Sufferers of IBS know that it’s very difficult to treat. The causes of IBS, or at least of IBS symptoms, are different for each patient. Potential causes of IBS include a whole variety of factors, from intestinal microbiota to immune over-reaction to problems with the “brain-gut axis.” Some IBS patients have reported positive effects with vitamin D supplementation, potentially adding vitamin D levels to the list of factors affecting IBS. A case study published in the BMJ has only recently brought this connection to the attention of medical researchers. The case study documents the positive effects of high-dosage vitamin D3 supplementation on [...]

When the IOM published their 2010 Dietary Reference Intakes for calcium and vitamin D, they raised their recommended daily allowance for vitamin D from 200 IU to 600 IU. While an increase of any sort was certainly better than nothing, many physicians, researchers, and organizations were quick to express their dissatisfaction with this low RDA. A multitude of research and review articles disagreeing with the IOM’s recommendations have since been published. Dr Holick (the man who discovered, among other things, the form of vitamin D used today to test vitamin D levels) and Dr Heaney co-authored one such article. Published [...]

If you’re an obstetrician, you’re probably familiar with the IOM’s most recent recommendations regarding vitamin D for pregnant women. You might also be aware of the Endocrine Society’s recommendations, which are much higher than the IOM’s. And if you’ve been keeping an eye on the latest vitamin D research, you might have come across some of the studies that call for even greater vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy. If you’re not a healthcare professional and your interest in vitamin D is personal, you might not be aware of these various guidelines. As of the writing of this article, a quick [...]

A large number of studies have been published regarding vitamin D, especially of late. Research has looked at the connection between vitamin D and all-cause mortality, cognitive ability, mood, respiratory infection, cancer, and more. Yet most of this research has been flawed, in one way or another; a problem that even some of the vitamin D researchers themselves have written about1. Problems with vitamin D research have ranged from issues like small sample sizes and poor testing methods to poor experimental design. One of the most important problems with most areas of vitamin D research is a lack of trial [...]

The January issue of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology published yet another study demonstrating the significant relationship between vitamin D status and clinical outcome in cardiac patients1. Following on the heels of a number of studies showing higher chances of positive outcomes for cardiac patients with sufficient vitamin D levels2,3,4, this study was designed to elucidate the relationship between excessive vitamin D levels and the risk ratio of adverse events for cardiac surgical patients. The authors of the article, “25-Hydroxyvitamin D, 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D and Postoperative Outcome in Cardiac Surgery”, looked at preoperative vitamin D levels and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events [...]

Does Vitamin D deficiency cause depression? Can some cases of depression be treated with Vitamin D? The truth is, we don’t know. The research has been lacking and thoroughly inconclusive. Even the best studies would still have trouble pinning down the relationship between vitamin D and depression — after all, depression has never been a straight-forward health problem. What is depression? To a large extent, that depends on who you ask. We’re all familiar with feeling depressed after events like a breakup or the loss of a loved one. Many people are familiar with the idea of chronic depression, or [...]

The media has picked up on the hype: vitamin D may actually help prevent the common cold. Or influenza. Or swine flu. They’ve also been shooting down vitamin D as an immune booster. You can find writers waving away vitamin D’s effects on the common cold or flu at CNN or Medscape. So which is it? Typically, when people report on the positive effects of vitamin D on the immune system, they’re reporting the results of population studies. Many studies have shown a correlation between vitamin D levels and incidents of infection, especially of the common cold or flu.1 Not that you need a study to recognize [...]

Vitamin D has long been associated with increased risk of developing brain disorders. The vitamin has gotten a lot of attention lately in relation to depression, multiple sclerosis, alzheimer’s, and dementia. Sometimes the broad range of vitamin D’s effects makes people skeptical of the actual effectiveness of vitamin D. People who do know about vitamin D often still associate it only with bone health. I can’t blame them; only recently have researchers begun to really look at vitamin D receptors outside of the parathyroid-vitamin D axis. The truth is, vitamin D regulates many cellular processes beyond its use as a [...]

Yes. Of course, a question as broad as that can be answered in any number of ways, so I’ll elaborate. Vitamin D3 is more biologically active than vitamin D2 in humans as well as many other animals. As far back as the 1930s, scientists have observed that supplementation with significantly greater amounts of vitamin D2 were required to match the effects of vitamin D3. The activity is actually greater for each “level” of vitamin D. Vitamin D3, starting out as cholecalciferol, is more easily converted to 25[OH]D than vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) is. 25[OH]D in the blood is the best predictor [...]

Maybe you’ve heard that as many as 3/4ths of Americans are deficient in vitamin D.1 Maybe you’ve seen the numbers that show vitamin D deficiency to be prevalent amongst the elderly and you’re concerned for yourself or a family member. Maybe you’re just curious what everyone means when we’re talking about vitamin D deficiency. After all, how can the majority of Americans be deficient in this basic “sunshine vitamin” – and if the majority of Americans are deficient, how are we defining deficient? 25[OH]D blood tests: What exactly are we testing when we test vitamin D levels? First, it’s important that [...]