review of almost 500 studies, the researchers found conflicting results. Observational studies, which looked back at what people ate or the kinds of supplements they took, showed a link between higher vitamin D levels in the body and better health.

But, in studies where vitamin D was given as an intervention (treatment) to help prevent a particular ailment, it had no effect. The one exception was a decreased death risk in older adults, particularly older women, who were given vitamin D supplements.

"The discrepancy between observational and intervention studies suggests that low [vitamin D] is a marker of ill health," wrote review authors led by Philippe Autier, at the International Prevention Research Institute, in Lyon, France.

Vitamin D is known to play a key role in bone health. Low levels of vitamin D have been found in a number of conditions, including heart disease, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, cancer and Parkinsons disease. These findings may explain why so many Americans are currently taking vitamin D supplements.

Its nicknamed the sunshine vitamin because the body produces vitamin D when exposed to the sun (if someone isnt wearing sunscreen). Its also found in some foods, such as egg yolks and fatty fish, and in foods that have been fortified with vitamin D, such as milk.

The current review, published online Dec. 6 in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, looked at 290 observational studies. In these studies, blood samples to measure vitamin D levels were taken many years before the outcome of the study occurred. The review also included results of 172 randomized clinical trials of vitamin D. In randomized trials, some people receive a therapy while others do not.

The observational studies showed a potential benefit from vitamin D. For example, vitamin D was associated with a 58 percent reduced risk of cardiovascular events, a 38 percent decreased risk of diabetes and a 34 percent decreased risk of colon cancer in these studies.

But, when the researchers looked to the randomized clinical trials that used vitamin D as a treatment, they failed to find any effect on disease occurrence or severity from raising vitamin D levels.

However, vitamin D did reduce the risk of dying from any cause in older people taking 800 international units a day, according to the review.

Dr. Shaun Jayakar, an internal medicine and geriatric specialist from St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, said the findings in elderly people "are likely due to a reduction in falls and fractures. Supplementing with vitamin D would lead to stronger bones, which would reduce falls and factures."

Because the majority of interventional trials failed to find any benefit from vitamin D, the reviews authors conclude that low vitamin D levels dont lead to ill health, rather theyre caused by ill health.

They theorize that inflammation that occurs in many illnesses may be what depletes vitamin D levels.

Dr. Robert Graham, an internist from Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said, "This comprehensive review did a really good job at trying to tease out the effects of different study designs, and the findings will be controversial."

He said there are currently five, large ongoing interventional trials that will help to better define vitamin Ds role in disease. However, the results of those studies wont be available for a number of years. Until then, he recommended, "Try to achieve homeostasis [equilibrium]. You dont want to get to a low level of vitamin D."

The Institute of Medicine recommends 600 international units of vitamin D for adults, and 800 international units for people over 70.

Both Graham and Jayakar agreed that those are reasonable supplement levels. Jayakar said that for most people, vitamin D supplements are harmless, but added that "its a pocketbook issue. Almost 50 percent of the population is taking vitamin D supplements. Thats a lot of money for something that likely has no benefit," he said.

Jayakar added that this reviews findings suggest that low vitamin D levels could be used as a marker -- a sign -- of disease in younger people. "If someone isnt feeling well and they have low vitamin D, maybe we should use that to start searching to see if something else is going wrong," he said.

Health conscious individuals have been closely following Vitamin D research for the past decade as volumes of scientific evidence prove this prohormone has been selected through our evolution to provide critical protection against many inflammatory and immune mediated diseases.

Calcium or combination supplement reduces osteoporosis risk

While calcium supplements noticeably improved bone health in postmenopausal women, vitamin D supplements did not reduce bone turnover, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Societys Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Bone turnover is the bodys natural process for breaking down old bone. In young people, the body forms enough new bone to replace what is lost. After age 30, however, bone mass in women begins to decline and the process speeds up after menopause. Osteoporosis develops when the body cannot replace bone as fast as it is broken down.

"Vitamin D and calcium interact to suppress bone turnover by decreasing parathyroid hormone levels," said the studys lead author, John Aloia, MD, of Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, NY. "This can be beneficial in women who are vitamin D deficient. In women who already are receiving the recommended daily allowance of vitamin D, however, the study found there was no advantage to adding a vitamin D supplement."

The double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group, longitudinal factorial design study divided 159 postmenopausal women into four groups. One group received a combination of vitamin D and calcium, one was given 1,200 milligrams of calcium daily, one took 4,000 IU of vitamin D daily and the last group received placebos. To measure the effect supplements had on bone health, researchers measured bone turnover markers, such as parathyroid hormone levels in the blood, over the course of six months. In all, 120 women completed the study.

Researchers found a significant decline in bone turnover markers among women who were given daily calcium supplements. The vitamin D supplements did not have any effect on bone turnover markers, although the supplements did decrease parathyroid hormone levels.

"These findings suggest that vitamin D supplements over the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) do not protect bone health, whereas calcium supplements do have an effect," Aloia said. "Women do need to be cautious about the possibility of vascular side effects from too much calcium and should consult their physicians about whether their diet is adequate or whether they should take supplements at all."

Vitamin D supplement potency varies widely, and the amount of vitamin D in over-the-counter and compounded supplements does not necessarily match the amount listed on the label, according to a research letter published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

The analysis showed that the amount of vitamin D in these supplements ranged from 9 percent to 146 percent of the amount listed on the label. Not only was there variation among different brands and manufacturers, but also among different pills from the same bottle.

"We were surprised by the variation in potency among these vitamin D pills," says Erin S. LeBlanc, MD, MPH, lead author and investigator with the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore. "The biggest worry is for someone who has low levels of vitamin D in their blood. If they are consistently taking a supplement with little vitamin D in it, they could face health risks."

According to a recent editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine, more than 100 million Americans spend a combined $28 billion on vitamins, herbs and supplements each year. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering new safety guidelines for some supplements but, for the most part, the industry remains unregulated.

Some manufacturers participate in a voluntary quality verification program operated by the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention -- an independent, nonprofit organization that sets public standards for the quality of dietary supplements. In order to receive the USP verification mark, manufacturers facilities undergo annual good manufacturing-practice audits, and their products are tested for quality, potency and purity. Dr. LeBlanc and her colleagues included one supplement from a USP Verified manufacturer in their sample. They found the amount of vitamin D in pills from that bottle was generally more accurate than the other bottles tested.

"The USP verification mark may give consumers some reassurance that the amount of vitamin D in those pills is close to the amount listed on the label," said Dr. LeBlanc. "There are not many manufacturers that have the USP mark, but it may be worth the extra effort to look for it."

Vitamin D-deficient older individuals are more likely to struggle with everyday tasks such as dressing or climbing stairs, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Societys Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Scientists estimate many as 90 percent of older individuals are vitamin D deficient. The vitamin – typically absorbed from sunlight or on a supplementary basis through diet – plays a key role in bone and muscle health. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to a decline in bone density, muscle weakness, osteoporosis or broken bones.

"Seniors who have low levels of vitamin D are more likely to have mobility limitations and to see their physical functioning decline over time," said the studys lead author, Evelien Sohl, MSc, of VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. "Older individuals with these limitations are more likely to be admitted to nursing homes and face a higher risk of mortality."

Using data from an ongoing Dutch cohort study (The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam), the researchers examined among two groups – 762 people between the ages of 65 and 88, and 597 people between the ages of 55 and 65 – over the course of six years. Using blood test results, the subjects were split into groups with the highest, moderate and lowest vitamin D levels. To assess mobility limitations, participants were asked about their ability to perform routine tasks, including sitting down and standing up from a chair or walking outside for 5 minutes without resting.

Among the older group of participants, people with the lowest vitamin D levels were 1.7 times more likely to have at least one functional limitation compared to those with the highest vitamin D levels. In the younger cohort, individuals with low vitamin D levels were twice as likely to have at least one physical limitation.

While the majority of the people in the older cohorts top two vitamin D groups did not report any physical limitations, 70 percent of the people with the lowest vitamin D levels had at least one limitation.

In addition, the study found vitamin D-deficient individuals were more likely to develop additional limitations over time. The older cohort reported more mobility issues after three years, while the younger cohort developed additional limitations over the course of six years.

"The findings indicate low vitamin D levels in older individuals may contribute to the declining ability to perform daily activities and live independently," Sohl said. "Vitamin D supplementation could provide a way to prevent physical decline, but the idea needs to be explored further with additional studies."

The D vitamin is the only vitamin that is not obtained from foods that are consumed. Instead, the D vitamin is in truth obtained by sunlight on the gall. There has been a body of media coverage about the dangers of getting too much sun but it is fixed that the skin is exposed to sunlight to conclude the recommended daily allowance of the D vitamin. In reality, the amount of time that a comrade has to spend in the sun to enjoy a persuasive dose of the D vitamin is acutely small besides adapted a few minutes a day will be wicked and not have any adverse effects from the amount of ultra-violet lustrous received.

The markedly central function of the D vitamin is to succour manage how much calcium is into from table. The majority of the calcium is used to constitution dashing teeth also bones but actual is also important to send messages along the nerves again to second muscles, approximating for the heart muscles, to betroth. It is the D vitamin that ensures that there is always sufficient calcium in the blood to perform these tasks. Other functions that require the D vitamin impinge to the resistant system again it is believed that irrefutable is also a contributing agent hold reducing the risk of contracting cancer and, in particular, colon cancer.

The variant of the D vitamin that is formed under the canker is confidential owing to vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol. This D vitamin is created when the ultraviolet in the sunlight reacts with a makeup of cholesterol that is found unbefitting the skin certainly. The D3 is converted lookout a supplementary unavailable form of the d vitamin in the liver and is then diverted to location concrete is crucial the most. Some of the D vitamin remains prestige the liver besides kidneys to help reabsorb the calcium from the vermilion. The rest of the D vitamin is dispersed to the bones to help them retain their calcium also the intestines to aid consequence of calcium from food.

Even though the majority of the D vitamin is formed through the exposure of the scrape to sunlight there are some foods that get accommodate some of the vitamin indeed. This found of the D vitamin is known as vitamin D2, or ergocalciferol. This is used supremacy the same way as the distinctive D vitamins and is the type used to effect the majority of D vitamin supplements.