An obesity drug called Qnexa, which is a combination of Phentermine (a common prescription obesity medication) and Topiramate (a seizure drug) has been called unsafe by an FDA panel which also stated that Qnexa should not be sold.

Though there were studies that showed that there were significant health risks to taking the medication, the FDA was unable to procure enough data to justify approving the drug.  Among the health concerns that were connected to Qnexa were an increased heart rate, potential birth defects, and thoughts of suicide.

With this kind of news, what are people supposed to do when they are seeking assistance in their effort to lose weight?  Weight loss is, after all, a very challenging process and millions of people find that the struggle is so great that their dieting efforts are continually failing.  If drugs prescribed by their doctors are also not healthy, many are looking into studies that are revealing promising results with alternatives to prescription drugs.

For example light therapies and vitamin D supplementation are proving to be significant in assisting obese people to achieve a healthy body mass index (BMI).

In the study published in the Obesity journal in February, 2010, “25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentration Correlates With Insulin-Sensitivity and BMI in Obesity”, a team of researchers from Italy showed there is a notable relationship between the amount of vitamin D a person has in his or her body, and that individual’s BMI.  It showed that among obese participants, both low concentrations of vitamin D and insulin-sensitivity seem to rely on the higher body mass.

Therefore, receiving adequate amounts of vitamin D through natural sunlight, certain tanning beds, and supplements can help the body’s metabolism to naturally function at a better rate.  This, combined with a well balanced, portion controlled diet and regular daily exercise can have a significant impact on weight loss.

Sources:

• http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/07/16/fda.diet.drug.rejected/?hpt=Sbin
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20150902
• http://www.fda.gov/newsevents/newsroom/pressannouncements/2008/ucm116998.htm
• http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm149575.htm

The safety of the popular diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone), manufactured by Glaxo, has been called into question by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) staff scientists and the drug was recently placed at risk for a massive recall.  The result of the vote by the FDA panel after a two-day meeting with the endocrinologic and metabolic advisory committees which ended July 14, 2010, was to keep the drug available to the U.S. Market but with significant new restrictions. Most importantly, stronger warnings regarding the cardiovascular risks surrounding the use of Avandia.

The drug’s safety has been in question since 2007, the last time the FDA considered taking it off the market in the United States when a dozen studies showed worrying data regarding the safety of Avandia in response to a 2005 analysis which linked the drug to an increase in heart attacks by 43 percent.  This new labeling could reduce the use of Avandia by 95 percent.

The risks associated with diabetes medications are leading people to look into effective alternative treatments of their condition, such as the recent vitamin D3 and sunlight therapies that are shown in important studies to be quite effective.  For example, the recent study by endocrinologist Esther Krug, MD, from Baltimore’s Sinai Hospital (as well as assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) showed that over 90 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes were vitamin D3 deficient and that the greater the deficiency, the worse the diabetic condition.  Those findings support previous studies that have linked insulin production cells and the production of the insulin itself with vitamin D3.

Vitamin D can have an impact on glycemic control, so diabetic patients should discuss adding vitamin D3 to their diets through proper nutrition, supplements, and exposure to sunlight or full-spectrum lighting.

Sources:

• http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100709-708932.html
• http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/07/fda-panel-gives-avandia.html
• http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704682604575369232879016248.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
• http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2010/07/04/6747/vitamin-d-deficiency-common-in-people-with-poor-diabetes-control-/

I am going to take this directly off the Vitamin D Council’s website, and I’m sure they’ll let me know if that’s not okay.

* If you totally avoid the sun, recent research indicates you need about 4,000 units of vitamin D a day. Which means you can’t get enough vitamin D from milk (unless you drink 40 glasses a day) or from a multivitamin (unless you take about 10 tablets a day), neither of which is recommended.

* Most of us make about 20,000 units of vitamin D after about 20 minutes of summer sun. This is about 100 times more vitamin D than the government says you need every day.

* The only way to be sure you have adequate levels of vitamin D in your blood is to regularly go into the sun, use a sun bed (avoiding sunburn), or have your physician administer a 25‑hydroxyvitamin D test. Optimal levels are around 50 ng/mL (125 nM/L).

* If you don’t get vitamin D the way Mother Nature intended, from sunshine, you need to take supplemental vitamin D3 cholecalciferol. Since most of us get a lot more vitamin D from sunshine than we realize, most of us need about 2,000 units a day extra.

Please visit the VitaminDCouncil.org to learn more.

Here are three easy ways to get your Vitamin D level tested.

Probably.

“Over three out of every four Americans now have vitamin D levels below what we believe is necessary for optimal health. African-Americans and Hispanics are at particularly high risk — nearly all have suboptimal levels.”

Dr. Adit Ginde, an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine. Read article.

You could be vitamin D deficient if you:

1. Rarely go out in the sun
2. Always wear makeup and/or sunscreen on all exposed areas when outdoors
3. Do not take a multivitamin
4. Do not take a vitamin D supplement
5. Do not eat a vitamin d-rich diet (oily fish, fish, liver, egg yolks, and so forth)
6. Have dark skin and do not live near the equator
7. Are older than 60 and live in a high latitude or deliberately avoid the sun

Risk Factors for Vitamin D Deficiency

1. Age. The older you are, the harder it is for your body to make vitamin D from sunlight.
2. Lifestyle. the more time you spend indoors during the daylight hours, the less opportunity you have to make vitamin D.
3. Geographical location. If you live in a place with relatively long wingers, you get less sun over the course of the year because the sunlight isn’t strong enough to make vitamin D in the winter.
4. Race. People with very dark skin, especially those of African descent, find it difficult to make vitamin D from limited sunlight (their ancestors evolved in a part of the world where sunshine was available year round).
5. Culture. Certain cultures require that their women cover themselves entirely in heavy clothing that blocks out the sun.

Taken from: The UV Advantage: The Medical Breakthrough that Shows How to Harness the Power of the Sun for Your Health

Here’s three easy ways to get yourself and your family tested for vitamin d deficiency >

Here are three ways to get tested for Vitamin D Deficiency

1. If you have health insurance, you can ask your doctor to order this exact test:

25-hydroxyvitamin D test, also called a 25(OH)D.

Your results should be between 50–80 ng/ml, year-round for both adults and children.  If you come up deficient, follow these guidelines found at the Vitamin D Council.

2. Order an in-home test through the VitaminDCouncil.org.  They’ve arranged for reduced rates – you can get one test for $65.00 or 4 tests for $220.00.   Click here for details about the test, and how to order.

3. Go to GrassRootsHealth.net and join D*action.  This is what I just did.  You have to register with the site with an email and password, then fill out a short questionnaire.  After that you can purchase your Vitamin D test for a mere $30.00.  The results will be sent directly to you.  You have the opportunity in another 6 months to do it again.  Their goal is to gather information for 5 years and stop the Vitamin D Deficiency epidemic before millions more lives are needlessly lost.  As of this writing, a full 60% of those tested through D*action have been Vitamin D Deficient.  Are you?  Are your kids?  Please check, and pass the link on to everyone you care about.

Join D*action - Get your vitamin D tested today.

“Vitamin D” is actually a hormone, not a vitamin.  Given that a widely accepted cause of acne is hormone imbalance, it is very easy to see how adequate, steady levels of Vitamin D3 would lend itself to a “cure.”  In the October 2008 issue of the Vitamin D Council’s newsletter, there was a connection made between vitamin D3 and acne.  Although the mention in the newsletter was brief, they linked to a very thorough and detailed study done by AIERLIN T.-R. MAYNARD, M.D. in 1938.

Here is the segment from the Vitamin D Council’s October 2008 Newsletter:

Dear Dr. Cannell:

My teenage son has type 2 diabetes.  I started him on 5,000 IU of vitamin D a day about 6 months ago.  Three things have happened so far, he started losing weight, his blood sugars improved, and his acne went away.  I know you have written about diabetes and weight loss with vitamin D but I can’t remember anything about acne?

Mary, North Dakota

Dear Mary:

I have had some reports that vitamin D cured acne but frankly, I didn’t believe them.  Then I ran across this 1938 paper.  You can read the entire paper yourself and see what 5,000 to 14,000 IU per day did for these patients with severe acne.  When I was a kid, I always wondered why my pimples got better in the summer and worse in the winter.

Here’s the link to the 1938 study:

Maynard MT. Vitamin D in Acne: A Comparison with X-Ray Treatment. Cal West Med. 1938 Aug;49(2):127-32.

Of the 132 acne patients he studied, 28% were “much better” at three months.  47% were “healed at three months.”

Here is the doctor’s summary:

I believe I may say that at no time in my dermatological experience have I felt such complete satisfaction with a treatment as I have with the cases of this series. I know that vitamin D is an imperfect weapon to slay this disfiguring disease, but it undoubtedly gives one a feeling of being well defended. From the patients’ viewpoint, it has left little to be desired, as they find themselves improving, both in appearance and in general well-being. Many have expressed the sentiment, “Never felt better.”

I’d love to sell you a blue light for natural acne treatment, but I’d much rather if you did not need acne treatment at all.   Vitamin D3 is safe for all ages in the proper dosage, easy to get, and cheap.

Click here for Three Easy Ways to Test for Vitamin D Deficiency
Please visit the Vitamin D Council for recommended dosage.

hat was the headline on this MSNBC news article.

The rest of the article seemed to try to deflate the seriousness of the title, but it does discuss the links between vitamin D deficiency, heart disease and many types of cancer.

“The study’s lead author, Dr. Harald Dobnig of the Medical University of Graz in Austria, said the results don’t prove that low levels of vitamin D are harmful “but the evidence is just becoming overwhelming at this point.”

Scientists used to think that the only role of vitamin D was to prevent rickets and strengthen bones, Dobnig said.

“Now we are beginning to realize that there is much more into it,” he said.”

There IS much more to it. Vitamin D deficiency may also be linked to autism, osteoporosis, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, depression, diabetes, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, and mental illness.

Please visit the Vitamin D Council website to learn more about how vitamin D relates specifically to the above mentioned diseases/disorders, and how to get the vitamin D you and your family need for optimal health.