Vitamin D can produce 'amazing' improvements in heart function, study finds

[MowCowWhoHow III]

Source: The Independent

A daily dose of vitamin D3 can dramatically improve heart function in people with chronic heart failure, British researchers have found.

The study, funded by the Medical Research Council, involved 160 patients who were already being treated for heart failure using proven treatments and medicines. Vitamin D3 can be boosted by exposure to sunlight, but older heart failure patients are often deficient in it.

Half the participants were asked to take vitamin D3, in the form of the blackcurrant-flavoured chewable tablet, while the other half took a placebo tablet.

Dr Klaus Witte, who led the five-year University of Leeds research project, told The Independent the improvements seen in patients taking the vitamin were “nothing short of amazing,” and called his team's findings a “significant breakthrough.”

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/vitamin-d-heart-function-failure-breakthrough-klaus-witte-leeds-a6968841.html

[AxionExcel]

1. To bask or to block, that is the question.

[nolabels]

2. In twenty minutes you can get a good dose by going outside butt nakid

Yet a word of caution, if while you're in basking in the birthday suit an orange glow starts to flash, it's not the sun flickering out. That flicker you see, it's the cops, they've come to take you away for indecent exposure

[Human101948]

4. Or it could be the presence of Donald Trump in...

Last edited Tue Apr 5, 2016, 08:50 AM - Edit history (1)

in all His Glory!

[BumRushDaShow]

10. OR

Cheeto has emerged from self-imposed exile.

[crim son]

16. OMFG why'd you have to go and do THAT???

[peacebird]

9. Sadly, I hit menopause 20years ago at 38, so have next to no collagen left to convert sun to D

: (

Basking is no use to me....

[snooper2]

17. This article just reminded me to pop my pill just now, literally :)

I'm supposed to take D3 daily per my doctor but forget all the time- even though it is sitting right on my desk LOL

[Viva_La_Revolution]

19. me too.. i have been forgetting

My problem is 'take with food' but i can't eat for several hours after waking.

[greymouse]

24. no one said anything about take with food to me

and I have been taking it for years, with a measurable increase in blood levels as a result of dosage amounts.

[stonecutter357]

3. I do 3 vitamin d3 4000 iu. a day.

[retired rooster]

5. Dosage

I was just about to ask why the researchers didn't include a dosage level.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

11. Well it can vary - depending on how much sun you get - hence the problem with

the old RDA (400 IU) being now too low. That was appropriate for back in the day when 70% of the population lived and worked on a farm - but that's not the case now. Its not a water soluable vitamin so you do have to be careful of not overdosing - if possible get your levels tested....otherwise general info is readily available via google.

[TexasBushwhacker]

18. People don't consume as much dairy either

Some soy and nut milks are fortified with Vitamin D, but not all. My PCP said the whole city of Houston is Vitamin D deficient.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

26. Hmm, is that why they drive like maniacs?

I grew up in Houston and didn't start driving a car until I was 21. I think it saved my life. And that was way before they had as many freeways as they do now!

They must be more deficient in Vitamin D in Dallas, because the drivers are even crazier there!!! I didn't think it was possible but I found that out on the Highway to Hell---I-35 North.

[notadmblnd]

7. 15000 a week for me.

PCP prescribed it for me two years ago.

[840high]

30. That's my dose.

[IdaBriggs]

6. The "Vitamin D Council" folk have been having fits about this for years.

There are studies linking everything from childhood asthma to heart disease to vitamin D deficiency issues, but "send your kids outside to play without sunscreen" has been turned into child abuse versus common sense. They also are at war with "how much do you need" because they base it on both skin tone and climate as opposed to the typical "one size fits all" protocol.

You can read more here - http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/how-do-i-get-the-vitamin-d-my-body-needs/

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Ida, ty for the link and info.

[IdaBriggs]

13. Most welcome! I can go on about this stuff for hours...

And regularly do!

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

8. Also can do "amazing" things w depression.... for yrs I was bottoming out in winter and

now I know why. Id start to feel better by late summer, then in Oct start going back down again. Dr. test Vit D levels and it was deficient ... not just low, or "you should take this" but clinically deficient. If I forget to take it after a week I feel myself sliding back in the hole. Its also known to help other inflammatory diseases -my joint pain is better too. And my Dr. advises that for bone health, getting adequate Vit D is more crucial than taking calcium.

Going now to take my vits!

[harun]

21. Think this may be the case with me as well.

Tested real low thought it was a fluke. This year tested low again, now loading up on the D and feeling much better!

[marr878]

14. D3 and CoQ10

Coupled with CoQ10 which is known to help muscles produce energy, energy-starved heart muscles soon have some great natural ways to support/help regular medical treatment. The Q-Symbio trial findings showed great promise - www.q-symbio.com and now more great news with vitamin D3. I take CoQ10 and D vitamin regularly - many great benefits for the immune system and the heart

[grasswire]

27. absolutely yes on CoQ10.

I take 400 mg/daily and it changed my life, along with magnesium. And I take D as well, and E, and....yada yada

[840high]

31. Yes.

[tanyev]

15. Marking to read later.

[Bearware]

20. Vitamin D deficiency also big factor in the rapid increases of autoimmune diseases including autism

Last edited Tue Apr 5, 2016, 09:04 PM - Edit history (1)

First, active vitamin D is hormone not a vitamin. We evolved to make it in our skin using ultraviolet B light from the sun. When the sun is high enough in the sky a young person with pale skin wearing a swimsuit can make roughly 1000 IU/minute of vitamin D from exposing most of their unprotected skin to the sun. In 30 minutes they can make 10-15,000 IU of vitamin D (production slows down after the start). Doses of 200 or 400 units were never adequate and were mandated in the late 1940's based on assumptions not experimental evidence.

Vitamin D deficiency, genetic predisposition, immune system challenges and bad luck are factors in forming an autoimmune disease. This is why it is not unusual
to find individuals with a number of autoimmune diseases after long periods of vitamin D deficiency. However one cannot point to a single case of an autoimmune disease and be able to show it is due to a certain period of vitamin D deficiency. Also when discussing diseases such as autism, diabetes, MS etc., there are usually purely genetic forms or other causes. When you say type 1 diabetes, that is by definition an autoimmune form but there are other forms under the partial title "diabetes" that are not directly autoimmune.

Here is a video that discusses vitamin D on the incidence of the autoimmune disease type 1 diabetes.
If you are in a hurry you might start it about 38 minutes in.
http://www.ucsd.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=15771


Following are two related peer reviewed papers on vitamin D and autism and a more accessible video:

Vitamin D hormone regulates serotonin synthesis. Part 1: relevance for autism.
Patrick RP, Ames BN. PMID: 24558199 (free)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24558199

Vitamin D and the omega-3 fatty acids control serotonin synthesis and action, part 2: relevance for ADHD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and impulsive behavior.
Patrick RP, Ames BN. PMID: 25713056 (not free)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25713056

Video
Rhonda Patrick PhD at Orthomolecular Medicine Congress in Bussum, Netherlands (Keynote Oct. 3rd, 2015)
If you are in a hurry skip to 17:17

[moondust]

22. a.k.a. cholecalciferol

It apparently can also help clear up skin problems caused by not getting enough sunlight. Worked for me.

[womanofthehills]

23. Chickens who run around in the sun

have vit d in their eggs. Alway get free range eggs or buy local.

I have my own chickens, plus I spend a lot of time outdoors. I have high vit d levels without suppliments. Just 15 minutes of sun a day can raise your vit d levels.

[elleng]

28. My daughter, who takes vit D for emotion reasons, I recently learned,

also has her own free range chickens.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

25. people here have been telling me that

vitamins are bad and GMO's are good

are you sure about this vitamin D3 stuff - sounds like woo

[Carolator]

29. Be sure to take it with calcium.

There is an appropriate balance.

There seems to be some discord about what that is.

[Sienna86]

32. Please be careful of calcium supplements.

There is some recent research advising oral supplements can negatively affect heart health.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/link-between-calcium-supplements-and-heart-disease-raises-the-question-take-them-or-toss-them-201205304813

[Bearware]

33. To build bone you need enough vitamin D, magnesium, phosphorous, protein AND calcium.

If you are low on any of the above in the title (phosphorous deficiency is somewhat rare), when you increase one of the others you may or may not get some improvement as it may be limited by the deficiency of another.

Following is a video with a diagrammatic explanation. It is a great video but if you are in a hurry you might skip to about 23:00.
http://www.uctv.tv/shows/Design-Components-of-Interventions-Studies-of-Vitamin-D-29081

To prevent heart and blood vessel damage from calcium supplements, one needs to also get enough vitamin K2. If you are low on K2 the body will use all that is needed for the blood clotting system and then apply what is left (if any) to preventing calcium deposits in the heart and blood vessels.