Lack Of Vitamin D Made Worse In Winter

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Lack

Of Vitamin D Made Worse In Winter

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Millions of Americans may

not get enough vitamin D, a nutrient important for strong bones. It is a problem

made worse in the winter, when the sun's rays are not intense enough in most

of the country to help bodies make the sunshine vitamin.

Substituting food can be difficult because

of a lack of vitamin D-rich options.

Already doctors are urging that breast-fed

babies get vitamin D supplements to fend off a shocking return of rickets, a

soft-bone disease, most often seen in children, that was thought eliminated

decades ago. With increasing evidence that adults too may lack the nutrient,

scientists are debating whether it is time to pump up everybody's level of

vitamin D.

Vitamin D helps bones absorb calcium, and

rickets marks just the worst deficiency, specialists told a recent National

Institutes of Health meeting to assess the issue.

In adults, bone-weakening osteoporosis

" cannot be prevented at currently recommended doses, " said Dr.

Heaney of Creighton University, a specialist on bone health.

Government blood tests suggest a surprising

number of Americans do not get currently recommended amounts, especially

those with dark-pigmented skin that does not produce as much of the vitamin

from sunlight.

Half of black women of childbearing age lack

enough vitamin D in their blood during the winter and 30 percent in the

summer, according to studies from the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention. That compares with 11 percent of white women in the winter and 2

percent in the summer. Levels among Hispanics fall in between.

The NIH is now facing two questions: What to

do about people who do not meet today's allotment and whether it is time to

raise everybody's recommended dose.

Both will require much more research, says

Frances Picciano of the NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements.

In England, researchers writing last week in the journal Lancet

urged that children below the age of puberty and pregnant women receive

vitamin D supplements as a " safety net. "

While NIH considers what to recommend,

people should make a special effort to eat foods fortified with vitamin D,

advises CDC epidemiologist Kelley Scanlon. " We can't rely only on

sunlight exposure. "

The best natural sources are fatty fish such

as salmon -- a serving provides 90 percent of today's recommended allotment.

Smaller amounts are in organ meats, egg yolks and mushrooms.

Some other foods are D-fortified. A cup of

milk contains a fourth of the daily requirement; last spring, fortified

orange juice began selling with just as much.

Contrary to public perceptions, few other

dairy foods contain vitamin D. Only a few yogurt brands do, providing about

10 percent of the daily dose, says Mona Calvo of the Food and Drug

Administration. Remaining options are fortified breakfast cereals and canned

children's spaghetti.

" Is there a need for more fortified

foods? I would argue there is, " Calvo says. She adds, " We need to

identify novel foods for D fortification that are tailored to vulnerable

populations. "

Standing outside 15 minutes a day three

times a week lets the skin produce enough vitamin D most of the year, says

Dr. Holick of Boston University. But workaholism and legitimate fear of skin cancer --

sunscreen blocks D production -- limit how much Americans produce even in

summer. Winter sunlight is not intense enough at most U.S. latitudes to produce any, Holick says.

Without enough vitamin D in infancy, bones

do not harden, which causes bowed legs, stunted growth and pain.

Though eradicated with milk fortification,

rickets was found by the CDC to be on the comeback: 9 of every million babies

age six months to 1 year were hospitalized for rickets in the 1990s; most

were black.

Doctors began in April recommending D

supplements for all breast-fed infants until they are switched to fortified

milk or formula.

Beyond childhood, too little vitamin D can

weaken bones and cause muscle pain. There is some evidence that the vitamin

helps prevent colorectal cancer and some autoimmune diseases, but more proof

is needed.

Vitamin D consumption is measured in IUs --

international units -- a standard measurement for vitamins.Today, adults are

supposed to get 200 IUs a day until age 50. Because vitamin D production

drops with age, people age 50 to 70 need 400 IUs a day, the elderly 600 IUs.

Yet studies show:

Even

when black women reported taking vitamins, 12 percent remained

D-deficient, the CDC found. That questions the adequacy of their

dosages.

Heaney

cited one study that men needed 1,000 IUs a day during Nebraska

winters to keep their vitamin D levels from dropping.

A

study of 2,600 healthy Britons given 800 IUs a day saw their risk of

bone fractures drop 33 percent, he said, suggesting today's doses are

insufficient to protect bones.

Copyright 2003 The

Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Much Love,

Deanna

LUPUS Serenity Prayer...

Lord,

grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to

change the things I can, and the wisdom to hide the bodies of doctors I shot

when they said, You're perfectly healthy, it's all in your head "