I recently had a physical and my doctor told me that the results of my blood work showed a low Vitamin D level. I was a bit perplexed as I drive around quite a bit, and live in sunny Southern California. He prescribed 50,000 IU (International Units) of Vitamin D a week for four weeks and told me not to worry about the amount. It was for a short time and we would monitor it through another blood test in a few weeks.
It was a super mega-dose, and knowing that Vitamin D was fat soluble, I knew it would not be easily excreted by my body if I took too much. I will also add that I had no known symptoms of anything that Vitamin D is supposed to treat, but I do tend to have dry skin and am in an age bracket where osteoporosis is a factor. I agreed and began the supplements immediately.
In relaying my story to some friends, I found it odd that 3 others were told that they also needed Vitamin D supplementation. It is not a usual blood test ordered and I wondered if a recent quorum from the American Medical Association (AMA) began a quest of getting every American tested and treated for Vitamin D deficiency. I went off to do some research, and here is what I found…
Nutrition Basics
Vitamin D is one of the 4 fat soluble vitamins (the others being Vitamins A, E & K) also known as a “super vitamin”. It is called this because of its ability to clinically do a bit of everything metabolically in your body. It can be considered the “sunshine vitamin,” as it is produced in your body in response to sunlight. It is also found naturally in certain foods like egg yolks, fortified dairy and grain products and fish. People who avoid the sun, are lactose intolerant or are strict vegetarians could be at risk for a vitamin D deficiency.
The “Big D” helps your body use the calcium in your diet to develop strong bones. One disease associated with a vitamin D deficiency is rickets. People with this disease have soft bones or skeletal deformities because their bone tissue doesn’t properly mineralize. One might think of this as a disease that is prominent only in developing countries. It can be found in the poorest regions of the US however, due to malnutrition and malabsorption syndrome
The latest research however, shows that vitamin D could play a significant part in protecting you against many more health problems. The organic or alternative health community will tell you that the vitamin can help against everything from cancer and hypertension, to diabetes and multiple sclerosis. The institutional medical community will argue that there is not enough research to make that claim at this time.
Despite the wariness of the medical community to admit the potential uses for vitamin D, they are prescribing “super-doses” regularly like they did with me. The question is why? Where is this coming from? The answer is from a research letter published in the October 26, 2009 issue of the American Medical Association Journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
Written by doctors and researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine including Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD, a well-known authority on vitamin D, it revealed that treatment with 50,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D per week was safe and effective over an 8 week period, and could also be safe to use every other week as maintenance. To put this in perspective, the FDA recommends a daily dose of 400 IU, or 2,800 per week.
There are several potential negative side effects from taking these mega-doses with regularity:
- Hypercalcemia – This is the term for having excess calcium in your blood. Rarely do symptoms show, but if they do, they could include constipation; diminished appetite; nausea; vomiting and stomach pain; kidney dysfunction, which may manifest as mid- and low-back pain; excessive thirst and urination; weak and twitchy muscles; psychological changes like depression, irritability, loss of memory and dementia; and skeletal problems, such as bone pain and fractures, and bowed shoulders.
- Hyperphosphatemia – This is when you have excess phosphorous in your blood. Taking mega-doses of vitamin D directs the intestine absorbing more phosphorous from ingested food than normal, resulting in elevated blood phosphorous. The extra phosphorus in the blood combines with the excess calcium, forming a salt called calcium phosphate, which is deposited in certain internal organs. The kidneys are the most common organ to be affected by deposition of calcium phosphate, leading to the damaging calcification of the organ.
- High Blood Pressure – Another possible side effect of mega-doses of vitamin D is high blood pressure. Over time, high blood pressure can damage the blood vessels and the heart. Although chronic high blood pressure can ultimately cause death, it is often not associated with any symptoms.
These side effects are definite possibilities, but through prolonged use of these mega-doses. If you have questions, you should talk to your doctor before using vitamin D in this way.
If you have questions or need further information about this topic, please go to http://www.lynnkerew.com. Other great articles about the spine and body can be found on our fantastic blog (that you should join!) at http://www.lynnkerew.com/blog. If you wish to contact Dr. Lynn Kerew directly, you can email her at lynnkerew@gmail.com.
