Santa Claus is alive . . . and works for the drug industry

12. December 2008 William Davis (7)


Maybe your teenagers no longer believe in Santa Claus, but I assure you: Not only is he alive, I believe that we have evidence that he works for the drug industry!

Psshaww! you say. Yet another rant from that kook, Davis. Who can he pick on next? What other imagined "conspiracies" can he uncover?

Let me recount the evidence and I'll let you decide how damning it all is:

--Christmas is a culture of excess, overeating, celebration: Cookies, candy canes, pie, chocolate, egg nog, more cookies . . . A virtual wheat and sugar frenzy!

--Wheat and sugars make us diabetic!

--What does a diabetic look like? How about big protuberant abdomen, florid cheeks, baggy eyes (from sleep apnea)? The red outfit and beard is optional, of course. Could you think of a better representation of what happens to a person when they eat goodies all the time?


I therefore submit that Santa Claus is at the root of a campaign to cultivate diabetes! Diabetes: a growth industry that is raking in billions of dollars for the drug companies!

I'd bet that Mr. Claus would agree with the dietary advice dispensed by the folks at the American Diabetes Association website:

A place to start is at about 45-60 grams of carbohydrate at a meal. You may need more or less carbohydrate at meals depending on how you manage your diabetes.


Eat more carbohydrates, get fatter in the abdomen, require more medication to keep sugar low. Then start over: eat more carbohydrates, get fatter, more medicines. Kaching!

"You may need more?" Personally, I'd be rendered comatose and helpless if I indulged in such carbohydrate gluttony.

If Mr. Claus were, instead, interested in our health and keeping us non-diabetic, Christmas would be a time for pistachios, almonds, dark chocolates, and tea.

You want health advice? Don't ask Santa Claus!

Another case of aortic valve disease reduced with vitamin D

12. December 2008 William Davis (8)
I watched Seth's aortic valve deteriorate over a two year period.

I was first consulted in 2004 to offer an opinion on Seth's heart scan score of 779 and flagrantly abnormal cholesterol patterns, including triglycerides in the 400 mg/dl range. But I heard a murmur, as well, a murmur of a leaky aortic valve, "aortic valve insufficiency."

Over the next two years, I watched Seth's aortic valve worsen, going from mild leakiness to severe.

In 2006-2007, I tiptoed into vitamin D replacement and asked Seth to add some vitamin D. Time passed and Seth's aortic valve got progressively worse.

Over the past year, However, he's maintained a truly healthy level of vitamin D, with blood levels consistently in the 60-70 ng/ml range.

While Seth's last echocardiogram showed a severely leaky aortic valve, the most recent echo showed mild leakiness ("mild aortic insufficiency")--a dramatic reduction.

I continue to see this in many, though not all, patients with aortic valve disease. Though I've more frequently witnessed either stalled progression or reversal of aortic valve stenosis (stiffness), I've now seen a handful of people with aortic valve leakiness (insufficiency) also reverse.

I've posted about this peculiar phenomenon previously:

Aortic valve disease and vitamin D
More on aortic valve disease and vitamin D

Prior to vitamin D, I had NEVER witnessed any aortic valve disease stop or reverse.

A formal trial at some point would be invaluable.

Track Your Plaque Program Data Tracking Tools

7. December 2008 William Davis (3)
At last: After talking about the new Track Your Plaque community tools for the last year, our data tracking software is now available!



Track Your Plaque is, admittedly, somewhat data-intensive. The basic concept relies on the fact that we track heart scan scores, cholesterol values, lipoprotein values like percent small LDL and Lp(a), vitamin D blood levels, intake of omega-3 fatty acids, etc. Our new data tracking tools will help Members track their data over time.

Even more interesting, you can allow other Members (not required) to view your data for comments and feedback. You can also view the program data of other Members (if they choose to make their data "public") to learn how they are going about stopping and reversing their coronary plaque.

In other words, our graphic data tracking tools are yet another way we are using to acquire a collective wisdom on how to put a stop to coronary heart disease, heart attack, and perverse "let's make money with heart procedures" hospital solutions.

One of the aspects that helps make this work is the sharing of data. So far, the people who have begun to enter their data have all made their information "public." It's not truly "public," but viewable only by other Track Your Plaque Members. Also, Members can, in effect, anonymize their data simply by using a nickname, e.g., heartprotection or hearthawk.

The data tracking tools are in beta-test version, so there are bound to be a few glitches. But we're eager to hear from our Members' experiences on how to improve these tools. Report any problems or make your suggestions on the Track Your Plaque Member Forum--Technical Support.

Yet another reason to avoid fructose

6. December 2008 William Davis (5)
Have you seen the Corn Refiners Association commercial campaigns to educate the American public on the safety of fructose? If you haven't, you can view these interesting specimens on You Tube:

"Get the facts--You're in for a sweet surprise: Fructose is safe in moderation!"

Two Moms

Two lovers


Beyond the fact that fructose stimulates liver production of glycerol, which thereby increases liver VLDL production and raises blood levels of triglycerides; likely stimulates appetite; increases cholesterol levels; fructose has also been clearly implicated in increasing blood levels of uric acid.

Uric acid is the substance that, in some people, precipitates in joints and causes gout, the painful inflammatory arthritis that has been increasing in prevalence over the last four decades since the introduction of fructose in 1967. While blood levels of uric acid in the early part of the 20th century averaged 3.5 mg/dl, more recent population assessments have averaged 6.0 mg/dl or higher. (Non-human mammals who don't eat processed foods, drink fruit drinks or beer, and don't eat candy have uric acid levels of <2.0 mg/dl.)

Uric acid is looking like it may prove to be an important risk factor for coronary disease and atherosclerotic plaque. It is no news that people with higher blood levels of uric acid are more likely to experience adverse cardiovascular events like heart attack. People with features of the metabolic syndrome also have higher uric acid blood levels; the more characteristics they have, the higher the uric acid level. However, the prevailing view has been that uric acid is simply an accompaniment of these processes, but not causal.

However, more recent observations suggest that increased levels of uric acid may instead be a cause of metabolic syndrome and high blood pressure.

Increased blood levels of uric acid have been shown to:

--Increase blood pressure
--Induce kidney damage (even in the absence of uric acid kidney stones)
--Antagonize insulin responses

A diagnosis of gout is not required to experience all of the adverse phenomena associated with uric acid. (For not entirely clear reasons, some people, perhaps based on pH or other factors, are more prone to trigger crystallization of uric acid in joints, similar to the phenomena of sugar crystallization when making rock candy.)

Which brings us back to fructose, a sweetener that clearly substantially increases uric acid levels. I suppose that the mothers and lovers in the Corn Refiners' commercials are right to a degree: Our kids will survive, as will you and I, despite increases in triglycerides, enhanced diabetic tendencies, amplified appetites, and increased uric acid due to fructose in our diet. We will also likely survive despite being 100 lbs overweight, partly due to the effects of fructose.

But if long-term health is your desire for you and your family, fructose has no role whatsoever to play.

Interestingly, the obviously expensive and slick ad campaigns from the Corn Refiners' videos have triggered some helpful video counterarguments:

High-fructose corn syrup
Conspiracy for Fat America
High-fructose corn syrup truth


A full discussion of uric acid, the scientific data behind uric acid as a coronary risk factor, and the nutritional means to reduce uric acid will be the topic of a thorough discussion in an upcoming Special Report on the Track Your Plaque website.

Free the Animal

4. December 2008 William Davis (10)
Richard Nikoley from the Free the Animal Blog contributes this informative comment:



'Bout 18 months ago, I was at 230 (5'10) and looked awful. I was on Omeprezole for years for gastric reflux, a variety of prescription meds since early 20s for seasonal sinus allergies, culminating finally in the daily, year round squirts of Flonase-esque sprays (the best for control without noticeable side-effects), and finally, Levothroid for about the last 7 years or so, as I had elevated TSH (around 9ish).

My BP was regularly 145-160 / 95-110.

I decided to get busy. I modified diet somewhat, cutting lots of junk carbs, and began working out -- brief, intense, heavy twice per week. BP began coming down immediately, such that within only a couple of weeks I was borderline rather than full blown high. Then after about six months, a year ago, I went to full blown low-carb, high fat, cutting out all grains, sugar, veg oils, etc, and replacing with animal fats, coconut, olive oil. You know the drill. Then, first of the year I felt great and simply stopped all meds, including the thyroid. I also began intermittent fasting, twice per week, and for a twist, I always do my weight lifting in some degree of fast, even as much as 30 hours.

That's when the weight really started pouring off. Take a look:

http://www.freetheanimal.com/root/2008/09/periodic-photo-progress-update.html

http://www.freetheanimal.com/root/2008/08/faceoff.html

In July I figured it's about time for a physical. Here's the lipid panel, demonstrating am HDL of 106 and Try of 47, great ratios all around:

http://www.freetheanimal.com/root/2008/07/lipid-pannel.html

However, my TSH was even higher -- 16ish. It seems odd that I was able to lose 40-50 pounds of fat (10-15 pounds of lean gain for a 30 pound net loss at that time -- now an additional 10 pounds net loss).

One disclosure is that I was drinking too much, almost daily, and quite a bit (gotta save some vices...). Anyway, I'm at the point now where I want to drill down. I know I need to see an endocrinologist and have T3 and T4 looked at, but in advance, I wanted to see if the recent changes I've made could make a difference:

1. Stopped all alcohol.
2. Stopped most dairy, except ghee and heavy cream, and cheese is now used as a "spice," i.e., tiny quantities -- no more milk.
3. 6,000 IU Vit D per day.
4. 3 grams salmon oil, 2 grams cod liver oil.
5. Vit K2 Menatetrenone (MK-4) -- side story: getting off grains reversed gum disease for which I have had two surgeries, then supplementing the K2 DISSOLVED calculus on my teeth within days -- hygienist and dentist are dumbfounded. Stephan (Whole Health Source), who comments here, has an amazing series on K2.


If you view his photos, you'll appreciate just how far he has come.

Overall, Richard's program is wonderful and his pictures clearly display his success. However, Richard, thyroid function is indeed a problem, a problem that needs to be fixed ASAP. Remember, low thyroid function used to be diagnosed at autopsy at which time the coronary arteries and other arteries of the body were found to be packed solid with atherosclerotic plaque, even in young people.

I'd recommend:

1) Consider 200 mcg Iodine per day from kelp if you do not use iodized salt.

2) Seeing your doctor right away for thyroid replacement, hopefully with consideration of your T3 status.

3) A heart scan--Not to lead to procedures, but something for you to track over time as your program improves and thyroid function is restored.

Beyond this, keep up the great work. Great blog, too!

Low Thyroid and Plaque

3. December 2008 William Davis (12)
Having now tested the thyroid status of several hundred patients over the last few months, I have come to appreciate:

1) That thyroid dysfunction is rampant, affecting at least 25% of everyone I see.
2) It is an enormously effective means to reduce cardiovascular risk.


I'm not talking about flagrant low thyroid dysfunction, the sort that triggers weight gain of 30 lbs, gallons of water retention, baggy eyes, sleeping 14 hours a day. I'm talking about the opposite extreme: the earliest, subtle, and often asymptomatic degrees of thyroid dysfunction that raises LDL cholesterol, lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a), a huge effect!), and adds to coronary plaque growth.

Correcting the subtle levels of low thyroid:

1) Makes LDL reduction much easier

2) Facilitates weight loss

3) Reduces Lp(a)--best with inclusion of the T3 fraction of thyroid hormone.

Recall that, 100 years ago, the heart implications of low thyroid weren't appreciated until autopsy, when the unfortunate victim would be found to have coronary arteries packed solid with atherosclerotic plaque. It takes years of low thyroid function to do this. I advise you to not wait until you get to this point or anywhere near it.

I find it fascinating that many of the most potent strategies we are now employing in the Track Your Plaque process are hormonal: thyroid hormones, T3 and T4; vitamin D (the hormone cholecalciferol); testosterone; progesterone; DHEA, pregnenolone. Omega-3 fatty acids, while not hormones themselves, exert many of their beneficial effects via the eicosanoid hormone pathway. Elimination of wheat and cornstarch exert their benefits via a reduction in the hormone insulin's wide fluctuations.

We haven't yet had sufficient time to gauge an effect on coronary plaque and heart scan scores. In other words, will perfect thyroid function increase our success rate in stopping or reversing coronary plaque? I don't know for sure, but I predict that it will. In fact, I believe that we are filling a large "hole" in the program by adding this new aspect.

Fat and fiber composition of nuts

30. November 2008 William Davis (16)


From Mukuddem-Petersen J, Oosthuizen1 W, Jerling JC. J Nutr 2005.



If you haven't yet done so, adding raw nuts to your health program yields a broad panel of health benefits.

Contrary to conventional advice, nuts can be eaten in unlimited quantities. Provided they are raw--unroasted, unsalted (since salting only accompanies roasted nuts), not roasted in unhealthy oils like hydrogenated cottonseed or soybean (very common)--they do not make you fat, regardless of the quantity consumed. Beer nuts, honey-roasted nuts, mixed nuts roasted in unhealthy oils with salt added are either fattening or exert other unhealthy effects (e.g., hypertension, rise in Lp(a), and cancer from the hydrogenated fats).

Some notable observations from the chart:

--Hazelnuts and macadamians are the richest in monounsaturates
--Walnuts are the richest in the omega-6 linoleic acid, while also richest in the "omega-3" linolenic acid.
--From a fat composition standpoint, raw cashews and dry roasted peanuts aren't so bad.
--Pistachios figure pretty favorably in this analysis, rich in monounsaturates.
--Coconuts are unusually rich in saturated fat, though about half is lauric acid--an issue for future conversation.



Here's a listing of the fiber composition of nuts per 1 oz serving (about a handful):

Almonds (24 nuts) 3.5 g
Brazilnuts, dried (6-8 nuts) 2.1 g
Cashew nuts, dry roasted, with salt added (18 nuts) 0.9 g
Hazelnuts or filberts 2.7 g
Macadamia nuts, dry roasted, with salt added (10-12 nuts) 2.3 g
Mixed nuts, dry roasted, with peanuts, with salt added 2.6 g
Peanuts, all types, dry-roasted, without salt 2.3 g
Pecans (20 halves) 2.7 g
Pine nuts, dried 1.0 g
Pistachio nuts, dry roasted, with salt added (47 nuts) 2.9 g
Walnuts, English (14 halves) 1.9 g

Data courtesy USDA Nutrient Database


Note that almonds are the winners with 3.5 grams fiber per ounce, pistachios a close second. Pine nuts and cashews place last on the fiber content chart.

Not addressed by the charts is protein content of nuts, as well as the low sugar content, all additional beneficial aspects of nuts. Nuts are also a moderate source of magnesium (though seeds like pumpkin and sunflower shine in the magnesium content area).

Rather than micromanage the specific fat and fiber content of your diet, why not get a little of the good of everything on the list and just mix and match the nuts? (Mixed and matched on your own, of course, not a hydrogenated cottonseed oil nut mixture).

Flush-free niacin kills

29. November 2008 William Davis (12)
Here, I re-post a conversation I've posted before, that of the scam product, "no-flush" niacin, also known as "flush-free" niacin.

I find this issue particularly bothersome, since I have a patient or two each and every week who forgets the explicit advice I gave them to avoid these scam products altogether. Despite costing more than conventional niacin, they exert no effect, beneficial or otherwise. Niacin--the real thing--exerts real and substantial beneficial effects. No-flush or flush-free does nothing except drain your wallet. I continue to marvel at the fact that supplement manufacturers persist in selling this product. Ironically, it commands a significant premium over other niacin forms.

They are outright scams that should be avoided altogether.


My former post, No-flush niacin kills:

Gwen was miserable and defeated.

No wonder. After a bypass operation failed just 12 months earlier with closure of 3 out of 4 bypass grafts, she has since undergone 9 heart catheterization procedures and received umpteen stents. She presented to me for an opinion on why she had such aggressive coronary disease (despite Lipitor).

No surprise, several new causes of heart disease were identified, including a very severe small LDL pattern: 100% of LDL particles were small.

Given her stormy procedural history, I urged Gwen to immediately drop all processed carbohydrates from her diet, including any food made from wheat or corn starch. (She and her husband were shocked by this, by the way, since she'd been urged repeatedly to increase her whole grains by the hospital dietitians.) I also urged her to begin to lose the 30 lbs of weight that she'd gained following the hospital dietitians' advice. She also added fish oil at a higher-than-usual dose.

I asked her to add niacin, among our most effective agents for reduction of small LDL particles, not to mention reduction of the likelihood of future cardiovascular events.

Although I instructed Gwen on where and how to obtain niacin, she went to a health food store and bought "no-flush niacin," or inositol hexaniacinate. She was curious why she experienced none of the hot flush I told her about.

When she came back to the office some weeks later to review her treatment program, she told me that chest pains had returned. On questioning her about what she had changed specifically, the problem became clear: She'd been taking no-flush niacin, rather than the Slo-Niacin I had recommended.

What is no-flush niacin? It is inositol hexaniacinate, a molecule that indeed carries six niacin molecules attached to an inositol backbone. Unfortunately, it exerts virtually no effect in humans. It is a scam. Though I love nutritional supplements in general, it pains me to know that supplement distributors and health food stores persist in selling this outright scam product that not only fails to exert any of the benefits of real niacin, it also puts people like Gwen in real danger because of its failure to provide the effects she needed.

So, if niacin saves lives, no-flush niacin in effect could kill you. Avoid this scam like the plague.

No-flush niacin does not work. Period.


Disclosure: I have no financial or other relationship with Upsher Smith, the manufacturer of Slo-Niacin.


Copyright 2008 William Davis, MD

CT coronary angiography is NOT a screening procedure

28. November 2008 William Davis (3)
I've recently had several hospital employees tell me that their hospitals offered CT coronary angiograms without charge to their employees.

Among these hospital employees were several women in their 30s and 40s.

Why would young, asymptomatic, pre-menopausal women be subjected to the equivalent of 100 chest x-rays or 25 mammograms? Is there an imminent, life-threatening, symptomatic problem here?

All of these women were without symptoms, some were serious exercisers.

There is NO rational justification for performing CT coronary angiography, free or not.

What they really want is some low-risk, yet confident means of identifying risk for heart disease. Cholesterol, of course, is a miserable failure in this arena. Framingham risk scoring? Don't make me laugh.

Step in CT coronary angiography. But does CT coronary angiography provide the answers they are looking for?

Well, it provides some of the answers. It does serve to tell each woman whether she "needs" a heart procedure like heart catheterization, stent, or bypass surgery, since the intent of CT angiography is to identify "severe" blockages, sufficient to justify heart procedures.

Pitfalls: Because of the radiation exposure, CT angiography is not a procedure that can be repeated periodically to reassess the status of any abnormal findings. A CT angiogram every year? After just four years, the equivalent of 400 chest x-rays will have been performed, or 100 mammograms. Cancer becomes a very real risk at this point.

CT angiography is also not quantitative. Sure, it can provide a crude estimation of the percent blockage--the value your cardiologist seeks to "justify" a stent. But it does NOT provide a longitudinal (lengthwise) quantification of plaque volume, a measure of total plaque volume that can be tracked over time.

What's a woman to do? Simple: Get the test that, at least in 2008, provides the only means of gauging total lengthwise coronary plaque volume: a simple CT heart scan, a test performed with an equivalent of 4 - 10 chest x-rays, or 1 - 2.5 mammograms.

Perhaps, in future, software and engineering improvements will be made with CT coronary angiography that reduce radiation to tolerable levels and allows the lengthwise volume measurement of plaque. But that's not how it's done today.

The Wheat Deficiency Syndrome

26. November 2008 William Davis (21)
Beware the dreaded Wheat Deficiency Syndrome.

Like any other syndrome, you can recognize this condition by its many tell-tale signs:

--Flat abdomen
--Rapid weight loss
--High energy
--Less mood swings
--Better sleep
--Diminished appetite
--Reduced blood sugar
--Reduced blood pressure
--Reduced small LDL and total LDL
--Increased HDL
--Reduced triglycerides
--Reduced C-reactive protein and other inflammatory measures


Of course, you could choose to cure yourself of this syndrome simply by taking the antidote: foods made with wheat flour, like bread, breakfast cereals, pastas, pretzels, crackers, and muffins.

All the signs of the syndrome will then disappear and you can have back your protuberant abdomen, irrational mood swings, exagerrated appetite, higher blood sugar, etc.
Vitamin D: Treatment for metabolic syndrome?

Vitamin D: Treatment for metabolic syndrome?

21. December 2007 William Davis (44)
Metabolic syndrome is that increasingly common collection of low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood sugar, and high pressure that now afflicts nearly 1 in 4 adults, rapidly gaining ground to 1 in 3. Beyond these surface factors, metabolic syndrome also creates small LDL particles, VLDL, intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDL), increased imperceptible inflammation measured as higher c-reactive protein, and greater blood clotting tendencies. Metabolic syndrome is usually, though not always, associated with a big tummy ("beer belly," though I call it "wheat belly").

In short, metabolic syndrome creates a metabolic mess that leads to dramatic increases in heart disease, vascular disease and stroke, and cancer. The medical community has been paying increasingly greater attention to this condition because of its booming prevalence and because of the big bucks invested in "education" by the manufacturers of the diabetes and pre-diabetes drugs, particularly makers of Actos and Avandia.

But here's a curious observation:

Replacement of vitamin D to healthy levels (we aim for 50-60 ng/ml, or 125-150 nmol/l) yields:

--Higher HDL
--Lower triglycerides
--Lower blood sugar
--Reduced c-reactive protein
--Reduced blood pressure
--Reduced small LDL
--Enhanced sensitivity to insulin

(Whether blood clotting and effects on IDL should be added to this list is uncertain.)

It's obvious: Vitamin D is proving to be a very important and powerful corrective influence on many of the facets of the metabolic syndrome. In fact, I would go as far as saying that, side by side, vitamin D yields nearly the same effect as prescription drugs Actos and Avandia--without the extravagant cost (nearly $200 per month), leg swelling, congestive heart failure and heightened heart attack risk (with Avandia), and average 8 lb weight gain. Of course, vitamin D also provides benefits beyond metabolic syndrome like facilitation of coronary plaque regression, increased bone density, reduced arthritis, and reduced risk of several cancers.

You'd think that agencies like the American Diabetes Association (ADA) would be all over vitamin D like white on rice. Yet they remain curiously quiet about the entire issue. (That should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the behavior and politics of this organization, the same outfit that has widely propagated the ADA diet, a program that accelerates diabetes and its complications. In my view, the ADA is an embarassment.)



For a really great story and video on vitamin D that includes a terrific interview with vitamin D guru and Track Your Plaque friend, California psychiatrist Dr. John Cannell, go to What's the Real Story on Vitamin D?. While the video will yield little new to readers of The Heart Scan Blog or Track Your Plaque members, it just feels really good to see a well-made, high-class video production echoing many of the things we've been talking about these past two years.
Tags :

Comments (44) -

  • Anonymous

    12/21/2007 5:52:00 PM |

    > Whether blood clotting and effects on IDL
    >should be added to this list is uncertain.

    Meaningless anecdote: I've noticed an increased tendency to bruise easily since I've been taking higher doses of vitamin D, and had been wondering whether it was the cause. I definitely have metabolic syndrome.

  • mo79uk

    12/21/2007 7:36:00 PM |

    I wish Dr. Cannell would come talk the British media. We need a tank load of D talk to infiltrate here.

  • Mike

    12/22/2007 3:49:00 PM |

    An irrational fear of skin cancer prevents most people from getting their vitamin D from sunshine. The doses that the medical establishment recommends are so small as to be almost worthless.

  • MarilynMann

    12/22/2007 10:36:00 PM |

    It would be helpful if you could tell us where the research on vitamin D you are referring to is published.  Some of us like to go to the original source.

  • Dr. Davis

    12/23/2007 12:38:00 AM |

    See our special reports on the Track Your Plaque website with detailed references. Or, go to Dr. John Cannell's www.vitamindcouncil.com website.

  • Sue

    12/23/2007 2:38:00 AM |

    Is cod liver oil the best way to get vitamin D or just vitamin D3 capsules?
    Is there are connection with hypothyroidism and low vitamin D levels?

  • Dr. Davis

    12/23/2007 1:57:00 PM |

    Either source for vitamin D works.

    I do believe that correction of vitamin D has, in occasional instances, modestly increased thyroid function.

  • MarilynMann

    12/23/2007 3:45:00 PM |

    Cod liver oil has a lot of vitamin A, which in excess can lead to low bone density.  It is better just to take the vitamin D by itself.

  • g

    12/23/2007 9:20:00 PM |

    I agree -- over 20yrs ago it was suggested that increased thyroid doses are required in the winter time for hypothyroid pts on replacement (see below). IT sure seems to suggest that Vitamin D deficiency exacerbates hypothyroidism (and I'd go as far to say it even CAUSES it)?  I've observed this as well. (it's corrected with D3)

    In the second study, a corollary phenomenon occurred -- thyroid replacement in hypothyroid pts caused 25(OH)D to INCREASE (in the autumn when you'd normally expect it to decrease).  

    Isn't it fascinating how thyroid hormone and D3 hormone are interrelated.
    ---When D3 hormone (sunlight) is lacking, thyroid function suffers
    ---When thyroid hormone is lacking, a high D3 dose fails to increase 25(OH)D much....
    ---When thyroid hormone is NOT lacking, high dose D3 causes a large increase in 25(OH)D (in normal euthryoid controls)

    it all sounds very familiar to me...  Smile

    THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR WORK AND INSIGHTS!! Keep up the strong work, g


    Metabolism. 1984 Mar;33(3):215-8. Links
    Is it necessary to adjust the replacement dose of thyroid hormone to the season in patients with hypothyroidism?Hamada N, Ohno M, Morii H, Jaeduk N, Yamakawa J, Inaba M, Ikeda S, Wada M.
    Hypothalamo-pituitary-thyroid activity varies with the temperature of the environment; we therefore measured variables involved with thyroid function in summer and winter in normal controls and in patients with primary hypothyroidism. All seven patients had impalpable thyroid glands and had received a set replacement dose of thyroxine for over a year. In the patients, serum T3 and FT4 levels were slightly but significantly lower in winter, and TSH levels and delta TSH at 30 minutes in the TRH tests were significantly higher. In the controls, there were no significant differences between summer and winter in these values. These findings suggest that the dose required for replacement of thyroid hormone in patients with hypothyroidism may be higher in winter than in summer.

    PMID: 6420646 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]



    Acta Endocrinol (Copenh). 1986 Nov;113(3):329-34.Links
    Effect of vitamin D3 loading and thyroid hormone replacement therapy on the decreased serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level in patients with hypothyroidism.Bársony J, Lakatos P, Földes J, Fehér T.
    Twelve hypothyroid subjects, 13 healthy and 12 healthy women with a slight deficiency of vitamin D were studied to distinguish seasonal changes from the thyroxine-dependent ones. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels of hypothyroid patients were lower than those of healthy individuals when the sera were obtained in the autumn. In hypothyroid patients a single oral dose of 100,000 IU vitamin D3 resulted in a smaller increase in 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration than in controls having subclinical exogenous vitamin D deficiency. Substitution therapy with thyroid hormone, started in our study always in autumn, increased the 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration in hypothyroid patients, which was opposite to the autumn-to-spring variation of this hormone observed in healthy controls. The increase of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulphate values following substitution therapy in the hypothyroid patients may indicate that thyroid hormone(s) is (are) involved in the regulation of steroid hormone synthesis.

    PMID: 3024434 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

  • g

    12/23/2007 9:32:00 PM |

    This is very hopeful...Vitamin D3 stalls thyroid cancer, one case report:

    Endocr J. 2005 Oct;52(5):613-6. Links
    Vitamin D3 treatment for locally advanced thyroid cancer: a case report.Morishita M, Ohtsuru A, Kumagai A, Namba H, Sato N, Hayashi T, Yamashita S.
    Department of Molecular Medicine, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Japan.

    There are many intricacies in the surgical treatment of locally advanced thyroid cancer, including the medical management of the remaining functional organ and any cosmetic impairments, which are sometimes very difficult to manage and eventually carry a relatively high morbidity and mortality. Here, we report on a case of a 65-year-old female with an extremely locally-advanced thyroid cancer involving both lobes of the thyroid, blood vessels, trachea and esophagus. Despite the severity of her condition, oral administration of vitamin D3 (alphacalcido) has stalled both the tumor growth and further increases of serum thyroglobulin (Tg) level, and has led to a good preservation of quality of life for the last two years. Several reports have previously demonstrated the efficacy of vitamin D3 to inhibit the proliferation of thyroid cancer cell lines in vitro, but clinical evidence has been limited so far. Therefore, this case report provides important evidence for the effectiveness of vitamin D3 therapy against advanced thyroid cancers.

    PMID: 16284441 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

  • g

    12/23/2007 9:42:00 PM |

    Another good story... 3mon old child with depressed thyroid function, CHF and profound Vitamin D deficiency in Oslo, Norway -- corrected with a Vit D analogue:

    Acta Paediatr. 1995 Jan;84(1):106-8
    Congestive heart failure caused by vitamin D deficiency?Brunvand L, Hågå P, Tangsrud SE, Haug E.
    Department of Paediatrics, Ullevål Hospital, Oslo, Norway.

    We describe a child, 3.5 months old, with severe vitamin D deficiency, profound hypocalcaemia, hyperphosphataemia, dilated left ventricle, severely reduced myocardial contractility and congestive heart failure. She also had depressed thyroid function with subnormal thyroxine and non-detectable serum thyrotropin (TSH) levels. The child promptly responded to calcium infusions, conventional anticongestive therapy and calcitriol. She is now 3 years old and received no medication. Myocardial function is normal but she has motor delay. We believe that her transitory congestive heart failure was caused by severe vitamin D deficiency with profound hypocalcaemia.

    PMID: 7734890 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

  • Dr. Davis

    12/23/2007 11:31:00 PM |

    Thanks, Marilyn. You're absolutely right.

    In all honesty, I virtually never use cod liver oil, but for some reason some people gravitate towards it, perhaps since they took it as children.

  • Jerome

    12/24/2007 1:55:00 PM |

    I went to a local vitamin supplier yesterday to get some Vitamin D after reading your blog, which is most interesting I might add.  At this store they had Vitamin D2 and D3 but no D1.  Is there such a thing (D1) and which is the one I should be taking to benefit as suggested in the blog?

  • Dr. Davis

    12/24/2007 4:59:00 PM |

    Hi, Jerome--

    Vitamin D3 is the only form I recommend. In my view, vitamin D2 is a worthless scam, whether it's in milk, a multivitamin, or a prescription product. I've never heard of vit D1.

  • jpatti

    12/24/2007 4:59:00 PM |

    I liked the *idea* of cod liver oil, as it would replace both fish oil and vitamin D tablets - a total of 8 pills in my 26-pill regimen.

    I bought what was supposed to be one of the best tasting ones and... it made me retch.  It also sort of tingles in your mouth.  And because it's oily, you can't rinse it out of your mouth.  It's just icky.

    I gave some to the cats, figuring it would be a healthy snack for them... and all four of them refused it.

    If someone can get it down, I think it's great stuff.  For me, I'll stick to the extra 8 pills...

  • Sue

    12/25/2007 2:20:00 AM |

    Thanks for all the helpful comments.  I've got cod liver oil in the fridge so I think I will use it up and then get D3 capsules.
    I take the cod liver oil with lemon juice.  I put the cod-liver oil in a little shot glass and squeeze some fresh lemon into the shot glass aswell and drink it in one swoop.  I then wash it down with some water with fresh lemon squeezed into it.  Gets rid of some of the icky fishy taste. The lemon also helps with digesting the fat.

  • cheron

    12/27/2007 7:19:00 AM |

    I wouldn't necessarily be afraid of the A, as we can be deficient in the A as well.  Perhaps alternating between A-containing and A-less forms of D supplements would work.  That way you get a vacation from the A periodically.

    As for surviving the fish taste...try following it up with a bite of something else that's strong tasting and contains fat, like cured olives or a tuna salad sandwich.

  • Anonymous

    1/1/2008 11:37:00 AM |

    Hi Dr. Davis,

    Have you seen literature making a connection to the plaque linked to Alzheimer's disease with the plaque responsible for heart disease?  I was asked this question by a distant cousin yesterday that wondered if the supplements recommended for TYP ,like vitamin D and K2, could help prevent those at risk for Alzheimer's (his grandmother, and mother both came down with Alzheimer's)

  • Dr. Davis

    1/1/2008 2:37:00 PM |

    No, sorry, they are two completely unrelated phenomena, despite the use of the word "plaque" to describe both.

  • MarilynMann

    1/1/2008 11:31:00 PM |

    Fish oil benefits
    Medical Research News
    Published: Sunday, 30-Dec-2007  

    It's good news that we are living longer, but bad news that the longer we live, the better our odds of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease.
    Many Alzheimer's researchers have long touted fish oil, by pill or diet, as an accessible and inexpensive "weapon" that may delay or prevent this debilitating disease. Now, UCLA scientists have confirmed that fish oil is indeed a deterrent against Alzheimer's, and they have identified the reasons why.

    Reporting in the current issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, now online, Greg Cole, professor of medicine and neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and associate director of UCLA's Alzheimer Disease Research Center, and his colleagues report that the omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) found in fish oil increases the production of LR11, a protein that is found at reduced levels in Alzheimer's patients and which is known to destroy the protein that forms the "plaques" associated with the disease.

    The plaques are deposits of a protein called beta amyloid that is thought to be toxic to neurons in the brain, leading to Alzheimer's. Since having high levels of LR11 prevents the toxic plaques from being made, low levels in patients are believed to be a factor in causing the disease.

    Alzheimer's is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease that causes memory loss, dementia, personality change and ultimately death. The national Alzheimer's Association estimates that 5.1 million Americans are currently afflicted with the disease and predicts that the number may increase to between 11 million and 16 million people by the year 2050.

    The researchers examined the effects of fish oil, or its component DHA, in multiple biological systems and administered the oil or fatty acid by diet and by adding it directly to neurons grown in the laboratory.

    "We found that even low doses of DHA increased the levels of LR11 in rat neurons, while dietary DHA increased LR11 in brains of rats or older mice that had been genetically altered to develop Alzheimer's disease," said Cole, who is also associate director of the Geriatric Research Center at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

    To show that the benefits of DHA were not limited to nonhuman animal cells, the researchers also confirmed a direct impact of DHA on human neuronal cells in culture as well. Thus, high levels of DHA leading to abundant LR11 seem to protect against Alzheimer's, Cole said, while low LR11 levels lead to formation of the amyloid plaques.

    Fish oil and its key ingredient, omega-3 fatty acids (found in fatty fish like salmon), have been a mainstay of alternative health practitioners for years and have been endorsed by the American Heart Association to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

    Fatty acids like DHA are considered "essential" fatty acids because the body cannot make them from other sources and must obtain them through diet. Years of research have shown that DHA is the most abundant essential fatty acid in the brain, Cole said, and that it is critical to fetal and infant brain development. Studies have also linked low levels of DHA in the brain to cognitive impairment and have shown that lower levels may increase oxidative stress in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.

    Based on the positive results, the National Institutes of Health is currently conducting a large-scale clinical trial with DHA in patients with established Alzheimer's disease. For those patients, Cole said, it may be too late in the disease's progression for DHA to have much effect. But he is hopeful that the NIH will conduct a large-scale prevention clinical trial using fish oil at the earliest stages of the disease - particularly because it is unlikely that a pharmaceutical company will do so, since fish oil in pill form is readily available and inexpensive.

    Still to be determined, he said, "is what the optimal dose should be. It could be that a smaller amount might be helpful, especially in a place like the south of France, where people are already on a Mediterranean diet."

    Here in the United States, though, where fish consumption is not very high, the dose may need to be higher.

    "There's a deficiency of DHA to begin with," Cole said, "and this may contribute to the low LR11 seen in many Alzheimer's patients."

    http://www.ucla.edu/

    This is for the person asking about Alzheimer's.

    Marilyn
      




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  • Anonymous

    1/2/2008 6:43:00 PM |

    Hi Marilyn,

    Thanks for sharing the great information on fish oil/DHA!  I'm going to pass this on to my relative.

  • J. Michael

    1/3/2008 2:07:00 PM |

    It is rather difficult to find good D3-sources in Europe. Swanson's seems to be available; gelatine capsules although with a white powder inside. Are they any good?

  • Dr. Davis

    1/3/2008 9:08:00 PM |

    I do not advocate use of powder preparations of vit D. The absorption is simply too erratic. oil-based gelcaps are best.

  • moblogs

    1/4/2008 1:25:00 PM |

    I wonder what you think of this report? http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/bu-vdi010208.php I'm guessing that this is probably Hollick's idea of infiltration - get them to at least accept profitable D2 more before winning them over with D2.

    Also, last year I was prescribed 400IU of D2 which raised my 10nmol/L to 21nmol/L; in realising this is inadequate what would you recommend is a good plan for me?

  • Dr. Davis

    1/4/2008 1:35:00 PM |

    I don't know what to make of Holick's study. He is a source of reliable observations. However, his experience is dramatically different from my experience and that of many others. I have seen D2 have no effect whatsoever repeatedly. I had one woman who had been taking 50,000 units D2 per day have a blood level of D3 of 4 ng/ml.

    Most of my patients take somwhere in the 4000-6000 units per day of vit D3 to generate a blood level of 50-60 ng/ml.

  • Anonymous

    1/4/2008 4:35:00 PM |

    I saw the study about the vitamin D2 being just as good as D3 also.  Here is the link I read: http://www.nutraingredients.com/news/ng.asp?n=82331-vitamin-d-cholecalciferol-ergocalciferolI thought the article was interesting, until I read the part of the company that made the softgels.  I'd question  what where the Q/C of the content? Did an independent lab test the softgels?

  • Dr. Davis

    1/5/2008 1:52:00 AM |

    Excellent point.

    To me, there is absolutely no reason to take vit D2, given the uncertainty. It is not cheaper, more effective, nor more available. It may, however, be more profitable for a drug company. D3 is the human form; D2 is the plant form.

    Is there any reason at all to take D2? I don't think there is.

  • g

    1/7/2008 12:29:00 AM |

    Thanks for the information on Alzheimer's (AD) known now as 'Type 3 Diabetes.' It's conjectured that profound Insulin Resistance in the brain occurs prior to amyloid development in AD patients.  The brain can only use two types of fuel -- ketones (ie like during starvation) and glucose.  There appears to be a problem with excessive glucose.  Some neurobiologist experts believe a mildly ketotic diet may be beneficial for preventing this type of insulin resistance.

    Many benefits in recent studies have shown that fish oil significantly decreases IR associated with Type 2 Diabetes, NAFLD (a precursor to diabetes and believed to be a new indicator for Metabolic Syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver dz) and even cancers -- including prostate (shown by Vieth) and glioblastoma -- a rare malignant brain cancer -- thought to be incurable but now being 'cured' with fish oil (and tamoxifen, etc cocktail).

    Thanks ! !  g

  • g

    1/7/2008 4:36:00 PM |

    sorry -- Vieth is in vitro data -- don't know if in vivo data exists yet

  • Anonymous

    1/8/2008 12:23:00 PM |

    Seems word is leaking into the mainstream press about vitamin D.  Last night NBC Nightly News ran an article about the connection between low vitamin D levels and increased risk for heart disease.

  • Paul Kelly - 95.1 WAYV

    1/8/2008 7:28:00 PM |

    Hi Dr. Davis,

    I know that you recommend oil-based / gel caps for Vitamin D as opposed to tablets. Does the same hold true for daily multi-vitamins? Is a capsule and a gelcap the same thing?

  • Renee

    1/8/2008 8:57:00 PM |

    Wow another sickness that not enough Vitamin D is contributed to.  I just read an article at Here Comes The Sun talking about ways you can intake more Vitamin D.  Check it out.

  • Dr. Davis

    1/9/2008 3:33:00 AM |

    Paul--
    Vit D gelcaps contain oil. Gelcaps are capsules. However, not all capsules are gelcaps; some contain powder.

    Oil-based vitamins like A, D, and E are best taken as an oil. The D, for instance, in your multivitamin probably doesn't work at all, or absorption is erratic.

    Gelcaps are no more expensive, so why bother with tablet or powder forms?

  • moblogs

    1/21/2008 11:54:00 AM |

    Just wondered what your opinion on this anti-D report is? http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/1/prweb639651.htm

    For what it's worth, I think this guy is going too far. His Marshall Protocol might be entertainable for those with certain autoimmune diseases, but saying D is bad for everyone based on his *personal* model seems nuts. Furthermore, his basic assumption is that everyone with low D 'is' ill, rather than has the potential to. And yet we know treating D in associated illness restores health.

    Would this guy withhold blood because a bullet causes bleeding? No wonder he's not an MD.

  • Dr. Davis

    1/21/2008 1:05:00 PM |

    Is this guy from the same planet?

    I've witnessed such extraordinary effects of vitamin D replacement that, for me, there is no turning back. Thus far, the effects of vitamin D replacement have paralleled the effects of sun exposure (except for the tan, of course).

    For every new idea, there will always be those who protest. Some have validity, some are plain kooks.

  • Anonymous

    1/24/2008 3:40:00 AM |

    Dear Dr. Davis,

    Thank you for your support of Vitamin D. I recently was tested and found to have a level of 37. I do have a question or two, though. I was on the mega-dose (50000IU twice a week for four weeks).

    I am now on 2000IU per day (just started this past Sunday). I have all of the Metabolic Syndrome symptoms except the high glucose (my last fasting was 81).

    How long do you think I should continue on this does before I have my level checked again? And how long before I would start to see results?

    My doctor seems very concerned about my CRP (3.1), and I'm really hoping that this vit d. regime helps.
    Thank you.

  • Dr. Davis

    1/24/2008 12:50:00 PM |

    Unfortunately, the "mega-dose" you refer to probably yielding nothing--it was probably vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol). In my experience, this synthetic form fails to be converted to the active form in humans, D3.

    We wait at least 4 weeks before checking a blood level, ideally 8 weeks.

  • Linda

    7/20/2009 7:30:21 PM |

    Just found out that I have
    vitamin D deficiency.  I have
    neuropathy, muscle weakness
    and arthritis.
    I hope taking the 50,000 units
    three times a week helps.
    We must certainly need our D,
    I'm proof.

  • Anonymous

    1/16/2010 2:53:37 AM |

    I have been detected with high TSH levels - 6 (the thyroid hormones are within range)and low Vit D - 25.
    Additionally, my cholesterol is 223 (good one is 81).
    I also seem to be getting ovarian cysts.
    Is all this related?

  • Anonymous

    2/15/2010 1:20:25 PM |

    quite interesting post. I would love to follow you on twitter.

  • shaheel

    9/27/2010 1:00:12 PM |

    Heart  disease is one of the most  dangerous disease which takes thousands of life every years all over the world. If we know its symptoms and Treatment for heart disease. We can prevent is to large extent.

  • buy jeans

    11/3/2010 6:51:49 PM |

    In short, metabolic syndrome creates a metabolic mess that leads to dramatic increases in heart disease, vascular disease and stroke, and cancer. The medical community has been paying increasingly greater attention to this condition because of its booming prevalence and because of the big bucks invested in "education" by the manufacturers of the diabetes and pre-diabetes drugs, particularly makers of Actos and Avandia.

  • liposculpture guide

    1/31/2011 4:15:52 AM |

    Vitamin D is proving to be a very important and powerful influence on many of the facets of the metabolic syndrome. Because the metabolic syndrome increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, an adequate vitamin D level in the body might be important in the prevention of these diseases.

  • robrob

    2/5/2011 6:42:42 PM |

    I was wondering can you have a genetic compenont against making enough vit d by the sun? I bask in the sun for hours (since I love it so much and I am drawn to it like postive charge does to negative charge) yet I am d deficient, I suffer terrible metabolic syndrome, the whole nine yards just short of type 2. my doctor calls me prediabetic.

    I have even improved my diet big time over the last 3 years. lower gi, lower sat fat, more veggies etc. omega 3 fish oil

    I never use sunscreen and I never burn. just a nice light brown tan.I keep this tan by the way almost the whole winter. I started to take a cal vita d mag supplement chewables and I drink whole milk with it to make sure I absorb them being fat soluable and all. I can't expose my belly for more than a few minutes that will burn. ouch!

    being obese I am sure whatever cal vita d I take is going to end up in storage hoarding it an all. what can I do? I now drink more whole milk, eat organic bacon per suggestion from article the obesity epidemic is metabolic syndrome a nutritional deficiency. by stephanic seneff. real nice lady by the way.

    anyway slowly after implementing her suggestions my fasting hypoglycemic especially at night has improved, i don't run to the bathroom like i used to, I am more relaxed too. I have more energy, all this is a slow process not overnight. over many months.

    I don't have to eat at 3 in the morning anymore because of getting super hungry, nervous sweaty etc.

    but I still suffer some of the symptoms just not as severe. is there anything else I can do to speed up the improvments in mets?

    reduced cal diets do not work I get to hungry can't sleep and lose all energy. even a slight reduction which I have done makes me to hungry to sleep at night. or forces me up to eat after a couple of hours of sleep.

    forcing my body to get by on less caloires is not an option. (losing weight is always touted by my doctor to cure mets but mets was caused by my dieting history) I have lost hundreds of pounds over my 35 dieting history.

    I would like to hear any suggestions you may have. my doctor keeps pushing weight loss but that is what got me like this in the first place.

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