Vitamin D Deficiency and Link to Flu-Related Illness
Most Americans Dying From Flu-Related Illness Are Likely To Exhibit Nutritional Deficiencies
Long ago when medical researchers were making a connection between vitamin D deficiency and rickets (bone softening in growing children), they noticed that children with rickets also experienced a lot of infections. A study in 1981 showed that vitamin D-deficient mice exhibit sluggish white blood cells called macrophages which literally digest roaming viruses and bacteria. When given vitamin D, the macrophages vigorously pursue germs while normalizing inflammation. [Calcified Tissue International 1981; 33: 673–76] Neutrophils that comprise 70% of the white blood cells that rapidly respond to infection also are very sluggish without vitamin D. [Acta Paediatrica Scandinavia. 1976 Nov; 65(6):695–9]
A team of vitamin D researchers now claims this nutrient, made naturally in the skin upon exposure to solar ultraviolet-B radiation, “has profound effects on human immunity and in normalizing the immune response so as not to create inflammation that can fill the lungs with fluid in cases of influenza.” [Epidemiology Infection 2006 Dec; 134(6):1129–40] It is no wonder now why the flu comes in winter months when vitamin D levels are low. Vitamin D would also be appropriate among individuals with pre-existing respiratory problems like chronic asthma and bronchitis. [Current Allergy Asthma Reports 2009 Jan; 9(1):81–7]
Unfortunately, the combination of outdated guidelines for vitamin D dosage in fortified foods and dietary supplements combined with misdirected advice to avoid sun exposure ensures that most adults and children in North America will exhibit less than optimal blood levels of vitamin D. [Progress Biophysics Molecular Biology 2006 Sep;92(1):26–32] When vitamin D blood levels dropped below 40 nanomole concentration among military personnel in training in Finland, they experienced more days of respiratory infection and absence from duty. [American Journal Clinical Nutrition 2007 Sep; 86(3):714–7] To learn more about vitamin D and the flu, including recommended dosage, visit www.vitamindcouncil.com.
Researchers at Winthrop University in New York did what the National Institutes of Health, with its $30 billion budget, hasn’t done. They conducted a 3-year study of 208 African-American post-menopausal women, with equal numbers being given 800 international units (IU) of vitamin D3 or an inactive placebo tablet daily. In the middle of the study vitamin D supplement was increased to 2000 IU per day. After 3 years there were 34 patients who reported cold and flu symptoms, 26 in the placebo group and only 8 in the vitamin D group (a 425% difference). Infections were almost reduced to zero during the time 2000 IU was being administered daily. [Epidemiology & Infection 2009 Oct; 137(10):1396–404] Of course, this study never made news headlines.
Source: Revolution Radio (Licensed under CreativeCommons)
Posted on 23/10/2009
Post your comment
Comments
No one has commented on this page yet.