Thursday, July 9, 2009

African Americans and vitamin D

Vitamin D insufficiency is more prevalent among African Americans (blacks) than other Americans and, in North America, most young, healthy blacks do not achieve optimal 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations at any time of year. This is primarily due to the fact that pigmentation reduces vitamin D production in the skin. Also, from about puberty and onward, median vitamin D intakes of American blacks are below recommended intakes in every age group, with or without the inclusion of vitamin D from supplements. (Harris, 2006)

It’s well known that African Americans have low levels of vitamin D in their blood. In fact, this seems to be generally true for humans of tropical origin. In a study from Hawaii, vitamin D status was assessed in healthy, visibly tanned young adults who averaged 22.4 hours per week of unprotected sun exposure. Yet 51% had levels below the current recommended minimum of 75 nmol/L (Binkley et al., 2007). In a study from south India, levels below 50 nmol/L were found in 44% of the men and 70% of the women. The subjects are described as “agricultural workers starting their day at 0800 and working outdoors until 1700 with their face, chest, back, legs, arms, and forearms exposed to sunlight” (Harinarayan et al., 2007). In a study from Saudi Arabia, levels below 25 nmol/L were found in respectively 35%, 45%, 53%, and 50% of normal male university students of Saudi, Jordanian, Egyptian, and other origins (Sedrani, 1984).

These low levels are usually blamed on the darker skin of tropical humans, i.e., melanin blocks the UV-B component of sunlight, which the skin needs to make vitamin D. Actually, dark skin is not a serious constraint on vitamin D production. While it is true that a single UV-B exposure of moderate intensity will produce less vitamin D in black skin than in white skin, this difference narrows with longer exposure times, since white skin cuts back vitamin D production after only 20 minutes in the sun (Holick, 1995). Even in England, where sunlight is relatively weak, Asian, West Indian, and European adolescents show similar increases in vitamin D levels during the spring and summer (Ellis et al., 1977).

Another possible reason why tropical humans make less vitamin D is that there is no need to build up a reserve for the winter, when this vitamin cannot be produced. In contrast, such a reserve is necessary in the temperate zone. This seasonal variation is shown by a study of Nebraskan men after a summer of landscaping, construction, farming, and recreation. Their mean vitamin D level was initially 122 nmol/L. By late winter, it had fallen to 74 nmol/L (Barger-Lux & Heaney, 2002). Tropical humans may thus produce less of this vitamin because their skin doesn’t have to ‘make hay while the sun shines.’ This adaptation would then persist in those groups, like African Americans, that now inhabit the temperate zone.

Whatever the reason for this lower rate of production, tropical humans seem to compensate by converting more vitamin D into its active form. Although a single UV-B exposure produces less vitamin D3 in black subjects than in whites, the difference narrows after liver hydroxylation to 25-OHD and disappears after kidney hydroxylation to 1,25-(OH)2D. The active form of vitamin D is thus kept at a constant level, regardless of skin color (Matsuoka et al., 1991, 1995).

Robins (2009) notes that nearly half of all African Americans are classified as vitamin-D deficient and yet show no signs of calcium deficiency, which would be a logical result of vitamin D deficiency. Indeed, they “have a lower prevalence of osteoporosis, a lower incidence of fractures and a higher bone mineral density than white Americans, who generally exhibit a much more favourable vitamin D status.” He also cites a survey of 232 black (East African) immigrant children in Melbourne, Australia, among whom 87% had levels below 50 nmol/L and 44% below 25 nmol/L. None had rickets—the usual sign of vitamin-D deficiency in children (McGillivray et al., 2007).

In short, low vitamin D levels seem to be normal for African Americans and nothing to worry about. Such contrary evidence, however, doesn’t deter the vitamin D worrywarts:

Despite their low 25(OH)D levels, blacks have lower rates of osteoporotic fractures. This may result in part from bone-protective adaptations that include an intestinal resistance to the actions of 1,25(OH)2D and a skeletal resistance to the actions of parathyroid hormone (PTH). However, these mechanisms may not fully mitigate the harmful skeletal effects of low 25(OH)D and elevated PTH in blacks, at least among older individuals. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly apparent that vitamin D protects against other chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some cancers, all of which are as prevalent or more prevalent among blacks than whites. Clinicians and educators should be encouraged to promote improved vitamin D status among blacks (and others) because of the low risk and low cost of vitamin D supplementation and its potentially broad health benefits. (Harris, 2006)


The National Institute of Health is now studying the benefits of giving African Americans mega-doses of vitamin D, in the hope of bringing their disease rates down to those of other Americans. "We're excited about the potential of vitamin D to reduce this health gap," says the study co-leader. "But it is important to get answers from clinical trials before recommending megadoses of this supplement." (see article)

Yes, it might be best to get a few answers first. Unfortunately, there are millions of people out there who are now taking mega-doses of vitamin D every day. The mass experiment has already begun and the results should be ready in a decade or so, particularly among African Americans.

But why wait? The same experiment was performed from the mid-1980s to 2009 on an African American. The results are now in …

Was MJ done in by the D men?

A local journalist recalled interviewing Michael Jackson three years ago and noted that this man, then in his mid-40s, had the withered look of someone much older—like a vieillard.

What was responsible? His repeated plastic surgeries? His starvation diet? His abuse of painkillers and tranquillizers? These are the usual suspects. In the shadows, however, lurks another suspect who will never be questioned.

Michael Jackson had probably been taking mega-doses of vitamin D. This regimen would have started when he began bleaching his skin in the mid-1980s to even out blotchy pigmentation due to vitiligo. Since this bleaching made his skin highly sensitive to UV light, his dermatologist told him to avoid the sun and use a parasol. At that point, his medical entourage would have recommended vitamin D supplements. How high a dose? We’ll probably never know, but there are certainly many doctors who recommend mega-doses for people who get no sun exposure.

Such a recommendation would have dovetailed nicely with Michael’s fondness for vitamins. A 2005 news release mentions vitamin therapy as part of his health program:

“He’s getting vitamin nutrients and supplements,” the source said.

This source would not elaborate on the type of supplements or the way in which they are being administered.

There is also an interview with his former producer Tarak Ben Ammar:

C'était un hypocondriaque et on savait jamais vraiment s'il était malade car il a été entouré de médecins charlatans qui vivaient de cette maladie, qui lui facturaient des milliers et des milliers de dollars de médicaments, de vitamines…

[He was a hypochondriac and one never really knew whether he was sick because he was surrounded by charlatan doctors who lived from this sickness, who billed him for thousands and thousands of dollars of medication, of vitamins …]

It’s known that Michael Jackson was receiving injections of the ‘Myers cocktail’ (a mix of vitamins and nutrients), but this mix doesn’t normally contain vitamin D. He was probably taking the vitamin in tablet form.

What effects can we expect from long-term use of vitamin D at high doses? Keep in mind that we are really talking about a hormone, not a vitamin. This hormone interacts with the chromosomes and will gradually shorten their telomeres if concentrations are either too low or too high. Tuohimaa (2009) argues that optimal levels may lie in the range of 40-60 nmol/L. This is well below the current recommended minimum of 75 nmol/L. Furthermore, compliance with this optimal range may matter even more for populations of tropical origin, like African Americans, since their bodies have not adapted to the wide seasonal variation of non-tropical humans.

If this optimal range is continually exceeded, the long-term effects may look like those of aging:

Recent studies using genetically modified mice, such as FGF23-/- and Klotho-/- mice that exhibit altered mineral homeostasis due to a high vitamin D activity showed features of premature aging that include retarded growth, osteoporosis, atherosclerosis, ectopic calcification, immunological deficiency, skin and general organ atrophy, hypogonadism and short lifespan.

… after the Second World War in Europe especially in Germany and DDR, children received extremely high oral doses of vitamin D and suffered hypercalcemia, early aging, cardiovascular complications and early death suggesting that hypervitaminosis D can accelerate aging.
(Tuohimaa 2009)

Have we opened a Pandora’s box? Far from being a panacea, vitamin D could be an angel of death that will make millions of people old before their time.

Poor Michael. He looked to his doctors for eternal youth and they gave him premature old age.

References

Barger-Lux, J., & Heaney, R.P. (2002). Effects of above average summer sun exposure on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and calcium absorption, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 87, 4952-4956.

Binkley N, Novotny R, Krueger D, et al. (2007). Low vitamin D status despite abundant sun exposure. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 92, 2130 –2135.

Ellis, G., Woodhead, J.S., & Cooke, W.T. (1977). Serum-25-hydroxyvitamin-D concentrations in adolescent boys, Lancet, 1, 825-828.

Harinarayan, C.V., Ramalakshmi, T., Prasad, U.V., Sudhakar, D., Srinivasarao, P.V.L.N., Sarma, K.V.S., & Kumar, E.G.T. (2007). High prevalence of low dietary calcium, high phytate consumption, and vitamin D deficiency in healthy south Indians, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 85, 1062-1067.

Harris, S.S. (2006). Vitamin D and African Americans, Journal of Nutrition, 136, 1126-1129.

Holick, M.F. (1995). Noncalcemic actions of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and clinical applications, Bone, 17, 107S-111S.

Matsuoka, L.Y., Wortsman, J., Chen, T.C., & Holick, M.F. (1995). Compensation for the interracial variance in the cutaneous synthesis of vitamin D, Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, 126, 452-457.

Matsuoka, L.Y., Wortsman, J., Haddad, J.G., Kolm, P., & Hollis, B.W. (1991). Racial pigmentation and the cutaneous synthesis of vitamin D. Archives of Dermatology, 127, 536-538.

McGillivray, G., Skull, S.A., Davie, G., Kofoed, S., Frydenberg, L., Rice, J., Cooke, R., & Carapetis, J.R. (2007). High prevalence of asymptomatic vitamin-D and iron deficiency in East African immigrant children and adolescents living in a temperate climate. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 92, 1088-1093.

Robins, A.H. (2009). The evolution of light skin color: role of vitamin D disputed, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, early view.

Sedrani, S.H. (1984). Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D and normal serum calcium concentrations in Saudi Arabia: Riyadh region, Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism, 28, 181-185.

Tuohimaa, P. (2009). Vitamin D and aging, Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 114, 78-84.

19 comments:

RG said...

Did he bleached his kids too?, how can they be so white if they are really his?

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, given all the mega-bad aspects to MJ's lifestyle, why bother to suggest Vitamin D, when it's all supposition that he was even ingesting Vitamin D.

Tod said...

It's virtually certain that someone avoiding sunlight for decades was taking the 'sunshine vitamin'. The dosage was probably increased in the last years in line with the current enthusiasm for boosting African Americans' levels.

Premature aging in vitamin D receptor mutant mice..
There was no difference either in the structure of cerebellum or in the number of Purkinje cells. Unlike the wildtype controls, VDR KO mice lose their ability to swim after 6 months of age. Expression of all the genes was lower in old VDR KO mice, but only NF-kappaB, Fgf-23, p53 and IGF1R were significantly lower. Since the phenotype of aged VDR knockout mice is similar to mouse models with hypervitaminosis D(3), our study suggests that VDR genetic ablation promotes premature aging in mice, and that vitamin D(3) homeostasis regulates physiological aging.


1) J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2009 Jul;115(3-5):91-7

Peter Frost said...

RG,

They aren't his. The rumor mill has it that the sperm came from his dermatologist.

Anon, Tod,

Yes, it's just a supposition, but it's one that makes sense to me for two reasons:

a) MJ was a vitamin maniac;

b) He was continually surrounded by doctors and quack doctors. Some of them would have surely told him to take vitamin D once he began limiting sun exposure.

Maybe this post will spur someone to find out whether he was taking mega-doses of vitamin D.

ferdo said...

Michael Jackson's nurse Cherilyn Lee said: "his vitamin D level was a little low" in:

“Before any nutritional treatment I do comprehensive lab work. I did a complete blood panel and there were no red flags,” she said. “Because of his diet his blood sugar was a little low, but not to the point it would cause a problem; his vitamin D level was a little low. Folic acid — and that includes an anemia panel — fine. Every organ system was checked out. There were no indicators of heart disease. The C-reactive protein test? Nothing there (The test is a general marker of inflammation throughout the body, and can rule out things like coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease). His hemoglobin A1c, which would have indicated diabetes, fine. His liver functions, kidney functions, they were all fine. He was healthy.”

Your conclusions about MJ are completely crap, and so is your whole theory about aging and vitamin D.

Anonymous said...

A low 25D lab result does not rule out supplementation. A high 1,25D (which is not routinely tested) can create an enzymatic feedback signal to lower the conversion to 25D.

Peter Frost said...

"Your conclusions about MJ are completely crap, and so is your whole theory about aging and vitamin D."

Thanks for the kind words. Two points:

1. African Americans normally have low vitamin D levels. So it's hardly surprising that Michael Jackson's levels were 'a bit low' before any 'nutritional treatment'. Also keep in mind that the recommended daily intake has been progressively raised.

2. Did the nutritional treatment include vitamin D megadoses? MJ's nurse doesn't address this question. I suspect that she diagnosed vitamin D insufficiency and acted accordingly.

Geophile said...

er heard that about Vitamin D. My doctor recommended a very high dosage for me. Maybe I should tone it down!

Neonomide said...

Hello from Finland and congrats for some interesting observations there on Vitamin D!

A few points:

Tuohimaa - a finnish researcher by the way - is notorious for making vague extrapolations on the basis of his OWN cancer studies, some his OWN limited mice work and seems to refuse other explanations for U-shaped cancer risks in (only) HIS studies, like Reinhold Vieth's enzyme depletion theory here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19667164


Also please check these 25(OH)D results for nigerian toddlers (who typically are in diapers, while adults dress a lot):

http://wildhorse.insinc.com/directms13oct2005/Slides.htm_28slide.jpg


Also note that grains and especially wheat is known to deplete vitamin D levels, so this *might* explain those results for people in India.

Hawaiian study simply was not good - people were in the sun less than they reported.

Pascal said...

Hypercalcemia is only observed when you use Vitamin D2. Vitamin D3 does not cause hypercalcemia. If you have any doubts you can read "Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Jun;87(6):1952-8.
Vitamin D intake to attain a desired serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration.
Aloia JF, Patel M, Dimaano R, Li-Ng M, Talwar SA, Mikhail M, Pollack S, Yeh JK.
Bone Mineral Research Center, Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, NY, USA." or "J Bone Miner Res. 2007 Dec;22 Suppl 2:V64-8.
Vitamin D toxicity, policy, and science.
Vieth R.
Departments of Nutritional Sciences, and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada."

Anonymous said...

Neonomide ,
Reinhold Vieth's enzyme depletion theory is linked to in comments on an earlier post. There are several posts here about vitamin D which you may find informative.

Re. the conclusions of Tuohimaa based on mice, don't give him all the credit. Here's a Harvard study from 2006

Hypervitaminosis D and premature aging: lessons learned from Fgf23 and Klotho mutant mice.
" Such in vivo experimental studies indicated that excessive vitamin-D activity and altered mineral-ion homeostasis could accelerate the aging process".


Infant Vitamin D Supplementation and
Allergic Conditions in Adulthood
Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966
.

Anonymous said...

Maybe researchers should use another rodent for drawing conclusions about vitamin D and aging
'Prolonged longevity in naked mole-rats: age-related changes in metabolism, body composition and gastrointestinal function'

Quote:
Maximum lifespan of these 40 g rodents (>27 year) is 9 times greater than predicted allometrically. [...]The observed absence of age-related bone loss in naked mole-rats may be explained by their employment of vitamin D-independent mineral metabolism.

Slow Aging: Insights from an Exceptionally Long-Lived Rodent, the Naked Mole-Rat

The Naked Mole-Rat: A New Long-Living Model for Human Aging Research .
"Indeed, to date we have not found a single incidence of cancer in more than 250 necropsies of NMRs undertaken in animals ranging from 2 to 25 years and have not noticed any tumors in living animals (our unpublished observations based on animals at CCNY and three zoos). This is all the more surprising, as vitamin D metabolites have been implicated as potent anti-mitogenic agents, and NMRs are naturally deficient in this prohormone"

Anonymous said...

Re studies like Annamari Kilkkinen's as a rationale for ingesting enough D to raise serum 25(OH)D levels

Low levels of antioxidants were found in ill people, but when they ran trials where people took combinations of antioxidants in pills the raising of blood levels produced no benefit. More than one of the trials had to be stopped due to excess mortality. The rationale for taking vitamin D pills is the same as was given for antioxidants and will produce the same results.

Neonomide said...

Vit D supplementation (with calcium) already has slashed all-cancer rate 60-77% in RCT (Lappe et al 2007) and medical literature has lots of data to prove that raising Vit D levels by supplementation has good effects on infections, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure, pain and so on.

As for antioxidant supplementation, Vit E as d-alphatocoferol did raise a bit mortality and it may have been because d-alfa consumes gammatocoferol, another Vit E form.

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Anonymous said...

You're wrong, and as expected are trying to claim any study showing no benefit from anti-oxidants was badly designed. But you show me a single study of anti-oxidants with positive results - there aren't any. And by the way Vit E is not the worst of them for example beta carotene supplements are proven to cause more than 'a bit' of excess mortality in fact a study was stopped because of the excess mortality.

If anti-oxidants are bad then pro-oxidants should be good, lo and behold alcohol is. Here is the explaination why.

The evidence is inexorably mounting up against anti-oxidants, the vitamin D story is going to go the same way.

Population differences in vitamin D metabolism.

Black-White Differences
in Cancer Risk and the
Vitamin D Hypothesis

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ideals said...

Unfortunately, there are millions of people out there who are now taking mega-doses of vitamin D every day. The mass experiment has already begun and the results should be ready in a decade or so, particularly among African Americans.

Anonymous said...

How can he life without sunlight, he started up again faster and Keep in mind, that Michael Jackson had a life threatening disease, possible that his lungs stop working.