Vitamin D-Comprehensive

It is only within the last few years that the important role Vitamin D plays has been researched and recognized.

Here are some facts regarding “Vitamin D” which is actually a hormone as opposed to a vitamin.
* Vitamin D, also called Calciferol, is a fat-soluble vitamin which means it is found primarily in animal fat. Unlike other vitamins that must be obtained solely through supplements or diet, vitamin D is manufactured in the body when sunlight comes in contact with the skin.

Here is a short list of what Vitamin D is responsible for.

  • Vitamin D is responsible for regulating over 800+ genes in the body!
  • It is a known fact that Vitamin D 25- Hydroxy levels lower than 15  will lead to many varieties of Cancer especially Colon Cancer
  • Vitamin D deficiency was responsible for older patients losing their balance and falling.  Two studies, one from the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and the other in Pharmaco Economics support this theory
  • .Low Vitamin D associated with age related cognitive decline, dementia and Alzheimers.    In a new study published earlier this month in JAMA Neurology, researchers demonstrated a significant association between vitamin D insufficiency and cognitive decline that is specifically seen in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The results reinforce the importance of identifying vitamin D insufficiency among the elderly. Here, low vitamin D levels were associated with significantly faster rates of decline in memory and executive function performance..
  • Vitamin D has historically been used to treat Low Blood Pressure as there appears to be a correlation between blood pressure and low blood calcium levels and Vitamin D is directly responsible for where calcium should be and should not be.
  • Vitamin D is vital for bone growth and repair, especially in children and the elderly. Calcium and phosphorous levels in the blood stream are maintained by vitamin D. Vitamin D assists in the absorption of these important nutrients during digestion. This role in calcium and phosphorous absorption makes vitamin D an important part of bone growth and maintenance; and liver and kidney health Vitamin D also contributes to the function on the thyroid gland and to the immune system.

*The vast majority of the vitamin D used in the human body is manufactured in the skin. When vitamin D is consumed it is absorbed into the blood stream from the intestines with the help of bile. From the intestines Vitamin D is transported to the liver where it may be stored or used by the body. The daily Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin D is 400 IU’s for an average adult man/woman.

Why suddenly is everyone Vitamin D deficient?

  • Not eating the foods high in Vitamin D which include fish liver oil, egg yolks, butter and cod liver oil. Vitamin D which naturally exists in milk is destroyed during the pasteurization process making it necessary to replace the naturally occurring Vitamin D that once was in the milk with synthetic Vitamin D which the body cannot utilize
  • Not enough sun exposure due to fear that the sun causes cancer when in fact that is not the case. Poor diet is!
  • Actually,  it may not be a deficiency of Vitamin D atoll, but a deficiency of Vitamin F, Vitamin D’s antagonist. Vitamin D picks up calcium from the gut and puts it into the blood. Vitamin F takes it from the blood and puts it into the tissues.

How to Optimize Vitamin D?

  • To optimize your levels, you need to expose large portions of your skin, such as your back, chest, legs, and arms, to sensible sun exposure. And, contrary to popular belief, the best time to be in the sun for vitamin D production is actually as near to solar noon as possible.
  • During this time you need the shortest exposure time to produce vitamin D because UVB rays are most intense at this time. Plus, when the sun goes down toward the horizon, the UVB is filtered out much more than the dangerous UVA.
  • Just be cautious about the length of your exposure. You only need enough exposure to have your skin turn the lightest shade of pink. Once you reach this point your body will not make any additional vitamin D due to its self-regulating mechanism. Any additional exposure will only cause harm and damage to your skin.

Vitamin D is important, but as we know, it is not the only key player. It is also important to assess calcium, magnesium, vitamin K2, and other trace minerals for deficiencies and support accordingly. There are several labs that can assess RBC minerals and fat-soluble vitamins.

What about Vitamin F–I never heard of this vitamin before?

  • Vitamin F is a source of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids which are needed to transport calcium from the blood to the tissues.
  • It contains Linolenic and Linoleic Acids which the liver will convert to Arachidonic Acid.  Arachidonic acid is the only form of polyunsaturated fat that can be utilized by the body.
  • It does not exist in vegetable oil—only in fat meat and butter—not margarine.
  • Because polyunsaturated fats reduce blood-cholesterol levels, they are much preferred over saturated fats.

D without F will cause the blood calcium level to increase at the expense of the tissue calcium level because Vitamin D not only picks up calcium from the gut in a deficiency of F, it brings calcium from the tissues back into the bloodstream and then targets the additional D to be stored by the Liver.

Vitamin F Deficiency results in or plays a major role in the following conditions::
* Hives                                     *Dry Skin
* Itchy Skin                              *Muscle Cramps (Charley Horse)
* Canker Sores (Herpes)        *Sun Poisoning
* Hypothyroidism                     *Sun Sensitivity
* Ridged Nails                          *Heat Prostration
* Poor Hair Quality                   *Prostate Problems

In my practice, I often recommend a blood test called Vitamin D 25-Hydroxy to determine the blood levels of Vitamin D.. Once the blood Vitamin D levels are determined, I may recommend specific supplements;hopefully on a short rather than long term basis.  I do not want my patients to stay on supplements forever, and prefer they increase their D levels using foods and the sun.

Note: Because vitamin D is stored in the body (in the liver), it can be toxic if taken in excess quantities. Vitamin D doses of three of four times the RDA may result in nausea, excessive thirst, confusion, heart rhythm abnormalities, weakness and headaches. Vitamin D is also known to interfere with certain medications including steroids and some seizure drugs. Point being do not take Vitamin D because it is a new fad–see a health care provider that knows what they’re doing, get the lab test and correct appropriately

There is a lot of chatter going on regarding Vitamin D.  For further information on the subject, feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 619-231-1778

Betadine Douche

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UNIQUE BIOCHEMICAL ELEMENTS RELATED TO WOMEN’S HEALTH
George J. Goodheart, D.C., DIBAK
Excerpted in part form Metabolic Aspects of Health, Discovery Press 1978

“Atherosclerosis is the result of cholesterol being deposited in the lining of the arteries, particularly the coronary arteries. This condition is more prevalent in men than in women to a ratio of approximately 6 to 1. It is an established fact that the average age of women is greater that of men, as can be seen by the number of men and women in retirement homes. The reason for this difference has been ascribed to estrogen, and sporadic attempts have been made to give estrogen to men is an effort to correct this difference. Stambul, chief cardiologist at the department of medicine of the Albert Einstein Medical Center, however, has shown that it is more likely due to the presence of another hormone-like substance produced in the ovary. This material is the protein-bound iodine in the blood,which was later identified as “di-iodotyrosine”.

The breasts are produced from fifteen sweat glands in the skin which form the nipple and grow backward toward the chest wall. What were embyrologically tortuous sweat glands, develop into the globules of the breast. The globules of the breast are like a bunch of grapes and each grape-like structure is called an alveolus. The alveolae secrete the cholesterol-type materials that contribute to the formation of the milk. It appears the di-iodotyrosine is a special hormone secreted by the ovary for the purpose of keeping the cholesterol substance in liquid form. In the female this is nature’s method of keeping the wax-like cholesterol in solution.

It is well known that the breasts are prone to develop cysts and abscesses, which are due to the improper functioning of this softening and Iiquefying mechanism. “Caked” breast is a very common problem in nursing mothers. It is not unusual, however, for
a woman to have a caked breast with abscess formation even when she is not nursing.

Long before he learned the thesis of Stambul’s work ,John Meyers, author of Metabolic Aspects of Health, 1971 used di2 iodotyrosine to soften breasts for nursing- especially in hypothyroid women. In one patient where the left breast was involved with severe pain and in duration, it required 200 grams of di-iodotyrosine to bring the breast to normal in two days. In another case the mother was nursing the baby with only fair results. The breasts were hard and very painful so that the baby was having great difficulty getting sufficient milk to satisfy its hunger. The mother was given 10 grams of di-iodotyrosine powder on her tongue in the course of several hours, and after allowing it to dissolve in’ the mouth prompt softening of the breasts occurred. The milk came out of the breast within minutes under pressure and could be seen to spurt from the nipple for a distance of about 2 centimeters. This of course subsided after pressure in the breast was released. The patient had no further difficulty nursing her baby after this initial help.

The experience of female patients with breast soreness and heaviness has been repeated innumerable times. There is a condition called “Schirnmelbusch’s disease” which iri his description, the breast feels like ‘a bag of worms’. The ducts more often feel like strands of spaghetti with nodules along them, rather than worms. They are hard and sometimes form masses which are described as “cystic fibrosis” and are quite easily visualized by xerography. The use of diiodotyrosine,along with the trace elements of magnesium, copper, cobalt, manganese and silver ions, has a remarkable effect on this syndrome in relieving the condition so that the breasts feel almost like liquid. Traditional treatment of the fascia lata by AK technique is also of great value here.

It gradually became evident that many of these women were suffering from a hypothyroid condition. Treatment for the hypothyroidism with thyroid and iodine, and particularly iodine intra-vaginally, produced a remarkable improvement in these women. Not only did they have an improvement in their systemic hypothyroid condition, but a remarkable change in the consistency of the vaginal mucous occurred. In the beginning the mucous was thick,white flour-paste like in consistency. Sometimes this paste would look like cottage cheese. As the iodine intake was increased, the mucous changed to a clear, limpid fluid flowing from the cervix. At the time of the spraying of iodine on the vaginal lining, a strand of clear mucous would flow from the cervix to a length of 4 centimeters in about 15 minutes. This strand of mucous was present normally in women who had sufficient iodine in their body. This secretion of mucous served to lubricate the vaginal lining. In time this mucous would flow sufficiently that a woman could expel it when voiding.

Along with the remarkable improvement in the flow of mucous, was a complete disappearance of all infective organisms in the vagina. It was never necessary to use any kind of antiseptic to free the woman of trichomonas or other infection thereafter. It seemed that she no longer could become infected with these organisms when she excreted sufficient iodine in the mucous. The carrier of this iodine seems to be the unsa tura ted fatty acid linoleic acid. In the case of severe vaginitis, large doses of
unsaturated fatty acid in the form of sesame oil(up to l0 capsules daily) are required with the iodine to bring the mucous membrane back to normal.

Several women who had Bartholin gland cysts were also relieved by this iodine application. Here again the iodine made the secretions of these glands fluid so that the material could flow out of the small orifices of the glands. Without the liquification of this secretion the orifice was blocked and large painful cysts appeared. These cysts were nearly always present in hypothyroid individuals– several of whom had the cysts incised on previous occasions.

Two other remarkable things occurred following the application of iodine to the vaginal lining. The first was a remarkable softening of the breasts. They lost their tension and became light and soft, or fluid-like. Patients were aware of this change within several minutes after the application of the iodine.

The second change was in the abdomen. Many of these patients complained of abdominal distress and a general feeling of soreness in the abdomen. Several patients had had laparotomies to search for the cause of this discomfort. After the application of the iodine they commented how comfortable they felt in their abdomen. One of them could not be touched for palpation, but after several months of treatment this distress and sensitivity completely disappeared. It was noted that several of these women had their gallbladders removed in an effort to relieve their abdominal distress.

Some of them had stones at the time of this surgery. However, the removal of the gallbladder had not eliminated the discomfort for which the operation was performed. This discomfort disappeared only after the vaginal applications of the iodine for about a year. Stambul’s research brings together a tremendous amount of endocrine physiology and teaches us how iodine and its products diiodotyrosine and thyroxin, function in the body with cholesterol. He cites a paper by Perkin and Brown of the Lahey Clinic in Boston,
Massachusetts, which is so remarkable that it is appended to his original paper.

This work was done in 1938 and apparently its significance has been lost sight of. It gives a remarkable insight into the functional difference between the male and the female, and a probable reason why the female lives so much longer that the male, and without coronary artery disease from atherosclerosis. Perkin and Brown in their experiments on dogs show that when the thyroid is removed from a male dog its protein-bound iodine drops to about 1/10th of its normal value by the next day. When the thyroid is removed from ~he female, nothing happens until the ovary is removed also- at which time her blood iodine falls to the same as the male after thyroidectomy.

It is interesting to note that at the estrous period of the female dog, which occurs twice a year, in March and October, her protein bound iodine doubled for the few days of her “heat” period. When she became pregnant the protein-bound iodine in her blood dropped to a very low value, a little higher than it was after the removal of her thyroid and ovary. It is important to remember that all of these changes occurred while both the male and female were being given an adequate intake of iodine every day – 72 milligrams of iodine daily in the form of Lugols solution and administered by stomach tube to be sure that it was completely ingested.

From these data and the proof by Stambul that the ovary manufactured di-iodotyrosine, it can be inferred that the female is endowed with this ovarian function to make is possible for her to feed her offspring. In softening the cholesterol material in the glands of her breast, she also keeps the cholesterol in other parts of her body in solution– thereby preventing it form precipitating in the arteries of her heart, brain and elsewhere.

When one views the remarkable improvement in a woman from the higher intake of iodine in protecting her against vaginal infection, cystic fibrosis of the breast, and breast pain, one has to realize that she needs much more iodine that she is getting from her present dietary intake, even when supplemented with iodized salt. There are two other symptoms that appear both in the male and in the female from an additional supply of iodine. One is a loss of the stiffness of the neck. Many patients complain that they cannot turn their heads freely, and there is a constant soreness and stiffness in the muscles of the neck. Frequently, even in young women., the muscles feel more like steel guy wires than flexible muscles that should be very pliable and soft to the touch. For some reason the left side of the neck is more involved than then the right side both in the male and the female. Although iodine plays a large role in relieving this stiffness, it is not sufficient in itself. Trace elements must be added to effect a complete relief of this muscle soreness and stiffness.

This is also true of pain in the breast and soreness in the abdomen. The trace elements which are required in ion form are magnesium, copper, cobalt, silver, zinc and molybdenum. Copper is the ion that has the most to do with the thyroid and catalyzes the manufacture of di-iodotyrosine. As in nature, copper is almost always associated with silver. It requires silver ions to relieve completely the pain inthe left side of the neck and back. Much of the pain in the left side and the shoulder-arm syndrome is relieved by silver, copper and iodine. It is very difficult to say how much one must give to perform these changes. One must feel their way along with these exchange resins but the relief comes within a few minutes and one can palpate the neck muscles and feel the tension and knots in the muscles disappear. Silver seems to have the most effect on the stomach and esophagus which produces pain in the left back at about the level of the fifth interspace next to the spine. Pain in this area sometimes is so severe that a patient cannot press his back against a chair. Pain in this area is such a common occurrence that it is difficult to find a patient completely free of it.

When we place these ions on the tongue of a patient within a few seconds to minutes, changes occur in the breast, in the neck, in the back and, remarkably, also in the vision. The patient will frequently remark that the lights have become brighter in the room.
Tyrosine plays a great role in the sympathetic nervous system and in the visual apparatus, as is shown by the work of Dr. John G.Nicholls. Apparently the activation of the tyrosine by copper produces a higher sensitivity of the retina to light. It also improves color sensitivity. Red color especially is made more vivid and more brilliant. There is hardly a patient seen by the author who has normal red sensitivity and it is always improved by the addition of
tyrosine, iodine and the trace elements.”

NOTE: I have been recommending this douche to certain patients ever since I achieved  the Diplomate in Applied Kinesiology back in 1978. One of the unique aspects of this douche is that the breast decongest even though the patient did not realize her breast were congested to begin with.  They suddenly become lighter–“fluffier”

NOTE: Depending on the situation, I sometimes recommend this particular Douche on a weekly basis for 4 weeks and then once monthly.

NOTE: Every one of my patients knows that I am always “pushing” Iodine for Breast and Ovary Health. Visit after visit, time and time again, e-mails and posts–whatever it takes!