The Vitamin D Panacea

This time of year practically nobody gets enough sun on their skin to generate enough vitamin D. The research proving its importance for almost every aspect of health is overwhelming. 

Higher vitamin D blood levels may reduce the risk of many types of disease including autoimmune diseases, cancers, cardiovascular disease, dementia, diabetes mellitus, and falls and fractures. 

The number of publications with vitamin D in the title or abstract listed at pubmed.gov increased from 3,119 in 2011 to 3,919 in 2014. 

Here are just the highlights for 2014: 

Vitamin D3 supplementation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has shown reduction in upper respiratory tract infections. [Martineau, 2014] 

Vitamin D promotes vascular regeneration [Wong, 2014] Vitamin D supplementation of > 800 IU/d was somewhat favorable in the management of depression. [Spedding, 2014] 

Taking an average of 2000 IU/day vitamin D3 reduces the risk of infections, most likely respiratory infections, in older adults. [Tran, 2014] (See our new reformulated O-Mega D™) 

Supplementation with vitamin D3 significantly reduces overall mortality among older adults. [Chowdhury, 2014] 

Higher blood concentrations of vitamin D may have a much stronger impact on survival after developing cancer than on reducing the risk of developing cancer to start with. [Chowdhury, 2014] 

Low vitamin D level is an independent predictor of poor outcomes in Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea [Wang, 2014] Avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor for all-cause mortality… [Lindqvist, 2014] 

Higher levels of Vitamin D reduced incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma. [Fedirko, 2014] 

Plasma vitamin D concentration influences survival outcome after a diagnosis of colorectal cancer [Zgaga, 2014] 

Significantly increased cancer survival rates associated with higher concentration of Vitamin D at time of diagnosis. [Mohr, 2014]

Vitamin D sufficiency improves the survival of colorectal cancer patients [Mohr, 2014] 

Those with low Vitamin D concentrations had increased risk of developing vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. [Afzal, 2014] 

There is a 125% increased risk of Alzheimer's disease for those with severely deficient Vitamin D levels. [Littlejohns, 2014] 

Post-hoc comparison of vitamin D status at three time points during pregnancy demonstrates lower risk of preterm birth with higher vitamin D closer to delivery [Wagner, 2014] 

Maternal vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy was associated with impaired lung development in 6-year-old offspring, neurocognitive difficulties at age 10, increased risk of eating disorders in adolescence, and lower peak bone mass at 20 years. [Hart, 2014] 

Vitamin D reduces the risk of pre-eclampsia during pregnancy. [Hypponen, 2014] 

As Vitamin D levels increase, significant reductions were found for all-cause, cancer and other mortality rates. [Azfal, 2014] 

Barbara J Boucher, MD, FRCP, Centre for Diabetes, Blizard Institute, Bart's & The London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK. 

John J. Cannell, MD, Director, Vitamin D Council, San Luis Obispo, CA, http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/ 

Cedric F. Garland, DrPH, Professor, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Division of Epidemiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 

William B. Grant, Ph.D., Director, Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center, San Francisco, CA, http://www.sunarc.org/ 

Michael F. Holick, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Medicine, Section of Endocrinology, Nutrition, and Diabetes, and the Vitamin D, Skin, and Bone Research Laboratory, Boston University Medical Center, Boston, MA, http://drholick.com/, Interview at http://www.doctoryourself.com/holick.html 

Henry Lahore, Director, http://www.vitaminDwiki.com, Port Townsend, WA 

Pawel Pludowski, M.D., Department of Biochemistry, Radioimmunology and Experimental Medicine, The Children's Memorial Health Institute, Warsaw, Poland 

Get in the sun--minus sunscreen--at every opportunity. Those in the deep south, just don't overdo it and burn. For everyone north of the bottom two thirds of Florida, a good vitamin D3 supplement is essential.