Vitamin D part One

                    
      Ok so it has been a while since my last post, well life happened. Currently, I am in graduate college and sometimes find myself getting busy with this and putting my research and frustrations with life/PCOS on the side lines. With that said, unto the topic for today’s post.

        Sometimes I feel like many Doctors know very little about PCOS. As I look for research and answer for things myself I learn more and more. Currently I have been trying to figure out Vitamin D (VD) levels. I have been low for years and was told by my last endocrinologist that they were not too worried about it because I was at 29. However, I am and understand that often times just because lab values may say 30 is the normal for the low end, does not mean that is optimal. With that being said I started researching VD and its association with PCOS.

        Do you know what VD does for you? I thought I knew what all areas VD affects but as I did research into it I learned so much more. Perhaps the most well-known is that it helps with building strong bones and with absorption of calcium (National Institutes of Health, 2011; Mercola, 2012; Wellness, 2015). However, there are so many other things that VD affects within our body. Dr. Mercola (2012) reported that VD affects nearly 3,000 genes found within our body and that maintaining optimal levels of VD can decrease your risk of cancer by as much as 60 percent. VD has been found to have receptors in most of the cells in our body (Wellness, 2015). While there is more research being done on the effects of VD, there is so much we don’t know that VD plays in our body.

To understand if an individual’s level is out of the norm I looked at what the research has to say not only what the normal lab values might be but also what optimal levels are. The Veteran’s Affairs lab where I have my VD check states that the normal range is 30-80ng/ml. The National Institutes of Health (2011) states that in general levels between 30-125nmol/L is normal. However, levels between 50-75nmol/L is closer to an optimal level (National Institutes of Health, 2011). So if a doctor is telling their patients who are at a level of 30 they are doing good….are they really? Is there room for improvement and possible a need for supplementation to be at optimal levels? I do not know about you, but I would rather be within the optimal levels than at the low end of the scale. If your body goes through something that causes you to need more of a certain vitamin or nutrient and you are do not maintain optimal levels but rather the minimum than you would quickly become below normal because of this. Dr. Mercola (2012) reported that certain diseases need to have higher levels of VD. For example to treat cancer and heart disease, Dr. Mercola (2012) reported the levels should be between 70-100ng/ml. So again if you are at the low end of the lab norms this will not be enough to help your body to function and fight these diseases.

VD deficiency is very prevalent within women who have PCOS. Thomson, Spedding, and Buckley (2012) reported that between 67-85% of women with PCOS have a VD level below 20. With this being so prevalent, I believe that this should be a standard test for a doctor to do when they suspect an individual has PCOS or for individuals who have been diagnosed with PCOS.

Patra, Nasrat, Goswami, and Jain (2012) found VD to be a predictor of insulin resistance (IR) in PCOS. This study found that IR was worse in women with a VD deficiency (Patra et. al, 2012). So this might suggest to check the fasting insulin levels of those women with PCOS and have VD deficiency even if their HbA1C is in a normal range. Perhaps this might head off future issues by earlier diagnosis of IR.

Recent research has shown connection with low VD in autoimmune thyroid disease in pcos women. Muscogiuri, Palomba, Caggiano, Tafuri, Colao, and Orio (2015) found that women with PCOS and low VD also were more likely to too have an autoimmune thyroid disease. This implication would suggested that those with PCOS and low VD should not only have their TSH, free t4, and free t3 tested but also their thyroid antibodies as well.

What implications does all this information tells us? Well low VD is common in PCOS and should be addressed. Furthermore, do not settle for the doctor just telling you are good, find out what that number is. If you are not in optimal levels look into supplementing your vitamin d.

While this post does not cover everything it is a good start. My next post on vitamin d will review over more implication of VD, as well as, supplementation.

       

References

Mercola. (2012). Why you need more of vitamin d if you are heavy. Mercola.com. Retrieved from:  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/03/21/vitamin-d-for-obese.aspx

Muscogiuri, G., Palmoba, S., Caggiano, M., Tafuri, D., Colao, A., & Orio, F. (2015). Low 25 (oh) vitamin d are associated with autoimmune thyroid disease in polycystic ovary syndrome. Endocrine, 1-5.

National Institutes of Health. (2011). Vitamin d. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved from https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-Consumer/

Patra, S.K., Nasrat, H., Goswami, B., & Jain, A. (2012). Vitamin d as a predictor of insulin resistance in polycystic ovarian syndrome. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome:  Clinical Research & Reviews, 6(3), 146-149.

Thomas, R. L., Spedding, S., & Buckley, J. D. (2012). Vitamin d in the aetiology and management of polycystic ovary syndrome. Clinical Endocrinology, 77(3), 343-350.

Wellness, B. (2015). Vitamin d:  What’s the latest? Berkeley Wellness University of California. Retrieved from:  http://www.berkeleywellness.com/supplements/vitamins/other-supplements/article/vitamin-d-whats-latest