I turned on a Google email alert for Vitamin D....

[RagAss]

I cannot believe the number of studies going on worldwide about this vitamin/hormone, and being published daily. Must be something "there there".

[Taverner]

1. Hey - to quit heroin all you need is Niacin

At least L Ron Hubbard and Tom Cruise say that works :silly:

[RagAss]

2. Jeeeeez....hope nobody tries that at home !

[frazzled]

3. This recent report is all you need to know

And this isn't some quack group. As reported in the New York Times on Nov. 29: "The 14-member expert committee was convened by the Institute of Medicine, an independent nonprofit scientific body, at the request of the United States and Canadian governments. It was asked to examine the available data — nearly 1,000 publications — to determine how much vitamin D and calcium people were getting, how much was needed for optimal health and how much was too much.

The very high levels of vitamin D that are often recommended by doctors and testing laboratories — and can be achieved only by taking supplements — are unnecessary and could be harmful, an expert committee says. It also concludes that calcium supplements are not needed.

(...)

Dr. J. Christopher Gallagher, director of the bone metabolism unit at the Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Neb., agreed, adding, “The onus is on the people who propose extra calcium and vitamin D to show it is safe before they push it on people.”

Over the past few years, the idea that nearly everyone needs extra calcium and vitamin D — especially vitamin D — has swept the nation.

With calcium, adolescent girls may be the only group that is getting too little, the panel found. Older women, on the other hand, may take too much, putting themselves at risk for kidney stones. And there is evidence that excess calcium can increase the risk of heart disease, the group wrote.

(...)

Some labs have started reporting levels of less than 30 nanograms of vitamin D per milliliter of blood as a deficiency. With that as a standard, 80 percent of the population would be deemed deficient of vitamin D, Dr. Rosen said. Most people need to take supplements to reach levels above 30 nanograms per milliliter, he added.

But, the committee concluded, a level of 20 to 30 nanograms is all that is needed for bone health, and nearly everyone is in that range.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/health/30vitamin.html

I have had doctors prescribe the mega-doses of Vitamin D to me twice now (50000 MG once a week for 8 weeks and then every other weeks for four weeks). I'm not doing it anymore. A regular multivitamin is fine. I don't want to get kidney stones. Or contribute to the $430M boondoggle to the drug industry.

[pnwmom]

4. Vitamin D isn't linked with kidney stones -- that's calcium. n/t

[frazzled]

8. Yes, it can and does

From the respected Linus Pauling Institute.

Vitamin D toxicity (hypervitaminosis D) induces abnormally high serum calcium levels (hypercalcemia), which could result in bone loss, kidney stones, and calcification of organs like the heart and kidneys if untreated over a long period of time.

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminD/

The upper limit for Vitamin D intake is set by the Institute of Medicine at 4,000 IU per day . If you are taking 50,000 IU per week--the normal physician's dosage-- that is more than 7,000 IU per day, almost double. If it's not even deemed necessary, why should anyone take that risk?

[pnwmom]

10. What do you mean that 50,000 is the normal physician's dosage?

Our doctor has my husband taking 2,000 and me taking 4,000.

[frazzled]

11. Blood tests are now regularly given ...

to determine Vitamin D levels at checkups (I had one from my GYN as part of a regular exam, and one a year later at a physical from my internist): both times, the level having been found to be "low" (I do not know the number), the prescription was for 50,000 IU once a week for 8 weeks, and then every other week four more times.

My mother has been prescribed 50,000 IU per week by her doctors and has been on that regimen for a number of years. (She had breast cancer in her late 70s.)

Several other women I know have been prescribed the same regimen. These are big city doctors at large, established practices -- not oddball or alternative ones.

To verify that this is standard, I cite the abstract from a study at the NIH:

Objective
To determine the efficacy and safety of commonly prescribed regimens for the treatment of vitamin D insufficiency.

Results
We identified 36 discrete prescribing regimens. The 3 most common regimens were ergocalciferol 50,000 IU once weekly for 4 weeks followed by 50,000 IU once monthly for 5 months (n = 48); ergocalciferol 50,000 IU once monthly for 6 months (n = 80); and ergocalciferol 50,000 IU 3 times weekly for 6 weeks (n = 27).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2683376/

[snagglepuss]

9. Vit D enables the body to absorb calcium. For years the medical

community believed that since Vit D is stored, 'large' doses would lead to hypercalciumia. Reinhold Vieth, a U of T professor and osteoporosis researcher at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, was one of the first scientists to do a thorough study of the reseach. (His paper was pub'd in the 90's) He found no evidence to support the belief that large doses are harmful other than a handful of certain medical conditions. He himself takes 10,000 mg daily which is the amount of Vit D the body produces if it were in the sun all day.

Many Vit D researchers refute the recent paper that gardnered a lot of attention. Vitamin D Council has a statement on it's site detailing the failings of the commission.

[RagAss]

13. All true...but I think it's 10,000 IUs he takes .........not MGs.

[snagglepuss]

14. My bad. Thanks for the correction. nt

[RagAss]

5. Honestly, I've been taking 7,500 IUs daily for a decade.

No colds and no flu during this decade. So I don't know about this report. And I don't scare easily. It works and I keep doing it.

[BadgerKid]

12. "needed for bone health"

isn't necessarily optimal health, either.

Just saying; though, some people pursue that direction vigorously.

[cantbeserious]

6. Best Info Here

www.grc.com/health/vitamin-d.htm

Great Video Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq1t9WqOD-0&feature=player_embedded

[RagAss]

7. Thanks