Who’s afraid of vitamin D?

More.ca ^ | June 19, 2008 | Jacqueline Hennessy

[caveat emptor]

The Winnipeg streets are silent and black when Joanne Bromilow gropes a weary hand to a glass of water and two turquoise pills on her bedside table. Before her feet hit the floor later that morning, she’ll have taken another kaleidoscopic handful with hues almost as intense and varied as her symptoms:....Bromilow is one of the 75,000 Canadians in the grips of multiple sclerosis. ........

Half a world away in Sydney, Australia, Lynne Berson wakes up in the half-light of early dawn, pads her way to the kitchen to make her kids’ lunches while musing how spoiled she is to wake up every day to the sun rising over the Pacific. ........

Two years ago, after first hearing the terrifying words “malignant melanoma, level 4” ... surgeons removed a cancerous pulp of lymph nodes and a piece of flesh the size of her palm... As ugly as it is, the scar is now a part of Berson, and a constant reminder of how lucky she is to be alive. .........

Berson’s Australian home has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. This statistic comes as no surprise for a predominantly pink-skinned population in a country where the sun’s intensity can split rock and sterilize rivers. What does come as a surprise to scientists is the fact that Australia also has some of the lowest rates for multiple sclerosis, particularly in its sunniest cities, where about half as many people contract MS as in Canada.

[caveat emptor]

More.ca is the online version of a Canadian women's magazine. The article is informative but chatty (why else put it in a chat thread?). While it targets women, most of the info applies to men as well - just under 1% of breast cancers occur in men. It's a long article - six pages, each of which covers about 2 screens on my computer.

[caveat emptor]

Read the article here.

[republicangel]

Thanks for the article, I’ve been reading some things about Vitamin D and rheumatoid arthritis, too.

[loungitude]

What the hell did that say?

[Mears]

bfl

[caveat emptor]

What the hell did that say?

Huh? There are about 62 words in comment 1 and hundreds in the article. You have any particular ones in mind?:)

[upchuck]

Is there a Cliff’s Notes version. I’m interested, but don’t have time to wade through six chatty pages.

[hecticskeptic]

There is pretty strong evidence of a link between vitamin D levels and depression i.e. more vitamin D reduces depression.

[decimon]

Ping

Thanks, Black Agnes.

[caveat emptor]

Is there a Cliff’s Notes version. I’m interested, but don’t have time to wade through six chatty pages.

Sorry, there is no Royal Road to science. With apologies to Euclid:)

I likely wouldn't have read through the whole thing in one go if I hadn't planned to post it. I would have bookmarked it and read one topic a day. It's divided into headings so it's easy to do it that way.

Page 1: A tale of two countries
Page 2: The king of vitamin D
Page 3: A miracle vitamin?
Page 4: The risks
Page 5: Outdated regulations
Page 6: The low-down on D

[TheOldLady]

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[caveat emptor]

There is pretty strong evidence of a link between vitamin D levels and depression i.e. more vitamin D reduces depression.

I wonder if that is independent of sunshine - see SAD (Seasonal affective disorder) - and Vitamin D supplements would help. The one report of a study which I looked at when I Googled "vitamin D and depression" didn't specify. "more studies needed".

[upchuck]

Thanks!

[caveat emptor]

You’re welcome.

[Marie]

btt

[loungitude]

It was a comment on the writing style.

[caveat emptor]

It was a comment on the writing style.

Sorry. I thought meant it wasn't understandable. The women to whom it was targeted likely didn't mind. Have you ever been in a room with a bunch of chatty women? You were warned.