Senior individuals with low levels of vitamin D are more likely to develop metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk for diabetes and heart diseases.

Researchers from the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam state that insufficient amounts of vitamin D in seniors may be one of leading causes of metabolic syndrome.

The study involved 1,300 respondents (men and women) over the age of 65. A staggering 50% of all the respondents had vitamin D deficiency. Thirty-five percent of this segment of the respondents of the study had metabolic syndrome.

According to Dr. Marelise Eekhoff, co-author of the metabolic syndrome study, the findings of the study is significant because metabolic syndrome actually predisposes a person to other degenerative conditions like adult-onset/type-2 diabetes and heart problems.

Universal medical problem

In another study published in the medical journal Diabetes in the United States, it was found that 40% of elderly Chinese persons had metabolic syndrome because of the same vitamin deficiency.

In earlier animal studies, it was observed that test animals that had vitamin D deficiency had difficulty in producing and secreting insulin, which is necessary for the breakdown and utilization of blood glucose.

Dr. Eekhoff states that logically, increasing vitamin D in the body through supplementation and proper exposure to natural sunlight can help prevent metabolic syndrome and all of the medical maladies associated with the condition.

Getting enough of the vitamin

The National Academy of Sciences recommends that every person have at least 200 IU of vitamin D everyday to reduce risk of disease and to promote general wellness. For maximum benefits, 800 IU to 1000 IU can be used safely; the upper limit for vitamin D supplementation is 2000 IU everyday.

The following may cause vitamin D deficiency:

1. You don’t get enough vitamin D over a very long period of time (e.g. for years).

2. You don’t go outside to expose yourself to natural sunlight regularly.

3. Darker skins have reduced capacities to produce vitamin D.

4. Your kidneys are unable to help manufacture the vitamin naturally. This problem is more common in seniors than in younger individuals.

5. The digestive tract is unable to absorb available vitamin D in the body.

6. Obesity can also reduce the body’s capacity to use vitamin D, since fat cells leech the available vitamin D. People with a BMI of thirty or higher often have vitamin D deficiency.

Dire consequence of vitamin deficiency

What happens when you don’t have vitamin D? Here are just some of the problems associated with vitamin D deficiency:

1. Vitamin D deficiency, according to recent research, has been linked to higher risk of high blood pressure and other heart-related problems.

2. Vegetarians who shun dairy products and eggs may be at risk for vitamin D deficiency. If you are a vegan, you can easily supplement your diet with vitamin D by taking small amounts of fish liver oils.

3. The most common problem associated with not getting enough vitamin D is rickets, which cause soft bone formation and a deformed skeletal system.

4. Older adults may suffer from cognitive impairment if they lack sufficient vitamin D.

5. Children with low levels of vitamin D are predisposed to severe forms of asthma.

6. The risk for nearly all types of cancer increases with vitamin D deficiency, including breast cancer (according to one US study) and colorectal cancer.

7. Children vitamin D deficiency may suffer from slow growth.

8. According to Michael Holick MD from the Boston Medical Center, extreme vitamin D deficiency predisposes a pregnant woman to deliver via caesarean section (C-section).

9. In a study headed by researchers from the SUNY Upstate Medical University in New York, insufficient amounts of vitamin D in women can cause pelvic floor disorders and urinary incontinence.

10. Persons recovering from post-traumatic brain injury with vitamin D deficiencies are more at risk for chronic fatigue, says a study from Rijnstate Hospital in The Netherlands.

11. According to researchers from the Heart Institute of the Intermountain Medical Center, people with low levels of the vitamin are 77% likelier to die from a stroke.

12. Type 2 diabetics suffering from poor blood glucose control may be suffering from vitamin D deficiency, as well.

Sources:
nutraingredients.com
mayoclinic.com
webmd.com
webmd.com
webmd.com
webmd.com
webmd.com
sciencedaily.com
sciencedaily.com
sciencedaily.com

Vitamin D: It's a matter of life and death--literally.

Ever wonder what the ‘D’ in vitamin D stands for?  I think I know—death.

A ton of studies have come out lately regarding vitamin D’s importance to our healthy lives, but there’s been a particular emphasis on how a deficiency in it can increase our risk for death.

I’ve written about many of these, like this one, where Utah researchers found that people “very low” in vitamin D were 45 percent more likely to die from coronary heart disease.  Or this one, where vitamin D-deficient elderly were three times more likely to die prematurely.

And who can forget this one, where researchers from the American Heart Institute found a linkage between people with low levels of vitamin D and the world’s leading killer—heart disease.

Well the most recent news on vitamin D is every bit as macabre as the aforementioned studies.  Because according to a study that’s set to be published in the online edition of the journal Annals of Family Medicine, black Americans are at the most risk for stroke-related deaths if their deficient in vitamin D.  More at risk than any other race.

Hearkening on the prevalence of studies linking vitamin D deficiency to death, researchers from the University of Rochester wanted to see if this rule applied to all cardiac-related deaths.  So with the help of the National heart Lung and Blood Institute, not to mention the 15,000 men and women they had health information on, they found that, indeed, vitamin D deficiency increased the risk of heart and stroke-related deaths by as much as 40 percent (for those who had the rock-bottom lowest vitamin D levels).

But the risk was even greater for African Americans.  When researchers honed their statistics to how race influenced risk, they found that the largest risk was among blacks (38 percent more).

The researchers assessed “risk” by taking into account various symptoms that are symptomatic of cardiac-related deaths, like body mass index, smoking and levels of C-reactive protein.  Of course they also factored into the equation those that had already died of heart-related deaths and what their vitamin D levels were prior to their dying.

Again, the study’s full details will appear on the journal’s web site, January the 11th.

If you haven’t realized how important vitamin D is to your life by now, then you never will.  Vitamin D is absolutely crucial to bone and cell growth, not to mention the body’s ability to absorb and put calcium to use.

If you’re worried about your vitamin D levels—or simply curious about how high or low they may be—a simple blood test will take care of that.  A vitamin D measurement of less than 20 nanograms per millimeter of blood is considered deficient.

Surprisingly, there are very few food sources that contain vitamin D naturally.  It’s frequently added to foods (i.e. fortified).  They are out there, though, and they include salmon, mackerel, tuna, and liver.

You can also get it through vitamin D supplements and cod liver oil.

Or you could go to the most natural of sources there is for vitamin D—the sun.  Ten to 20 minutes of sun exposure will give you your daily D fill.

Sources:
sciencedaily.com
dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov

Natural sunlight is among the best sources of Vitamin D.

Some “D”pressing news to report on the heart health front, particularly if you’re a senior citizen.  According to a joint study conducted by researchers from Colorado and Massachusetts, the elderly are at greater risk of dying from heart disease when their vitamin D levels are low.

If you feel like you’ve been bombarded with vitamin D news lately, you’re not alone.  The media are great at beating a dead horse, aren’t they?  But this time the “beating” is warranted, as they’ve finally come to the realization that vitamin D really is the “D”fensive vitamin.

Just how defensive?  Well if the Colorado and Massachusetts researchers’ findings are accurate, and there’s no reason to think that they aren’t, if you’re not sufficiently armed with D, you’re three times more likely to die from heart disease.

This truly “D”sturbing finding (OK, OK, I’ll quit with the “D” stuff) was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society after researchers reviewed the health statistics of approximately 3,400 people in their elder years (65 years and older).  In the course of reviewing their blood samples, they found that those with the lowest vitamin D levels were three times more likely to have died than those with high vitamin D levels.  They were also two-and-a-half times more likely to have died from other diseases not including heart disease.

The researchers came from the University of Colorado and Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital.

As I’ve referenced in past articles, health officials have increased the recommended dosage for vitamin D, but only for the youngest among us (i.e. toddlers, young children), not the estimated 24 million elderly currently living in America.  Perhaps this latest report will serve as sufficient justification to up the recommended dosage (400 to 600 IUs is what’s recommended for men and women over 50).

In the meantime, it’s important to expose your skin to the sunlight.  Generally speaking, the elderly are loath to spend all the livelong day in the sun.  But I’m not talking all day; I’m talking about 20 to 25 minutes of direct sunlight exposure (no sunscreen).  That’s all that’s needed to get a sufficient dose of the sunshine vitamin (if possible, stay out in the sun in the 25 minute range rather than 20 minutes; the skin becomes less absorbent of the sun’s rays as we age).

You can get a good amount of vitamin D through the food you eat, but there aren’t many options to choose from.  Pasteurized milk and other dairy products are usually fortified with vitamin D, but that’s not enough for me to start advocating pasteurized milk consumption (see why here).

That pretty much leaves fish as the best option for vitamin D through food.  Salmon—perhaps the most nutritious protein source on planet Earth—has about 350 IUs of vitamin D in a 3.5 ounce portion.  Mackerel is another fish that’s loaded with D (about 345 IUs per 3.5 ounce serving).

Whether it’s through the sun’s rays or the fish that you graze, get this vital vitamin in your system—your life “d”pends on it.

Sources:
sciencedaily.com
dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov

Exposure to natural sunlight is the best source of Vitamin D.

Writing a book about health is a lot like buying a laptop, iPod, or any other piece of advanced technology:  Before you know it, your top-of-the-line machinery has been replaced by something new and more advanced.

I often feel this way when writing books.  For instance, I’m in the process of putting my e-book, “The Mind Killer Defense,” into paperback.  While the information is still relevant with respect to how to keep one’s mind operating at its peak, the latest and greatest info on preventing age-related mental decline continues to unfold, and I have yet to figure out how to mentally transmute that information into my book.

Ah, well. I suppose that’s what this blog is for – to keep you updated on the latest and greatest developments in the health world.

And speaking of the latest and greatest developments, I bring to you this latest ‘D’-velopment:  Supplementing with vitamin D helps prevent age-related mental decline, according to research from the University of Manchester in England.

Vitamin D has been on the frontlines and front pages of health news on what seems like a continual basis, for when in short supply, it’s implicated in physical flameouts like childhood obesity, cardiovascular disease, improper bone development, and tuberculosis.  This latest evidence shows how vitamin D deficiency plays a role in mental flameouts as well.

Coming to this conclusion required the assistance of 3,000 European men between the ages of 40 and 79, all of whom were considered deficient in vitamin D.  Potential factors that could play into the results of the study were all accounted for, like education level, mental health (i.e. depression) and how physically active they were (See that? More evidence suggesting exercise factors into mental health).

When the 3,000 men were given a battery of tests that measured how keen they were in mental agility tasks, the researchers found that, uniformly, those who had the lowest vitamin D levels at the study’s outset performed the worst in testing.  Even after the researchers adjusted their results for contributing factors – like the ones aforementioned – the results were the same!

The study is published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychology .

The link between vitamin D and mental health has been investigated in the past, but this study is the largest of its kind, which tends to give more credibility to its findings.

As I write this piece, the sun is shining and the mercury is rising.  In the “bad news” media, on days like these, we tend to hear how dangerous the sun is and to make sure and wear long sleeves when outdoors.

I’m taking the opposite tact.  Consider this piece to be a reminder of the importance of direct sunlight.  I’m not talking three to four hours on the beach shirtless without sunscreen, but exposing yourself to direct sunlight for at least 20 to 30 minutes per day is the ideal way to get those vitamin D levels churned up.

So go ahead and ‘d’light in the sunshine today for a bright and sustainable mind tomorrow!

Source:
msnbc.msn.com