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Vitamin D, the Sunshine Supplement, Has Shadowy Money Behind It (nytimes.com)
The New York Times tells the story of Dr. Michael Holick, a Boston University endocrinologist "who perhaps more than anyone else is responsible for creating a billion-dollar vitamin D sales and testing juggernaut." From the report: Dr. Holick's role in drafting national vitamin D guidelines, and the embrace of his message by mainstream doctors and wellness gurus alike, have helped push supplement sales to $936 million in 2017. That's a ninefold increase over the previous decade. Lab tests for vitamin D deficiency have spiked, too: Doctors ordered more than 10 million for Medicare patients in 2016, up 547 percent since 2007, at a cost of $365 million. But few of the Americans swept up in the vitamin D craze are likely aware that the industry has sent a lot of money Dr. Holick's way. A Kaiser Health News investigation for The New York Times found that he has used his prominent position in the medical community to promote practices that financially benefit corporations that have given him hundreds of thousands of dollars -- including drug makers, the indoor tanning industry and one of the country's largest commercial labs.
In an interview, Dr. Holick acknowledged he has worked as a consultant to Quest Diagnostics, which performs vitamin D tests, since 1979. Dr. Holick, 72, said that industry funding "doesn't influence me in terms of talking about the health benefits of vitamin D." There is no question that the hormone is important. Without enough of it, bones can become thin, brittle and misshapen, causing a condition called rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. The issue is how much vitamin D is healthy, and what level constitutes deficiency.
In an interview, Dr. Holick acknowledged he has worked as a consultant to Quest Diagnostics, which performs vitamin D tests, since 1979. Dr. Holick, 72, said that industry funding "doesn't influence me in terms of talking about the health benefits of vitamin D." There is no question that the hormone is important. Without enough of it, bones can become thin, brittle and misshapen, causing a condition called rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. The issue is how much vitamin D is healthy, and what level constitutes deficiency.
Can a billion dollar industry form around a vitamin the human body produces itself in ample supply. As the NYT article states, "Drug companies can sell fear, but they can't sell sunlight, so there's no promotion of the sun's health benefits."
It's the same general principal as money in politics. You don't actually have to influence the individual for your contribution to further your point of view.
A corporation finds politicians with views naturally aligned to their objectives and helps those politicians get into office.
Similarly, a corporation finds researchers with view naturally aligned to their objectives and helps those researchers get papers into top journals and conferences.
The key is more public funding of science so private donors can't have such a big influence.
I stole this Sig
"Dr. Holick, 72, said that industry funding "doesn't influence me in terms of talking about the health benefits of vitamin D."
It is arguable that this doctor wasn't directly influenced by lobbying money. However, there is a definite appearance of impropriety. The doctor's statement above is not believable. What he should have said is, "I accepted money that influences me to promote ideas that I already believed in."
The summary makes it sound as if they specialize in Vitamin D level analysis. They’re a general-purpose medical lab and do all sorts of analysis on most body fluids.
Without vitamin D testing they’d still be an industry behemoth. It’s probably not even a rounding error in their bottom line.
#DeleteChrome
USDA daily recommended levels are so high I couldn't possibly hit them even if I ate a perfect diet. Yet I've had blood work done and never once been low on any vitamins. And the only doctor who's ever suggested I take one is my heart doc said I should take a magnesium supplement (but I get the idea that was just to give me something to do rather than an actual doctor's order).
So it would make sense that the high levels of recommended daily allotments were coming from regulatory capture.
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One last time:
KALE is what you put AROUND the salad - it is the garnish, it is NOT the salad!
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
My Dr. suggested that I take a Vitamin D supplement. I purchased a bottle of 600 capsules at Costco for something like $12. So it costs me less than $10 per year for a little piece of mind. Do I need it? Maybe, maybe not. There is some cost to manufacturing the vitamins and getting them to the store, so it doesn't seem like there is tremendous profit in Vitamin D. Sure, if there are a couple dollars profit per bottle and everyone purchased the supplement, we are talking about decent money, but everyone doesn't purchase the stuff. It seems like a focus on things that almost everyone buys and that has a higher margin (like cable TV, Internet service, cellular service, etc.) would be a better thing to focus on for profit.
How much do you swallow?
But it isn't always easy to say precisely how much we need,... Vitamin toxicity is a real thing, ... [D dietary need] varies based on a number of factors, including personal factors ... Though it is clear we need good nutrition, as a culture we seem to be going overboard.
Among the personal factors are issues with ageing (affecting things like synthesis and absorption) and exposure to light.
In addition to both the well-known and severe deficiency diseases and a number of lesser ones, overdosing can cause a number of problems: One of them being too-early calcification of a cracked or broken bone in the process of self-repair.
When I smashed the end of my humerus through my scapula in a bicycle accident, I asked the orthopaedist about using some nutritional (over-)supplementation to encourage healing. He said the bulk of them (E and C to discourage scarring and the latter encourage collagen generation - the first step in a bone break repair, Arginine and Ornithine on an empty stomach at bedtime to release GHRH) would just produce "expensive urine" so go ahead if I felt like it, but to NOT supplement with D other than drinking milk (which I could do) - which had entirely enough thanks to mandated fortification.
With lots of individual variation in the paths to the blood level of the Ds and a lack of an adequate regulatory pathway, (so you can't predict it from things like diet, age, sun exposure, etc.) you need to measure to tell what that level is. With both over- and under-dosing producing really nasty diseases with no symptoms until it's too late to do anything to reverse the damage, it's a really good idea to get it tested and adjust supplemtation to put it into that happy medium between the too-much and too-little pathologies.
Now whether the blood levels recommended by this guy ARE that happy medium is another can of worms. But my GP/cardiologist is onboard with it and prescribed both testing and adjusting supplementation. (Cardiologists are careful about calcium metabolism, as the calcification of plaques is a major factor in circulatory diseases.)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Vitamin d toxicity is difficult to achieve, over 40000iu a day for more than 6 months. The big money is made by not treating vitamin d deficiency.
The upside of taking Zircam is that no matter how much you overdose on iron supplements, you're not going to rust when it rains.
Exactly
https://www.dietitians.ca/geta... [Food-Sources-of-Vitamin-D]
And in my case, on that page of "Food Sources of Vitamin D", I consume a grand total of one of the items -- eggs.
I'm vegetarian, so the meat sources are out.
I'm allergic to fish, so all those are out.
I minimize my consumption of dairy, so those are out.
Surprise, surprise, I had bone issues until I took Vitamin D.
I wonder if this "article" is trying to move the U.S. to the Canadian model where the government controls the selling of Vitamin D. [I was told this by a frustrated Canadian nutritionist, and it may have been more true in the past.]
A far better article is here.
I come here for the love
The issue is how much vitamin D is healthy, and what level constitutes deficiency.
No, the issue is how much vitamin D you actually absorb from supplements, and how efficacious taking supplements is overall. The most popular supplements have not been shown to provide significant health benefits, including vitamin D. The simple fact is that most supplements are a waste of money.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Big Calcium would be very happy if you did.
Surprise, surprise, I had bone issues until I took Vitamin D.
That's due to your personal choice of not eating meat and is irrelevant.
If I were jabbing myself with a fork every day, I would not use that as a justification for people needing to buy more band-aids.
And "allergic to fish"? "Fish" isn't a specific protein or other complex molecule that you can be allergic to. Nor do "fish" contain any such "fish" molecule that's present in all fish but not present in fish descendants like pigs. If you're allergic to one specific protein that specific fishes has, you will be fine by eating anything not containing that protein.
I eat the creampie.
Copyright (c) 1990 - 2014 Dice. All rights reserved. Use of this comment is subject to certain Terms and Conditions.
My personal choice to not eat meat is irrelevant (to you)? A humorous response, causing me to wonder how your relationships with the opposite gender are working out.
As to fish...
Yes, I seem to be allergic to some "specific protein" as I can indeed consume fish oil. Your point, therefore, is...?
I come here for the love
And in my case, on that page of "Food Sources of Vitamin D", I consume a grand total of one of the items -- eggs.
Well eggs are good in several ways.
I'm vegetarian, so the meat sources are out.
By choice. Don't pretend that it's healthy.
I'm allergic to fish, so all those are out.
You have a leaky gut. Stop eatings grains.
I minimize my consumption of dairy, so those are out.
You have a leaky gut. Stop eatings grains.
Surprise, surprise, I had bone issues until I took Vitamin D.
Then you were deficient. For measurable results in other areas (like sleep), take it on waking, never in the evening. Take it with A and K2. A, D and K2 work together to regulate calcium deposition and mitigate their individual toxicities. You are probably deficient in K2 with your diet. Most people in the West are.
I wonder if this "article" is trying to move the U.S. to the Canadian model where the government controls the selling of Vitamin D. [I was told this by a frustrated Canadian nutritionist, and it may have been more true in the past.]
A far better article is here.
Too much D/A = kidney stones. White people with baywatch jobs get kidney stones due to ODing on D from sitting in the sun with their tops off all summer. Too little = diseases of the West. Chris Masterjohn did a lit review a few years ago and concluded that the safe range was between 1:1 and 1:10. I take 1:2 in the morning to improve sleep.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
In the US if you drink milk (from cows or plants) it's most likely got Vit D added, plus it's also added in many cereals.
Cheech: So, what do you do?
Guy: I own a tanning salon for people to get tan in.
Cheech: How do you get the sun to shine just on the people who pay you, man?
At least one large, voluntary, preventative health group does this survey - Life Extension Foundation. Despite higher than average levels of intake, most people tested had inadequate levels.
http://www.lifeextension.com/M...
Also read vitaminDwiki.com for more medical papers and research.
The Hypothosis is that we spend far more time inside not exposed to the Sun.
Vitamin D supplements replace in a fashion that lost Sun exposre that makes Vitamin D.
https://www.vitamindcouncil.or...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
He has been demonstrating a need for vitamin D since around 2000 (before Holick).
Bottom line:
* Humans are adapted overall for an outdoor lifestyle partially clothed in the sunshine without regular bathing.
* Humans in industrialized countries now spend most of their time indoors -- or travelling in enclosed vehicles where glass is designed to prevent UV transmission to prevent faded carpets but not faded people.
* When humans in industrialized countries go outdoors they tend to wear a lot of clothes.
* Bathing (especially with soap) disrupts the formation of vitamin D by removing natural oils from the skin which are needed to make vitamin D.
Three other factors have made vitamin D deficiency worse:
* Dermatologists claiming time in the sun gives you cancer -- which is a half-truth because while sunlight can increase melanoma risk (a relatively easily treatable cancer), vitamin D reduces cancer risk for many cancers including melanoma -- which is why more office workers get melanomas than outdoor workers and why many office workers get melanomas in places they wear clothes.
* The USA RDA for vitamin D was set to prevent the worst cases of rickets not to ensure optimal health and so for decades has been ten times or more too low. Only recently has it been raised to perhaps adequate for infants but the RDA is still too low for adults
* Historically, a patent was granted for Vitamin D2, a synthetic and less effective form of vitamin D, and that was what doctors pushed instead of the better vitamin D3.
* In order to use vitamin D optimally, you also need a health diet like with vitamin K2 and other cofactors like magnesium, zinc, and boron -- and the standard American diet tends to be lacking in these.
Another complication: if a pregnant or nursing mother has low vitamin D her child will also have low vitamin D -- which may be a contributor to autism and other health problems for young children.
And yet another (politically charged) complication: people with darker skin moving far north or south from the equator are going to be even more impacted by vitamin D deficiency (e.g. especially Somalis moving to Minnesota who also wear burkas and have a high autism rate). Just like people with lighter skin who move to the equator are at elevated risk from melanoma. Skin color is adaptive for latitude (some exceptions being people who get vitamin D in their diet from fish or other animal products). However, this is made more complicated by uncertainty about whether vitamin D needs may differ in connection with other metabolic genes varying along with skin color genes.
Also, while vitamin D is the biggest immediate problem form lack of adequate sunlight, it is not the only substance our skin makes when exposed to sunlight -- so taking the right amount of vitamin D3 is beneficial but maybe not the entire answer.
Yes, there are now conflicts of interest by multiple advocates of adequate Vitamin D3 like with Holick or even now Cannell. But there still is a health crisis going on!
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
"Choose wisely."
choose wisely
Darwin knows, and has an award....
He chose poorly
You should read the medical and research papers collected at vitaminDwiki.com
The life you save might your own....
"Choose wisely."
choose wisely
Darwin knows, and has an award....
He chose poorly
I'll credit you with some knowledge of vitamins...
However, trying to claim/imply I am unhealthy is humorous. When I help out planting trees, I routinely do the work of three people -- whose combined age equals mine. I guess the 400 million vegetarians in India must also be unhealthy as well?
As to eggs, they provide insufficient vitamin D -- Google says you get 5% of daily req. from one egg so I'd need 20 a day...
As to my allergy to fish -- had it for 56+ years. Gone through periods where I ate zero starch...still allergic.
You know, maybe not everyone has the same problem?
The way I had it explained, the "leaky gut" can occur when a child is very young. They eat a food the body is not yet ready to handle. And it causes the body to react to the food item. What is rarely discussed or acknowledged is the possibility of the body setting up a long term reaction to the given item. Should it? No. Does it? Yes.
I don't claim to be "deathly allergic". Yes, I get some throat constriction/irritation, but I've never had major difficulty in breathing. I don't take inhalers (or any other chemical, other than caffeine).
People have hidden fish in foods I eat -- I still get a reaction. One time I got a reaction because someone had left a bone on a plate and I put my elbow on it -- age 7 or 8, btw, in case you are wondering what I was doing with my elbows on the table.
What happens to me when I eat fish is...the fish just sits in my stomach. Two hours can go by. My body gets annoyed/bothered by the situation and asks me to throw up the offending item. I do and it comes up...undigested.
Simple body rejection. Happens. Believe me I wish it didn't. I come from the wet coast, and Lox is often served at the functions I attend. SOL.
I come here for the love
By the way, what is with "fish" in quotes?
Some can eat fish but not shellfish.
I can eat shellfish but am allergic to fish. I've met others with this (more rare) set of (dis)abilities. I can eat shrimp, prawns, lobster, crab -- all delicious. I can not eat any fish I've tried to eat.
People who are allergic to pollen don't have others saying "there are all kinds of 'pollen' and you gotta specify". Down with the allergy racism ;-)
I come here for the love
FYI folks!
Low vitamin D can be an indicator of parathyroid cancer. Related to this is high calcium serum level. High calcium serum level can be an indicator of taking too much Vitamin D or of parathyroid cancer.
parathyroid cancer is a very slow cancer for most folks. high calcium serum is a mortality indicator (i.e. if it's high, on average you'll die sooner than most folks).
Just FYI!
While I'm on the horn, if you are between 27 and 33 and get an ache in your groin, and find any kind of hard growth on your testes, that's testicular cancer. It's highly fatal!!! It's also 99.9% curable these days but it's better if you get it cut out before it metastasizes.
You should check your testes regularly when you shower so you know there is not a new hard ball on them!
Final FYI!
Trouble sleeping, night sweats, foggy thinking, reduced sex drive for no reason, and/or constant dread (like you think your boss is going to fire you at the end of the day) could mean low testosterone! It's a simple test. If it's below 300, you need to consider HRT. If it's below 250, you need it. But don't get name brand testosterone ($500 per month) unless you have good insurance. They are extremely expensive. you can get compounded testosterone for $45 per month!!! You may have to mail order it to get that price so $80/month isn't unreasonable locally.
It happens to about 25% of men. Note that female doctors often consider even 200 acceptable and sometimes won't prescribe it so you may need a male doctor.
As a 57 year old testicular cancer survivor on HRT for 14 years now, I recommend it highly!!!
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
In the words of Dr. Dean Edell, this is the "Vitamin D decade", where doctors want you to take it as prophylactic to heart disease. See previous "Vitamin E decade" and "Vitamin C decade".
His radio show reviewed little medical releases and the supporting science behind them. Quacks found it tough going.
It's too bad he went off the air while quack infomercials continue to reign and even a few quack doctor shows, or at least quack-friendly (to say nothing of regular talk shows, studied as medical "disinformation vectors".
Long story short, D will probably peter out as useless like all other vitamin supplements, sans actual demonstrated defficiency illnesses in a patient.
He was very good disassembling add verbiage, pointing out legally meaningless phrases like "promotes good xxx", the reliance of useless testimonials (also cleansed of real claims) and the law firms in DC that literally specialize in helping you craft lying distortions that pass legal muster.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
My personal choice to not eat meat is irrelevant (to you)?
No, what is irrelevant is any argument you make for vitamin D supplements based on your circumstances, because your circumstances being due to a personal choice.
By the way, what is with "fish" in quotes?
Much like we say nuts about things that aren't nuts (including peanuts, pecans, walnuts, almonds, cashews and macadamians), we may write "nuts" with quotes when the uncertainty of what is meant makes a difference.
For fish, It's likewise because fish isn't a phylogenic classification, but a common term. Just because your great-great-N-grandfather was a fish, and you're closer related to a trout than a trout is to a shark, I don't consider you a fish.
So the quotes around "fish" are useful precisely to convey that there's uncertainty of what is meant, just like when writing "nuts".
People who are allergic to pollen don't have others saying "there are all kinds of 'pollen' and you gotta specify". Down with the allergy racism ;-)
People who have pollen allergy don't live under the assumption that they need to avoid "pollen" (note the quotes). They generally know which pollens to avoid, and don't stay indoors or carry antihistamines during birch pollination if they're allergic to timothy, like my brother is. He has a pollen allergy, and is allergic to timothy pollen, not to pollen.
Just like you have a fish allergy, but you're not allergic to fish.
In both cases the "a" is significant.
Here at slashdot, we've traded Timothy for msmash.
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Thank you for the book information and your suspected diagnosis.
I come here for the love
From the library's notes for the book:
"Found in the seeds, grains, skins, rinds, and leaves of most plants, lectins act as smart bombs in the human body, causing toxic or inflammatory reactions that lead to serious conditions such as leaky gut, autoimmune disease, chronic digestive disorders, heart disease, and weight gain."
Ignoring the "leaky gut" one (that I may or may not have...but more probably had when I was very young), I don't any of these. I have the digestion of a horse, no heart issues ever -- I had a thorough check-up by the life insurance company and qualified for the healthiest rate of insurance, now locked in for the rest of my life. As to weight gain, I find that related to sugar. Three years ago I cut it out entirely for six months and lost 15 pounds. Gradually mistress sugar has snuck her way back into my bed and my weight is back where it was (still within the normal BMI range).
I come here for the love
"No canary is relevant to the air quality in the coal mine because they are more sensitive than the average."
Ah, that's what makes my case _more_ interesting. I can easily "run low" on Vitamin D, and have similarly noticed the benefit of having enough after a period without enough.
I come here for the love
A person who gets bad hay fever from one brand of pollen over another should naturally differentiate their problem with something like "dandelions are the worst for me". And we've all heard that sort of thing many times.
If I am indeed allergic to a fish protein, but it translates to "all fish I've ever tried to eat and I'm sick of the side effects from trying so I'm taking the nuke them all from orbit approach" then it is simpler, and more powerful/useful, to say that I am allergic to fish.
Larger generalizations are more valuable than small ones. They save time. Leaving more time to troll on Slashdot. What's not to like?
In much the same way that Windows can be generalized to being "unstable" to a Linux person, without them going through a whole litany of instabilities in all versions of Windows going back to ProgMan, I've never had the need to sub-divide my fish allergy.
Correcting me is pedantic (and condescending) but not productive. And it's not the kind of thing to get one laid at parties. So what's the point? To be "right" in a battle that no one else is fighting? Oh, wait, this is Slashdot...never mind.
I come here for the love
I know why they are confused. Everyone is still beating around the bush. Our food supply which is thought to be one of the shining crown jewels of our civilization is literally killing us. The China study revealed sever issues with elevated protien intake. Most of the food readily available is made of refined grain, sugar, and oils. Refined, as in all the nutrients removed. Gobs of whole foods and very light amounts of animal protein will provide all the nutrients you need and allow your body to purge cancer and all other chronic diseases.
Genetic cancer is extremely rare...just 2%. We have significant portions of the population getting cancer...far above 2%.
Look at a graph of chronic disease and you will clearly see the rise, and it is not getting any better.
People focus on diabetes, type 2, but it is really just the symptoms of you killing yourself with shit food...and a harbinger of other diseases soon to follow. Caused by refined flour and sugar. Just stop eating the shit.
Heart disease is caused by excessive protien intake. You can eat whole grains and vegetables and get plenty of protien. There are prize fighters and other accomplished athletes who are vegans for fucks sake.
All of this has been known since the eighties.
I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
I have noticed that most vegetarians eat like shit. Can you give some examples of your typical meals with details as to the ingredients?
I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
Bullshit. You don't need to measure anything. You just need to eat right. Sloughing cow milk is not part of that.
I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
>The way I had it explained, the "leaky gut" can occur when a child is very young.
The current science (I just got back from a conference where this was discussed in some detail) is that (a) wheat agglutin causes it in two ways and it is very bad. and (b) that everyone has a leaky gut during and after exercise, which is normal. The leaky gut lets larger proteins through and the immune system inflames in response. The takeaway is (a) don't eat wheat and (b) Exercise in the fasted state. Sugar is bad on a whole different axis.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
In the end, it is your doctor that advises you.
Any good doctor worth a visit would know to "read between (Dr Holick's) lines" and bring realistic, applicable info to patients.
Consider, also, that most (western patients) are too stupid to realize that Vit D supplements are NOT a replacement for sunshine!
Self-importance and self-indulgence is the root of ALL evil.