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Focus On Health

Vitamin D and the Sun (part 1)

Tanning Beds

Vitamin D and the Sun (part 2)

Protecting your Vision

Safe and Healthy (part 1)

Your Community Pharmacists

Winning the cellulite battle

Goodbye Dry Eye

Have a wonderful trip

Leos Story

Sun Protection (part 1)

Getting in Summer Shape

Fashion meets eye protection

Carry enough insurance

The importance of Core Stability

Relieving the itch

Safe and Healthy (part 2)

In this issue

Sun Protection (part 2)

When you need a little help

Sun Care

Avoid travellers diarrhea

Vitamin D and the Sun (part 2)

Vitamin D and the Sun (part 2)

Should you increase sun exposure?

Although the sun is the source of natural vitamin D, dermatologists and Health Canada caution against sun exposure due to cumulative skin damage. This leads to skin cancers and premature aging. It is therefore recommended that adequate vitamin D be provided in the diet.

In Canada, milk and margarine are fortified with vitamin D, as are some cereals. The vitamin is also naturally present in eggs and oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardines. However, the levels found in foods are not considered high enough to help prevent disease. In view of these concerns, the Canadian Cancer Society recommends the following:

• Adults living in Canada should consider taking 1,000 IU (international units) of vitamin D in supplement form daily from October to March, when sun exposure is not enough to produce adequate vitamin D.

• Adults at higher risk of having vitamin D deficiency should consider taking 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily, year round.

Factors that increase the risk of vitamin D deficiency include:
- having darker skin, since pigmentation acts as a natural sunscreen;
- avoiding the sun due to pigmentation concerns (a practice followed by many Asians);
- natural aging, since the skin’s ability to produce vitamin D lessens with age, and
- wearing clothing that covers most of the skin.

Looking at the Benefits

Cancer: In June of 2007, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a landmark study intended to assess the effects of calcium on bone health in post-menopausal women. The results of this four-year study were staggering. The 1,200 women who participated were divided into three groups. One group was given 1,400 - 1,500 mg calcium plus 1,000 IU vitamin D daily, a second group was given a calcium supplement alone, and a third (control) group, a placebo. The women taking vitamin D with calcium were found to have developed between 50 and 60 percent fewer cancers than the women taking a placebo. In ongoing studies, vitamin D has been shown to protect against colon cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer, and may confer a degree of protection against all cancers.

Osteoporosis: Vitamin D helps the bones to absorb calcium. Without vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, soft, or misshapen. To help prevent osteoporosis, make sure your calcium supplement also contains vitamin D.

Cardiovascular disease: A recent study conducted at Harvard Medical School and reported in the journal, Circulation, suggests that people with low vitamin D intake could face up to twice the risk of a heart attack or stroke than people with a higher level of the vitamin. The risk increases significantly in people with elevated blood pressure.

While the jury’s still out on precisely how vitamin D protects the cardiovascular system, receptors for the vitamin are present in the heart and major blood vessels. Animal studies have shown that abnormalities in the vitamin D pathway can translate to abnormalities in the heart and blood vessels.

Since many Canadians have low body levels of vitamin D, taking a daily supplement could help reduce your personal risk for heart disease.

Vitamin D and Pregnancy

The amount of vitamin D you manufacture or obtain while you're pregnant, directly affects how much vitamin D your baby has at birth. A baby born to a mother who is vitamin D deficient is more likely to have a vitamin D deficiency.

The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends that pregnant women take a vitamin D supplement of 2,000 IU daily, but to discuss the suitability of this dosage with their doctor first.

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