Posted on 01/26/2008 10:56:49 PM PST by blam
Vitamin D Deficiency Study Raises New Questions About Disease And Supplements
ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2008) — Low blood levels of vitamin D have long been associated with disease, and the assumption has been that vitamin D supplements may protect against disease. However, this new research demonstrates that ingested vitamin D is immunosuppressive and that low blood levels of vitamin D may be actually a result of the disease process. Supplementation may make the disease worse.
In a new report Trevor Marshall, Ph.D., professor at Australia’s Murdoch University School of Biological Medicine and Biotechnology, explains how increased vitamin D intake affects much more than just nutrition or bone health. The paper explains how the Vitamin D Nuclear Receptor (VDR) acts in the repression or transcription of hundreds of genes, including genes associated with diseases ranging from cancers to multiple sclerosis.
"The VDR is at the heart of innate immunity, being responsible for expression of most of the antimicrobial peptides, which are the body’s ultimate response to infection," Marshall said.
"Molecular biology is now forcing us to re-think the idea that a low measured value of vitamin D means we simply must add more to our diet. Supplemental vitamin D has been used for decades, and yet the epidemics of chronic disease, such as heart disease and obesity, are just getting worse."
"Our disease model has shown us why low levels of vitamin D are observed in association with major and chronic illness," Marshall added. "Vitamin D is a secosteroid hormone, and the body regulates the production of all it needs. In fact, the use of supplements can be harmful, because they suppress the immune system so that the body cannot fight disease and infection effectively."
Marshall's research has demonstrated how ingested vitamin D can actually block VDR activation, the opposite effect to that of Sunshine. Instead of a positive effect on gene expression, Marshall reported that his own work, as well as the work of others, shows that quite nominal doses of ingested vitamin D can suppress the proper operation of the immune system. It is a different metabolite, a secosteroid hormone called 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, which activates the VDR to regulate the expression of the genes. Under conditions that exist in infection or inflammation, the body automatically regulates its production of all the vitamin D metabolites, including 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the metabolite which is usually measured to indicate vitamin D status.
Vitamin D deficiency, long interpreted as a cause of disease, is more likely the result of the disease process, and increasing intake of vitamin D often makes the disease worse. "Dysregulation of vitamin D has been observed in many chronic diseases, including many thought to be autoimmune," said J.C. Waterhouse, Ph.D., lead author of a book chapter on vitamin D and chronic disease.
"We have found that vitamin D supplementation, even at levels many consider desirable, interferes with recovery in these patients."
"We need to discard the notion that vitamin D affects a disease state in a simple way," Marshall said. "Vitamin D affects the expression of over 1,000 genes, so we should not expect a simplistic cause and effect between vitamin D supplementation and disease. The comprehensive studies are just not showing that supplementary vitamin D makes people healthier."
Journal reference: Marshall TG. Vitamin D discovery outpaces FDA decision making. Bioessays. 2008 Jan 15;30(2):173-182 [Epub ahead of print] Online ISSN: 1521-1878 Print ISSN: 0265-9247 PMID: 18200565
Adapted from materials provided by Autoimmunity Research Foundation, via AlphaGalileo.
Post 51 marker.
Vit D marker.
Thanks for posting this article, blam.
It’s the first I’m hearing of vitamin D receptor (VDR), I’d not heard before that VitD might be harmful instead of helpful.
HIGHLIGHT for myself:
‘The paper explains how the Vitamin D Nuclear Receptor (VDR) acts in the repression or transcription of hundreds of genes, including genes associated with diseases ranging from cancers to multiple sclerosis.
‘”The VDR is at the heart of innate immunity, being responsible for expression of most of the antimicrobial peptides, which are the body’s ultimate response to infection,” Marshall said.’
Thanks for post #51.
Note to self, links to bacteriality.com and to Marshall Protocol.
Amy Proal January 25th, 2008 at 9:25 pm 11
Hi Priscilla,
It is important to follow the MP dietary guidelines for several different reasons. First off you may want to read my article “Diet and disease:eating for health” which explains the reasons behind many of the MP dietary guidelines. Here’s a link to the article.
http://bacteriality.com/2007/10/02/diet/
It is very important to avoid vitamin D, but your friend who told you that L-form bacteria become weak if they don’t get vitamin D is totally wrong. The reason we avoid vitamin D while on the MP is because of its effects on the immune system, not on bacteria. The form of vitamin D derived from foods and supplements is called 25-D. Dr. Marshall’s molecular modeling research, as well as the work of other scientists, has shown that this form of vitamin D is immunosuppressive. In our bodies, a receptor called the Vitamin D Receptor controls the activity of thousands of genes as well as the activity of the innate immune system. Unfortunately, 25-D binds the receptor and turns it off. So people on the MP avoid vitamin D so that their immune systems are able to work as well as possible. If vitamin D is turning off the Vitamin D Receptor the immune system simply doesn’t have the strength to kill L-form bacteria. I would recommend reading the following article about vitamin D so that you get a better understanding of how it affects the immune system. Remember that the MP antibiotics can only weaken L-form bacteria and that it is a person’s own immune system that must have the strength to finally kill them.
http://bacteriality.com/2007/09/15/vitamind/#3
Folic acid is a substance that L-form bacteria use to their own advantage. An enzyme called DiHydro-Folate Reductase (DHFR), converts folic acid into a form that the body can use to produce the nucleic acids essential for life. Nucleic acids are building blocks that our bodies use to create DNA. However, if a person consumes too much folic acid, L-form bacteria will use it to generate their own nucleic acids and replicate and create their own DNA. That’s why people on the MP eat only the folic acid in natural foods and not foods that have been artificially supplemented with folic acid. The extra folic acid in these products would likely help their bacteria rather then them.
The MP recommends a low-carb diet. You don’t have to eat low-carb if you don’t want to, but people who eat low carb seem to kill bacteria at a greater rate.
This is because our bodies use carbohydrates as a source of energy, but carbohydrates are also a source of fuel for L-form bacteria. The body breaks down both carbohydrates and sugar into the exact same sugar molecules, so a diet high in carbohydrates will produce the same fuel for bacteria as a diet high in refined sugar.
The human body extracts the nutrients in food through a biological process known as the Krebs Cycle. The Krebs Cycle is part of a metabolic pathway that converts carbohydrates, fats and proteins into a form of energy that can be used by the body. The cycle uses sugar to generate molecules of NADPH, which humans are able to use as a source of energy. But bacteria such as Borrelia, Treponema, and possibly other bacteria, do not have proteins in their genomes that allow them to use NADPH as an energy source. Instead, they obtain energy directly from sugar. This means that while humans must wait until sugar is broken down in order to put it to use, some bacteria can use it right away. Consequently, extra sugar inevitably ends up benefiting the pathogen rather than the host.
But because of the power of the antibiotics and Benicar you will still kill bacteria even if you arn’t avoiding carbs. It’s just that most people don’t like the feeling of feeding the organisms they are trying to kill.
Hope this helps…and remember if you have any other questions or concerns about the MP the patient advocates at http://www.curemyth1.org will answer them free of charge. Th1 refers to diseases caused by L-form bacteria, hence the name Cure My Th1.
In the meantime, I am so glad you are eager to try the MP! You’ve made the right decision and are on your way to getting your health back!
Best,
Amy
http://bacteriality.com/2007/11/28/sense/
But again, this doesn't argue for not supplementing vitamin D up to normal levels--it argues against OVER supplementation. We humans don't get anywhere close to the sun exposure that our progenitors did. After all, they evolved where the sun's intensity was high, and were exposed to it all throughout the daylight hours. The need to get more Vitamin D was probably the driving force for the loss of melanin among those Africans who migrated away from the tropics eons ago. But we Caucasians today don't begin to approach the sun exposure that our ancestors had, even if we live at lower latitudes, because we have a much more "indoor" lifestyle.
I have no doubt that bacteria can indeed explain much chronic illness, but it's painting with a GIGANTIC brush to claim it can account for all of it.
There remains plenty of open questions here.
Remember the attack on cranberries and on tuna fish (a more recent one)? You were scared to even serve cranberries at one time. Fortunately, I look at all of this as BS and I’m gonna eat what I like.
Carolyn
If I understand correctly, this research is solely for the purpose of helping people with varied diagnoses that have no effective treatment a chance to get better.
I have second hand experience with the treatment plan as one of my family had serious medical issues. This member had lost the ability to maintain balance, read, do math, lost years of functioning. Last November, a wheelchair or walker was required all day. There was not a doctor or specialist that was able or willing to offer any treatment plan or hope, and trust me, we saw many.
Stumbled on the MarshallProtocol website, did the research, it made sense. Talked to folks on the plan, and sure enough, they are really getting better.
Finally found a doctor willing to prescribe the very safe and cost effective medications. Now six months into the treatment plan—
Now, this person is able to roller blade backwards, read at grade level, and is well on the way to getting a functioning immune system. Intense pain is relieved. The doctor is dumbfounded at the progress.
The major problem with this protocol is the established medical community, who were not taught this by their revered professors at their prestigious universities. Therefore, the science behind it cannot be true.
A recent example: not too many years ago, every elite medical school and teaching college taught every student that there were no bacterium that could survive the toxic acids in our stomachs. Too bad that they never taught that to the h. pylori giving everyone ulcers. It took years for that knowledge to trickle down. But now it is common practice to prescribe antiobiotics for ulcerated stomachs. A few short years ago, it was considered malpractice....
In short, these simple and safe medications have saved one member of my family and has greatly improved the quality of life for the rest of us because we no longer have to provide 24/7 care.
The concern and care from strangers who are fellow sufferers has been extraordinary.
Now, sometimes, that's exactly what it takes to cut through the establishment's multiple layers of shielding from the truth. Being the tip of the arrow is not a job for the gentle or faint of heart.
It does mean, as is often the case in overturning 'generally accepted truths', that the pioneering work has to be followed up by someone else, who is more wood, less sharp point.
My guess (I'm no bio-medical specialist) is that this treatment is brilliantly focused attack on what is becoming a more common cause of several forms of systemic diseases. It flips a few biological processes around dramatically, which can be just what the doctor ordered (well, would order if he only understood.)
I can't tell yet if there is any way to reliably say ahead of time who would benefit from the treatment. Perhaps that's not a serious problem, if the side affects of applying the treatment to someone who shouldn't have gotten it are not too serious.
Now, this person is able to roller blade backwards, ...Wonderful!
More highlighting (no pun intended):
“Molecular biology is now forcing us to re-think the idea that a low measured value of vitamin D means we simply must add more to our diet. Supplemental vitamin D has been used for decades, and yet the epidemics of chronic disease, such as heart disease and obesity, are just getting worse.”
“Our disease model has shown us why low levels of vitamin D are observed in association with major and chronic illness,” Marshall added. “Vitamin D is a secosteroid hormone, and the body regulates the production of all it needs. In fact, the use of supplements can be harmful, because they suppress the immune system so that the body cannot fight disease and infection effectively.”
Marshall’s research has demonstrated how ingested vitamin D can actually block VDR activation, the opposite effect to that of Sunshine. Instead of a positive effect on gene expression, Marshall reported that his own work, as well as the work of others, shows that quite nominal doses of ingested vitamin D can suppress the proper operation of the immune system. It is a different metabolite, a secosteroid hormone called 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, which activates the VDR to regulate the expression of the genes. Under conditions that exist in infection or inflammation, the body automatically regulates its production of all the vitamin D metabolites, including 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the metabolite which is usually measured to indicate vitamin D status.
Vitamin D deficiency, long interpreted as a cause of disease, is more likely the result of the disease process, and increasing intake of vitamin D often makes the disease worse. “Dysregulation of vitamin D has been observed in many chronic diseases, including many thought to be autoimmune,” said J.C. Waterhouse, Ph.D., lead author of a book chapter on vitamin D and chronic disease.
“We have found that vitamin D supplementation, even at levels many consider desirable, interferes with recovery in these patients.”
“We need to discard the notion that vitamin D affects a disease state in a simple way,” Marshall said.
Hi Quix, Hi Starwise,
This is the article where folks are warned to not use Vitamin D.
It says in there that l-form bacteria which cause or worsen auto-immune diseases get stronger if there’s more VitD in the body. So, folks with some diseases should NOT take VitD.
On this thread, I posted some of my notes from the reading, I think starting at Post #62, for anyone who is interested.
There’s some protocol ... I’ll look back and get the name of it and post it in a minute ... where folks with autoimmune disease actually avoid sunlight and other forms of light for two years to try to kill off the l-form bacteria in their bodies.
Give me a minute.
{Qx, thanks for the heads up.}
Post #51
OK, here it is, Pythonic Cow posted info on the
MARSHALL PROTOCOL
which helps people with all kinds of autoimmune disease.
See post #51.
VitD might be harmful to people with autoimmune disease PING.
When they get enough data, they will tell YOU what you can have or not have. You're gonna march to the drummer whether you like it or not...H1N1 is the first display of their "power"....
Glad I'm not the only one who reacted to those in the same manner.
What he wrote about Vitamin D may be worth considering, but he's out of whack here.
Obesity: Chronic disease? Ummm.... no.
Marking
Ditto
sarcoidosis ping
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