Posted on 02/04/2012 12:51:48 PM PST by neverdem
ORLANDO – People with an excessive blood level of vitamin D from overdosing with supplements had a 2.5-fold increased incidence of atrial fibrillation(A Fib), based on a study of 132,000 residents of Utah and southeastern Idaho.
The finding "suggests the need for caution with vitamin D supplementation and the need for careful assessment of serum levels if high doses [of vitamin D] are used," Megan B. Smith said at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association.
The finding also suggests that patients identified with new-onset atrial fibrillation should be evaluated for a possible extremely high vitamin D level, said Ms. Smith, although in the results she reported, the high blood level of vitamin D linked with a significantly elevated incidence of atrial fibrillation, greater than 100 ng/dL, was extremely unusual, occurring in just 291 of the 132,000 people (0.2%) included in the study.
Although the mechanism linking such an extremely elevated blood level of vitamin D to a markedly increased rate of new-onset atrial fibrillation remains unclear, a likely explanation is the hypercalcemia that vitamin D toxicity can cause. Hypercalcemia can, in turn, reduce cardiac conduction velocity and shorten cardiac refractory time, said Ms. Smith, a dietician at Utah State University in Logan.
"Utah [residents have] tremendous use of supplements. From what we’ve seen in the charts we have, excessive use of vitamin D supplements is the primary driver" of the high levels seen, said Dr. T. Jared Bunch, director of electrophysiology research at the Intermountain Medical Group in Murray, Utah, and lead investigator for the study. "The few patients [with very high vitamin D levels] who I have seen got vitamin D in their milk, from a multivitamin, and from vitamin D pills. They get it from multiple sources," but added that the low prevalence of levels above 100 ng/dL also showed that it is a difficult level for a person to reach.
"Utah has an enormous problem with vitamin D deficiency, so we had this large group of people" who were members of Intermountain Healthcare, and had their vitamin D level measured once as part of their routine care. A survey by Dr. Bunch and his associates showed that unless asked, people don’t usually tell their physician that they take a vitamin D supplement, and that physicians at Intermountain Health do not usually ask patients about their vitamin D intake.
The measurement numbers documented the extent of the vitamin D deficiency problem, with 38,000 of the 132,000 people measured (29%) having a blood level below 20 ng/dL. This group with vitamin D deficiency showed significantly elevated prevalence rates of diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, and depression, compared with people in the designated "normal" vitamin D range of 41-60 ng/dL. But notably the incidence of atrial fibrillation in the deficiency group was not significantly different than the rate in the reference group with a normal vitamin D level at baseline.
"There is something unique" about the excess, toxic level, for atrial fibrillation incidence, Dr. Bunch said in an interview.
To better examine the potential role of vitamin D in elevating atrial fibrillation risk, Dr. Bunch and his associates are now regularly measuring blood vitamin D levels in Intermountain Healthcare members and prospectively tracking their atrial fibrillation incidence.
The results reported by Ms. Smith came from a retrospective analysis of the one-time vitamin D measurement by an immunoassay, and atrial fibrillation incidence tallied over an average 584 days of follow-up based on ECG testing and ICD-9 codes in each person’s medical record. The most common vitamin D level measured was 21-40 ng/dL, in 73,547 people (56%). Another 17,234 people (13%) had a level of 41-60 ng/dL, which the researchers considered normal and which they used as the reference group.
During follow-up, the incidence of new-onset atrial fibrillation was about 1.5% in all subgroups based on their baseline vitamin D level, except for those with a level above 100 ng/dL, who had an incidence of about 4%. A multivariate analysis that controlled for baseline differences in demographics identified a significantly elevated atrial fibrillation rate only in people with a baseline vitamin D level greater than 100 ng/dL.
Ms. Smith and Dr. Bunch said that they had no disclosures.
See comment# 1.
I didn’t see anything in the article giving a ‘safe’ level to take. That’s a BIG omission.
As to Utah having a big Vit D deficiency - the whole northern hemisphere does - duh - as does the Antarctica end of the world, while the sunny lands don’t.
The sun delivers Vit D through UVB rays - which are not around in northern winters. It’d be a bit uncomfortable to sunbath in Jan and Feb anyway ;o)
People who suffer from S.A.D. = depression - “Log Cabin Fever” in the winter do so because their Vit D levels drops.
I take 6,000 IU’s a day - OF VIT D3 - in winter.
Also, the majority of people who are afflicted with MS are in the colder climates - lack of Vit D is implicated in eating away the myelin sheath that protects nerves like a covered electric wire.
I have a granddaughter newly diagnosed - her neurosurgeon encourages her to take Vit D3 - it’s Vit D3 we should take - not Vit D. There IS a difference.
Spot on - and very poorly written.
I love your moniker. Loved Patrick McGoohan...and a great theme song/melody..my boys had 'Secret Agent Man's' spy glasses ;)
BINGO
Magnesium is a super PH balance 'balancer'
Keep your PH level in balance and it's very hard to get sick -
Consider that your body mostly exposed around the noonday sun can produce 50000 iu of vitamin d in 15-20 minutes. With no ill effects.
Taking 5-10000 iu’s per day in the winter is not outrageous with perspective.
True - but those God-made foods aren't available in the super markets - even if they have an 'organic' section without all the chemicals, pesticides etc....as they've all been out of the ground for days to weeks...and every day they are out of the ground, their vitamin-mineral levels drop.
I get my eggs and vegetables delivered to my door, free delivery, from a farmer 2 miles down the road. I take a a 20 mile trip to a farm for my 'grass fed' beef. I get organic fat back to render my own NON-hydrogenated lard. I make ghee from organic butter. I grow what vegetables I can in summer.
You want God-foods, don't go to the super markets.
And to be clear I refer to vitamin d3.
Nail on the head.
Lousily written piece of crappola by someone that either knows NOTHING about what they’re writing about - or is a hit piece for pharma/gov’t as too many people are NOT GETTING SICK by taking VitD 3.
Can’t have people staying healthy. Hurts their bottom line.
And yet, "The measurement numbers documented the extent of the vitamin D deficiency problem, with 38,000 of the 132,000 people measured (29%) having a blood level below 20 ng/dL. This group with vitamin D deficiency showed significantly elevated prevalence rates of diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, and depression, compared with people in the designated "normal" vitamin D range of 41-60 ng/dL." I would think Vitamin D deficiency would be contributing to dangerous medical conditions more than would overdose.
True - but those God-made foods aren’t available in the super markets - even if they have an ‘organic’ section without all the chemicals, pesticides etc....as they’ve all been out of the ground for days to weeks...and every day they are out of the ground, their vitamin-mineral levels drop.
I think of the time I spent in India and Nepal, and Belarus.
I think about the back breaking work done to make something grow.
I think about the puny harvest after the grasshoppers and other bugs took their share.
I think about the few puny plants that pushed their way through the soil because they don’t have “chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers.”
I pray the day never comes when we live that way in this country.
I thank God for the scientists and farmers with the motivation and intelligence that provide us with an abundance of good food unknown in most of the world.
Similarly to the earlier poster who claimed that all AF is caused by a magnesium deficiency, you are simple-mindedly claiming all seasonal affective disorder is caused by low vitamin D. Sheesh. Science classes and various methods to improve critical thinking are freely available. And D3 is just more easily assimilated by the body -- any form ends up as D, period.
The vitamin E study that recently floated the notion of a increased risk for prostate cancer is totally bogus. It was an interview based retrospective that included a bunch of self-selected E users. Men who go to their doctors with elevated psa scores are frequently given E by their doctors. Some of the men go on to develop prostate cancer and blow up the calculated risks for prostate cancer. duh
This is not “India and Nepal, and Belarus.”
Organic farming still requires knowledge - and in America and Canada it is very successful - has yields equal to ‘chemical’ farming without depleting the land of nutrients.
The Amish are certainly successful - and using the same land for decades - farming like in my grandparents day - long before it was called ‘organic.” My tomatoes and other veggies are just a ‘pretty’ on the outside as super market tomatoes, but taste a whale of a lot better. My sun-ripened strawberries are sweet and red all the way through - not white and all but tasteless, full of chemicals and gas ripened.
The produce we get from our organic farmers is far superior to the ‘chemical’ crops. I think you really know this. One could wonder if you work for Monsanto - ahahah
Here’s a family that grows 6,000 lbs of food on 1/8 acre in the middle of a big city - enough to feed the family and provide a living by selling the excess.
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/July05/organic.farm.vs.other.ssl.html
I suppose you think GMO foods are great too.
“Organic farming produces same corn and soybean yields as conventional farms, but consumes less energy and no pesticides, study finds”
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/July05/organic.farm.vs.other.ssl.html
you must think we’re pretty dumb.
-——intake of milk caused him to lie like a rug.-——
Aren’t Black folks frequently lactose intolerant?
I have been slowly increasing my dosage of D3 with blood tests, and had gotten up to 6000IU/day. Unbeknownst to me, my wife started buying the 2000IU/pill rather than the 1000IU/pill stuff, so at some point I actually started taking ~12,000IU/day.
The reason I started upping the dose was that EVERY YEAR for probably the last ten, I have had 3-4 (or more) bad colds, often going bacterial in my sinuses.
This year, I have had ONE "attempted cold" which died out with a bit of extra rest. That is, until I found out about "the switcheroo". However, on dropping my dosage back to 6000IU/day, I promptly caught a cold.
Which would be what (kind and amount)??
I like mag glycinate or mag malate. There are a couple other forms that absorb as well. Mag binds to 13 different substances, some of which hardly absorb at all. One being oxide, which is what milk of magnesia is.
The RDA is 425 mg. We take double that. Mag is water soluable so you’ll pee out any excess but your body will slowly absorb and store mag in bones, muscles, tissues and teeth.
Your Vit D levels going up will only be one of SEVERAL thinggs you’ll see go completely away with the right doses of mag; depression, anxiety, restless leg, body pain, asthma, arterial plaque...many more as well.
I thake 5 K per day, I wonder what my level is?
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