Posted on 01/26/2022 9:21:11 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Autoimmune diseases (AD) such as rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, autoimmune thyroid disease and psoriasis, are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality as people age. Few effective treatments are available for AD, but investigators found the people who took vitamin D, or vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids had a significantly lower rate of AD than people who took a placebo.
"Now, when my patients, colleagues, or friends ask me which vitamins or supplements I'd recommend they take to reduce risk of autoimmune disease, I have new evidence-based recommendations for women age 55 years and older and men 50 years and older," said Costenbader. "I suggest vitamin D 2000 IU a day and marine omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil), 1000 mg a day—the doses used in VITAL."
"Given the benefits of vitamin D and omega-3s for reducing inflammation, we were particularly interested in whether they could protect against autoimmune diseases," said JoAnn Manson, MD, DrPH, co-author.
"Autoimmune diseases are common in older adults and negatively affect health and life expectancy. Until now, we have had no proven way of preventing them, and now, for the first time, we do," said first author, Jill Hahn, ScD, post-doctoral fellow at the Brigham. "It would be exciting if we could go on to verify the same preventive effects in younger individuals."
Among patients who were randomized to receive vitamin D, 123 participants in the treatment group and 155 in the placebo group were diagnosed with confirmed AD (22 percent reduction). Among those in the fatty acid arm, confirmed AD occurred in 130 participants in the treatment group and 148 in the placebo group. Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids alone did not significantly lower incidence of AD, but the study did find evidence of an increased effect after longer duration of supplementation.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
It’s cheap insurance. 2000 IU a day, and Omega-3s are also helpful, but take a while to prove themselves.
D3 for me!
“Now, when my patients, colleagues, or friends ask me which vitamins or supplements I’d recommend they take to reduce risk of autoimmune disease, I have new evidence-based recommendations for women age 55 years and older and men 50 years and older,” said Costenbader. “I suggest vitamin D 2000 IU a day and marine omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil), 1000 mg a day—the doses used in VITAL.”
Yeah, too bad my ADs (psoriasis included among a few others) was diagnosed before I was 50 and was lingering undiagnosed for a long time before that.
Completely agree. Vitamin D is very cheap and IMO it’s foolish not to supplement.
1000 IU is 25 mcg. The smallest dose per “pill” I have seen is 25 mcg but the 125 mcg/pills are only a tiny bit more expensive. Read label for content carefully.
Interesting that the Omega 3 has to be fish oil....and, not plant based.
I take 5000 IU vit. D3 daily. and 1gram (1000mg) vit. C daily.
I believe EPA and DHA would be just fine from algae.
ALA only converts about 15% into those forms, and that is the form in plants.
I wonder if the Omega 3 really has to be fish based, or if that is just what they used and can speak for.
My doc thought D3 at 5,000 IU/day might cause kidney stones. I did some reading of the research on this and it appears to be a slight risk, but I cut back to 3,000 IU/day a couple weeks ago. At 5,000, my VitD, 25-Hydroxy Tot serum was 41 ng/mL. The lab report says “There is no known benefit of values >50 ng/mL.”
I was taking fish oil capsules for a while and got really obnoxious fish burps. Ugh. My doc later said the research really didn’t support Omega 3 supplementation with fish oil, so I discontinued that supplement. It’s interesting it popped up here in conjunction with Vit D3 to combat autoimmune diseases in older people (that’s me!).
I just tested and my blood level D3 was 52ng/ml.
Thanks....I need to check what mg’s my current, plant based EPA/DHA softgels are.
D3 for me, too. And I’ll take 5,000 iu/day this winter. 2,000 iu doesn’t seem adequate for fight Covid.
Yeah, too bad my ADs (psoriasis included among a few others) was diagnosed before I was 50 and was lingering undiagnosed for a long time before that.
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So once you get psoriasis, it’s too late for this protocol?
Not saying that, but once the damage is done...
I’ve been supplementing D3 for a few years now and it doesn’t help one iota (at least in my experience anyways) with psoriasis once you have it. I also have psoriatic arthritis/ankylosing spondylitis.
I take D3 because it helps the immune system, mine is overactive in a few ways, but being low on vitamin D is not good regardless.
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If you are not allergic to it.
I feel much better in the summer when I’m outside getting sunlight, but cannot tolerate Vitamin D supplements.
And I have tried.
Mast Cell Activation Disease sucks big time.
2 Eggs sausage juice vitamin D, Omega 3 fish oil everyday for the last 10 years!
5,000 mg D3, 1,000 mg C, 50 mg Zinc, 250 mg Quercitin (if Ivermectin is not available), 6mg Melatonin.
No kidding.
It it used in about 10,000 different things that occur in your body. Its incredibly important and most people are deficient init.
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