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Vitamn D - continued ...

Additional information and support for vitamin D supplementation - especially for cancer patients

Vitamin D is a hormone (it is not a true "vitamin"). The skin manufactures vitamin D when exposed to summer time sun over most of the body. Our modern lifestyles where we sit in front of a computer and avoid the sun leads to chronic low levels of vitamin D. Government guidelines on how much our bodies need are too low (currently between 20-50 ng/ml). They were established to prevent rickets. Only in the last few decades has the importance of vitamin D in just about every other body system become known - especially in the immune system.

Vitamin D activates T-cells to fight cancer and virus'.

Vitamin D levels necessary to maximize T-cell activation and cancer protection is greater than 50 ng/ml and maximum around 70 ng/ml.

Vitamin D levels above 50 ng/ml maximizes blast cell differentiation* (leukemic and normal) and minimizes solid tumor cancer metastasis by preventing cancer cells from breaking free to travel to other parts of the body. Vitamin D enables the body to attack virus (especially Covid) straight away as well as prevent over-reaction inflammatory cytokine storm from flooding lung tissue leading to hypoxia. Once I increased my vitamin D level, I have since never had a cold, flu or respiratory anything. It is quite remarkable.

The single most important health practice you and your family can do in order to minimize risk of advanced cancer (as well as viral attack) is to test for vitamin D level (25-hydroxy test) and supplement sufficient to maintain blood levels around 70 ng/ml. It is fine for your vitamin D level to fluctuate gradually over a year from a high of 100 (peak summer) to a low of 50 (peak winter). Vitamin D takes many weeks to build up and just as many weeks to lower. Vitamin D half-life (approx.) in the body is about two months which correlates remarkably well with the annual sun cycle.

In my own personal situation, I have to take 5,000 IU's of vitamin D3 (which converts to D in the body) per day summer and 7,500 IU's per day in winter to keep my overall vitamin D level in the above range. Some people may require more and others require less. This is why testing your vitamin D level is important - so you know your baseline and determine dose. I do not supplement on the days I am in the sun scuba diving. I need to do more scuba diving.

(* Only after I started supplementing with vitamin D to above 50 ng/ml did my blast cell count fall to zero. Vitamin D does not work alone, but is an absolute requirement to immune function. Adequate levels of vitamin C, K2, A, zinc & magnesium help vitamin D do its job. Vitamin D and K2 are hard to get from diet alone which is why supplementation is vital.)

 

Thanks Scuba,

I have just started taking VitD myself. I am starting low 1000IU a day and will get a test before before increasing dose. Lots of good articles on the benefits of VitD!

I think 1000iu is very low dose.... I was taking 1000 iu per day for three months and I had zerow increase of vitamin D in my blood..

Yeah it is and I doubt it’ll do much but I’ll continue to introduce it slowly. My packet specifically says do not consume more than one pill a day. So I didn’t want to go consuming 5 a day just yet lol. And I don’t now if I am deficient but I suspect I am though being in the UK and stuck indoors all day.

Get yourself a vitamin D blood test so you know your level.

5,000 IU's per day is likely too low. 1,000 IU's per day, in my view, is useless at raising vitamin D levels in winter. At best, you avoid rickets.

Test - don't guess.

Thought as much -  I will test to know for sure.

Let us know your results.

Hi Alex,

I am sure your clinic will test your D3 level... they may already have your plasma level on record. Remember in the UK the results are given in nmol/L not ng/ml so you will have to keep that in mind.

Sandy

Hey Sandy

Thats lovely thanks for that. I will ask my consultant if he knows what my VitD level is if that’s something that’s in my records to date. I highly suspect I am deficient however.

Many thanks

Alex 

Additional information on vitamin D and what is measured in lab tests:

The supplement to buy should be vitamin D3 which is what is produced by the skin when exposed to the sun. Vitamin D3 is twice as effective at raising blood vitamin D levels in comparison to vitamin D2.

Vitamin D2 and D3  is then converted by the kidneys into the active form of vitamin D (Calcitriol) which is a hormone.

On a sunny day in summer when the skin is exposed to the sun at noon in low latitudes while lying flat on a beach reading a book, the skin can produce upwards of 10,000 IU's of vitamin D3 per day. More sun exposure does not lead to more vitamin D3 synthesis above this level. I think of this as nature's limit and is why I never take more than 10,000 IU's vitamin D3 on any given day.

Converting between ng/ml and nmol/L is below:

25-Hydroxy D3:  :

1 ng/mL  ~ 2.5  nmol/L

Cheers Scuba I have asked my consultant for my records or a test if they don’t have it. Will post back findings once I know more 👍

Sandy,

Would 5,000IU with vitamin K be good to start with. Right now I take about 3,000IU with no vitamin K, but read some of the posts and decided to get the one with vitamin K as well. I am going to start after I use up all of my 3,000IU gummies that I have left! Thank you! Colleen

Dr. John Campbell - https://rumble.com/v2nwtnk-vitamin-d-larger-doses.html

Vitamin D, larger doses

Daily oral dosing of vitamin D3 using 5000 TO 50,000 international units a day in long-term hospitalized patients:

Insights from a seven year experience

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30611908/

Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio

Vitamin D3 is a hormone produced in the skin,

in amounts estimated up to 25,000 international units (IUs) a day,

by the action of UVB radiation

Vitamin D deficiency is common,

lack of adequate sun exposure to the skin,

vitamin D is present in very few food sources.

Deficiency is strongly linked to increased risk for a multitude of diseases,

several of which have historically been shown to improve dramatically with either adequate UVB exposure to the skin,

or to oral supplementation with vitamin D.

These diseases include

Asthma, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, rickets and tuberculosis.

All patients in our hospital have been routinely screened on admission for vitamin D deficiency since July 2011

Offered supplementation to either correct or prevent deficiency

We have admitted over 4,700 patients

(vast majority agreed to supplementation)

5000 or 10,000 IUs/day.

125 micrograms or 250 micrograms

Due to disease concerns,

A few agreed to 20,000 to 50,000 IUs/day.

500 micrograms to 1, 250 micrograms (1.25mg)

There have been no cases of vitamin D3 induced hypercalcemia,

or any adverse events attributable to vitamin D3

Three patients with psoriasis

Marked clinical improvement using 20,000 to 50,000 IUs/day

Analysis of 418 inpatients on D3

Long enough to develop 25OHD3 blood levels > 74.4 ng/ml,

showed a mean 25OHD3 level of 118.9 ng/ml

(range from 74.4 to 384.8 ng/ml)

Average serum calcium level in the vit D group of 418

9.6  mg/dl

Range of 8.6 to 10.7

(Normal 8.5 to 10.5)

Average serum calcium level in the non vit D group of 777

Mean 25OHD3 level of 27.1 ng/ml

9.5 mg/dl

Range of 8.4 to 10.7

Parathyroid hormone levels

A hormone released in response to low calcium levels

D3 users, 24.2 pg/ml

Non D3 users, 30.2 pg/ml

In summary

Long-term supplementation with vitamin D3 in doses ranging from 5000 to 50,000 IUs/day appears to be safe.

Conclusion

Daily oral intake of vitamin D3 ranging from 5000 IU/d to 60,000 IU/d for several years was well tolerated and safe,

in both our patients and staff.

The mean 25OHD blood levels in our patients appear to take around 12 months to plateau on 5000 IU/d and 10,000 IU/d.

The average 25OHD values

Patients taking 10,000 IU/d at 12 months = 96 ng/ml

Then retested at 16 months = 97 ng/ml

Currently considered upper limit of normal, 100 ng/ml

Conflicts of Interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Funding

This research was performed without external funding.

Here is another one.

A pilot study assessing the effect of prolonged administration of high daily doses of vitamin D on the clinical course of vitiligo and psoriasis
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3897595/

I started supplementing D3 + K1/K2 only in August 2022 after a new doctor added it to the full blood test for the first time ever. The result showed 78 nmol (31 ng), but he didn't comment it even though it was very close to the lower limit (the normal value range 75 - 250 and it was summer). I got home and started searching the web to understand what could it mean and why he added it to the test in the first place. :)

I found a lot of info and personal stories, including lots of great info on this forum, and started 16 000 IU D3 + (500 mcg K1 and 1000 mcg K2 every other day - K1 and K2 are combined in a single cap). 1 month later, vitamin D level increased to 110/44, and then another month later it was 215/86. Then I decreased the dose to 4 000 IU, hoping I could maintain the achieved level with it, but 2 months later the test showed 147/59. :(

Since I developed vitiligo patches on my head, neck and hands while on Imatinib, and I prefer not to use Opzelura or similar stuff, I started 33 000 IU D3, and also 500/1000 mcg K1/K2, 2 mg copper and 90 mg zink 2 weeks ago. I'll be testing levels of vitamin D, calcium, iron, copper and zink once a month, and will ask my doctor what else I should/could do about it. I'll ask the lab to add calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxy) if possible as the results show only 25-hydroxy.

Decreased copper and zinc in sera of Chinese vitiligo patients: A meta-analysis
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1346-8138.12392