Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Colds

[Celebration]

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20090223/low-vitamin-d-levels-linked-to-colds

Feb. 23, 2009 -- A walk in the sun may be better than popping a vitamin C tablet for boosting your chances of preventing the common cold or flu.

A new study adds to mounting evidence that vitamin C may have been stealing the spotlight all these years from the real cold fighter, vitamin D.

The study, the largest to date on the link between vitamin D and common respiratory infections, shows that people with the lowest vitamin D levels report having significantly more cases of cold and flu than those with higher levels. Vitamin D is produced by the body in response to sunlight and is also found in fortified foods such as milk.

Researchers say that although vitamin C has been used for the prevention of common colds and other respiratory infections for decades, there is little scientific evidence to support its effectiveness. However, several recent studies have suggested that vitamin D, better known for its role in building strong bones, may also play a critical role in immune system function.

"The findings of our study support an important role for vitamin D in prevention of common respiratory infections, such as colds and the flu," says researcher Adit Ginde, MD, MPH, of the University of Colorado, Denver, Division of Emergency Medicine, in a news release. "Individuals with common lung diseases, such as asthma or emphysema, may be particularly susceptible to respiratory infections from vitamin D deficiency."

[havocmom]

1. 3-4 k units a day and I am dealing with a killer cold in head and chest

But, it is the first one since LAST winter, so maybe the D has helped a lot!

[AnnieBW]

2. More than just colds

My endocrinologist recommended Vitamin D for regulation of blood sugar levels, too. We only get about 400 mg in a multi-vitamin, and most people need about 1000 mg. I've been taking it ever since, and bounced back from the flu pretty quickly.

[doc03]

3. There you go it's vitamin D now, science said it was vitamin

C before. Eggs were bad they raised your cholesterol now they are good for you. In the 70's it was the coming ice age now it's global warming, how am I supposed to trust science when they change their mind every year.

[Celebration]

4. what's old is new again

Everything that goes around comes around. I was raised on a teaspoon full of cod liver oil per night, and I was not allowed to complain.

If you looked at the video on vitamin D and diabetes prevention, you can see that when Finland lowered the RDA of Vitamin D, type 1 diabetes cases jumped. Then, they lowered the RDA again, and there was another jump.

So, at one time apparently we knew Vitamin D was important. Then it went out of vogue. Now, back again.

[hedgehog]

6. Yeah, how can you trust a group of people who are constantly

testing known facts and altering their world views to conform to reality!

[doc03]

13. Well is coffee good or bad now? Should you

go on a low fat and carbohydrate diet or the high protein and fat diet? Back in the 60's they made our coal fired power plants put in high stacks to disperse pollutants over a wider area, then a few years later they are bad it causes acid rain 1000 miles away. Now people want to make electricity from wind power in the west and transport it 2000 miles. Every time a power company tries to build a transmission line there are those that come out of the woodwork to stop the project. So are they right about global warming this time or were they right about the ice age a few years ago? The climate has changed naturally many times over the eons, is it a natural climate change or is it CO2?
There are three separate veins of salt under the Great Lakes, from what I understand that area was covered with salt water three separate times over the eons. About two thirds of Ohio is level ground ground down by the great glaciers, where I live we have hills and one the northern edge the ground is littered with boulders left from the advance of the glacier. This area has vast veins of coal at different elevations and oil deposits that were created over the eons, that was climate change. Nobody was burning fossil fuels back then.

[frazzled]

5. I just got diagnosed with low vitamin D level

My doctor just called (today, in fact) with blood results from a checkup, and says my vitamin D levels are very low. He's putting me on some megadose regimen (haven't picked up the prescription yet) to take two pills per week for four weeks and then one per week for two weeks. Hmmm, hope this is safe. It is from a mainstream reputable ob/gyn.

I rarely rarely get colds, so I'm not sure I buy the vitamin D and colds bit.

I'm a little freaked, since I've had 58 years of zero health issues. All of a sudden, I've got vitamin D deficiency and high cholesterol (though I eat healthily and am not overweight). I already knew from bone density tests that I have some osteoporosis (vitamin D may be helpful here). I guess it's called getting old. It hits you like a brick, eh.

[Ilsa]

7. Until I saw "obgyn" in your post, I would have sworn you were my brother!

His doc is putting him on a megadose regimen of D and something else for two weeks.

And yes, the D should help with your bones' absorption of Calcium, IIRC.

I'm taking D right now because of a cold. I'm also taking zinc, C, and some other vitamins. This cold cranked up last night after we had a warm spell and then suddenly a cold spell. Dang it.

Good luck with the regimen!

[hedgehog]

8. I would love to see a good history of the re-discovery of Vitamin D.

It seems to be a mixture of serendipity and elbow grease by people sitting down to do the research. The first news I heard was information that black children in Northern cities were turning up with rickets. That was the indicator that people didn't always get enough Vitamin D from sun exposure. Then I read of researchers in different areas making connections between the disease they were studying and sun exposure/Vitamin D. For example, you are far more likely to develop multiple sclerosis living in Vancouver than in Miami. People develop SAD in the dark of Winter, not during the summer. In each case, the initial observation led to further studies of Vitamin D levels and its various functions in the human body.


Here's something idle speculation: For years we've heard that people living around the Mediterranean had healthier hearts than people living in Northern Europe because of the Mediterranean diet. What if it was sunlight and Vitamin D all along?

[MorningGlow]

9. Wow, parallel lives

MY doctor (also my OB/GYN) just called ME today with blood results, and MY vitamin D level is very low too! She called in a vitamin D prescription--I haven't picked mine up yet either.

I've caught everything my son has brought home from kindergarten, all winter, so I'm very willing to give some extra D a shot.

[frazzled]

11. Heh, it must be an epidemic

Good luck with the regimen ... maybe we should meet back here to compare notes after a few weeks.

[MorningGlow]

12. Good idea

I just picked up my meds--expensive! But worth it.

[steven johnson]

10. Vitamin D Is The 'It' Nutrient Of The Moment

Vitamin D is quickly becoming the "it" nutrient with health benefits for diseases, including cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease and now diabetes... vitamin D may prevent or delay the onset of diabetes and reduce complications for those who have already been diagnosed...


Vitamin D Is The 'It' Nutrient Of The Moment

The widespread benefits of the nutrient are already associated with cancer, osteoporosis and heart disease.

A Framingham study showed twice the cardiovascular disease over 5 years with low vitamin D levels.

I take 1000 U per day.

A study in postmenopausal women who took 2000 IU of vitamin D3 a day had a 90% reduction in upper respiratory tract infections compared to women who took 400 IU of vitamin D3 a day.
Vitamin D has anti-inflammatory properties as well and this is the mechanism that reduces diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

[TechBear_Seattle]

14. I have a magical amulet that protects me from tiger attacks

Since getting it, I have not been mauled by a tiger, not once. See, it works!!

:eyes:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. There's actually some evidence for vitamin D

It's too late at night to go into it, but in Scandinavia, which gets little sunlight for half the year (not just cloudy, but literally dark), children are routinely dosed with Vitamin D, after studies showed that it improves general health.

When I told my mother's cousin about this, she said that when she was a kid and started coming down with a cold or the flu, her mother would dose her with cod liver oil. Apparently this was the German folk remedy.

Anyway, on my brother's advice, I started taking Vitamin D supplements this fall. I have not gotten a single cold. I had what felt like the beginnings of a cold several times, but Vitamin C and zinc plus a nap made short work of the symptoms. I haven't had a flu shot for two years, nor have I had the flu for two years. Hmmm.