devaboone

6 ms·

31.
by devaboone 6y ago
Thanks. It's hard to balance the strictly scientific with enough of the "softer" stuff to make it interesting for a wide audience.
32.
by devaboone 6y ago
Thanks! It is very helpful. These are great points. I actually tell my patients that every supplement or vitamin should be thought of as a medication. I had written "should be thought of" in the article and then just switched to
33.
by devaboone 6y ago
This is really interesting. I usually do not use anecdotes, but chose this to make one simple point. The point was not what you got from it, though, which means I failed in my messaging. The point was not to shift a definition (Vitamin D is
34.
by devaboone 6y ago
Agree. It's nice to say that I did something and the patient had amazing results, but it doesn't mean that my action had anything to do with how they felt. Many people will recover from the flu without any treatment. It might not
35.
by devaboone 6y ago
Thanks for commenting. These are all great points. For a while I have thought that Vitamin D just became the latest Vitamin C - are people on here old enough to remember when Vitamin C was a miracle drug that treated and prevented cancer? F
36.
by devaboone 6y ago
I'm the one who wrote the article. I would actually argue that the risk of low Vitamin D has been overplayed. There are very alarmist articles out there about this epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency - which causes people to go out and bu
37.
by devaboone 6y ago
I'm the physician who wrote the article. And I agree with you. Vitamin D deficiency is a problem because it leads to bone loss (see part 1: https://www.devaboone.com/post/vitamin-d-part-1-back-to-basi... ). And Vit
38.
by devaboone 6y ago
This is a great point. Vitamin D deficiency causes problems, and should be treated. 5000 units a day can be great for treating a deficiency - until you are no longer deficient. The answer for you is checking your Vitamin D 25-OH level. If i
39.
by devaboone 6y ago
Vitamin K2 is definitely an essential vitamin for bone health and calcium regulation, but it won't counteract high dose Vitamin D. If you are on so much Vitamin D that your calcium is elevated (meaning, you are at a toxic dose of Vitam
40.
by devaboone 6y ago
Unfortunately there are a lot of places online that will recommend 5000 units a day or more. And at the store, one of the standard doses for Vit D is 5000 units. I have this dose in my medicine cabinet. And it's not a completely unreas
41.
by devaboone 6y ago
Thanks! My goal is to write about medical topics in a way that anyone (especially non-medical people) can understand.
42.
by devaboone 6y ago
Thanks for commenting! I wrote the blog, and I like your point of view. There was only so much I could cover in one post, but I do hope to get to these issues. And you are right, for most people the conclusion will likely be that a moderate
43.
by devaboone 6y ago
This is a good point. And I do want to get to more of the studies done in humans. Although I haven't discussed dosages yet, my advice on everything in life is pretty much: everything in moderation.
44.
by devaboone 6y ago
Cytokine production wasn't something I was able to include, simply because I was trying to cover a lot of ground in 1200 words! I alluded to it in the discussion about the cascade of events that occur when Vitamin D binds to immune cel
45.
by devaboone 6y ago
Thank you! I wrote the blog post, and my goal was to make it so that someone without any medical background could understand it. By the time I finished, I wasn't sure if I had accomplished that. The article is still pretty dense with m
46.
by devaboone 6y ago
Hi, I'm the one who wrote the blog post. Thanks for commenting. Sunlight is important. There are a lot of things that are also important that aren't in the blog, simply because I couldn't cover all of them and keep the post t
47.
by devaboone 6y ago
I'm the one who wrote the blog, and really appreciate your comment. As a physician, I can confirm that most physicians have only the tiniest grasp on statistics - and most will not have even heard about Bayesian stats. I do not want t
48.
by devaboone 6y ago
I love this Spurious Correlations site. And you are correct - a correlation can be a first-filter, especially if you have some reason to believe that there would be a causative connection. And though "correlation does not equal causati
49.
by devaboone 6y ago
Great point. Low Vitamin D is common in very sick people, partly because they are not as active, not going outside, and may not be eating the best diets. There are trials like you describe, which I'm hoping to get to in part 2... or 3?
50.
by devaboone 6y ago
It is difficult to die of a Vitamin D overdose, though not impossible. Here is what happens: Vitamin D increases calcium absorption from the intestines. Over time, if you are taking too much Vitamin D, your levels can get very very high ove
51.
by devaboone 6y ago
Correct. It's fairly easy to know whether the dosage you are taking is working, since you can check levels. 8000 units is a really high dose, one that I have never had to give. The article suggests that 98% of people require that much
52.
by devaboone 6y ago
I do see people get high calcium levels after being on this dose for years. But not always. You may be able to handle that dose. If you are getting "routine" labs done, then there is likely a calcium level in there. If your calciu
53.
by devaboone 6y ago
5000 IU is high dose. 10,000 is really high. A more moderate dose would be 1000 to 2000 daily. If you live in a northern state, your Vitamin D level will vary with season. And with increased use of sunscreen (which is a good thing), it can
54.
by devaboone 6y ago
Some people can tolerate Vitamin D levels above 50, so I wouldn't set that as an absolute cutoff - a Vitamin D in the 50s is good for many people, but I definitely don't want to see it above 70. Taking a higher dose for a short pe
55.
by devaboone 6y ago
No, it doesn't. I haven't had a chance to really critically review the studies that are cited in that article, so I can't give an in-depth answer as to why that article is wrong. But I know that my recommendations are based o
56.
by devaboone 6y ago
Vitamin K2 does help bones absorb calcium, but it will not prevent the blood calcium level from rising if you are really taking more Vitamin D than you need. This is simply wishful thinking.
57.
by devaboone 6y ago
Calcium supplements often include Vitamin D because it aids in intestinal absorption of calcium. That is actually one of the main roles of Vitamin D. You can find Vitamin D by itself, in anywhere from 400 to 5000 units per pill. Taking hig
58.
by devaboone 6y ago
I read the study that is cited on your link. It was a review article about Vitamin D, not a study on Vitamin D toxicity. And in fact, in the references for that article, there is no study cited directly related to Vitamin D toxicity that I
59.
by devaboone 6y ago
There are some very vocal people who argue that the risk of toxicity is very low. The studies aren't great. But for most people, taking a moderate dose of Vitamin D will be safe. Unfortunately, I have treated many patients who come to
60.
by devaboone 6y ago
Calcium metabolism is complicated, but there are a few things that are straightforward. 1. Vitamin D helps the intestines absorb calcium, so taking more Vitamin D can lead to more calcium being absorbed in your intestines, and thus more ca

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