Tag Archives: Vitamin D

In The Lab, Men's Health, Women's Health

BLOOD TESTS: THE BENEFITS THAT “COMPREHENSIVE METABOLIC PANELS” REVEAL

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One of my nurses who was usually in good health developed chronic complaints. She felt tired all the time and had a variety of aches and pains. She has been going through menopause for a long time but this set of problems seem different. Then she broke her arm after sustaining a minor fall. An investigation was in order. I should order some tests, but which ones?

Anemia would explain the fatigue so a CBC was a no brainer. With the surprise fracture, I wanted to cast the net wider, so I ordered a comprehensive metabolic panel.

This is an automated test that was a good value for the amount of information provided, I thought.

Nobody was more surprised than I when the test provided results that were the key to her very rare diagnosis. Her serum CALCIUM was very high, and her alkaline phosphatase was also elevated.

Further evaluation showed her diagnosis to be PRIMARY HYPERPARATHYROIDISM.

Removal of her abnormal parathyroid gland was curative. I have been a big fan of the Comprehensive Metabolic  Panel ever since.

The Panel of 14 tests includes:

  • Glucose – an essential test to check in Diabetes, Seizures and Coma.
  • Sodium, Potassium, Chloride, and CO2 and the associated Anion Gap – can be abnormal in a variety of accidents, and other conditions.
  • BUN and Creatinine – cleared by the kidneys, and become elevated in Renal, or Kidney conditions.
  • Calcium and alkaline phosphatase – reflect bone metabolism, and are sensitive to Vitamin D and parathyroid hormone, as in my nurses case.
  • Albumin and Globulin – important blood proteins. Globulins contain the   important immunoglobulins. A variety of conditions will influence their values.
  • AST (SGOT) and ALT – elevated in liver disease

Type in “Comprehensive Metabolic Panel” in google, and choose from the variety of “hits” to get more information about this “ Sherlock Holmes’ Magnifying Glass” for Physicians.

Medicine would be hard pressed to do without it!

Dr. C.

Men's Health, Opinion, Prevention, Women's Health

OPINION: THE BENEFITS OF HIGHLY NUTRITIOUS DIETS

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Vitamins and minerals, as we all know, are of critical importance to our health. Gone are the days when scurvy(vitamin C) was the scourge of the high seas, and rickets (vitamin D) was common in the children of smoke-filled industrial cities with insufficient sunlight.

We are in a state of such overabundance that many medical authorities feel that vitamin supplementation merely makes our toilets healthier.

Covid 19, with a deficit of prevention and treatment options, has forced a new appreciation of the role of our immune systems in fending off Covid, and future viral plagues that are certain to follow. Optimum Health has never been more important.

A May 4, 2020, British Medical Journal (BMJ) article highlights the role of vitamins C and D, and minerals, especially Zinc, in functioning of our immune systems. Here are several highlights from the article:

  • Foods that are naturally abundant in vitamin C such as broccoli (60 mg/100 g), blackcurrants (130 mg/100 g), fortified breakfast cereals (up to 134 mg/100 g) and oranges (37–52 mg/100 g)45  should be made accessible to older individuals who are most in need of their nutritional benefits.
  • In the UK 5.5% of men and 4% of women 65 years and over (around 1 in 20) presently have zinc intakes lower than the lower reference nutrient intake (the level below which deficiency could occur).46 The consumption of foods naturally abundant in zinc such as canned crab (5.7 mg/100 g), canned shrimps (3.7 mg/100 g), canned adzuki beans (≈2.3 mg/100 g) and boiled eggs (1.3 mg/100 g) should be encouraged as a supplementation strategy to reinforce immunity.
  • Tolerable upper intake levels (ULs) are intake levels which should not be surpassed as toxicity problems could appear.47 For vitamin D a UL of 50 µg/day is advised and for zinc a UL of 25 mg/day is recommended. 47 There is insufficient evidence to establish UL for vitamin C, but available human data suggest that supplemental daily doses of up to about 1 g, in addition to normal dietary intake, are not associated with adverse gastrointestinal effects.47 Not having an adverse effect, however, is not necessarily indicative of a benefit either, and ongoing trials are warranted.
  • Among those with established respiratory conditions or pneumonia, specific nutrients such as vitamin C, D or zinc could be considered as potential adjuvants to conventional treatment pathways.

Susceptible people, particularly the old, should use every safe measure to stay well.

– Dr. C

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Opinion, Prevention

OPINION: THE IMPORTANCE OF VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENTS

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EVERYBODY should have a SERUM VITAMIN D level!

The medical establishment has been slowly acknowledging that the importance of vitamin D is not limited to just calcium absorption and the bones, or to the athletes and elderly.The lower limits of normal has been slowly creeping up, as has the RDA.

But how much vitamin D you have in your body depends upon your diet, supplements, how much sunshine your skin gets, how much sunshine is screened out ( sunscreen, melanin), and other factors. Measuring the vitamin D serum level tells you directly.

My own Vitamin D level was at first in the low 20’s (ng./ml.), and I raised it to the low 50’s when I started taking 4,000 I.U. daily, the lower limit suggested by the NFL.

Serum Vitamin D levels cost almost $100. Why not just take 4-6,000 I.U.? For me, adding to  already nauseating handfuls of pills (to be enumerated later) was unappetizing. I needed a Serum D level to convince me.

But I didn’t need to be convinced of the importance (with hospitalized Covid Patients the VITAL importance) of this amazingly versatile Vitamin. Vitamin D tends to benefit the innate immune system, helping to ameliorate infections when they first hit. It then helps to turn off “the first responder” when the “big gun” adaptive immune system kicks in at 5-10 days. Failure of this shift ( with continuing interleukin production) may contribute to the “cytokines storm” of the seriously ill Covid-19 patient.

Many Doctors, inured to “health food industry” hype, give little attention to Vitamin D.  You might need to expressly ask for a vitamin D test on your next visit. I hope you do!

—Dr. C.

Further reading:

Vitamin D is crucial for immune health