Why Why Why vitamin D
Questions are not in any order yet
Answers are just opinions, not agreed-upon facts
Answers are often true for many changes required by humans
Why are most people on the planet vitamin D deficient?
Why has UV been reduced?
Why is the medical establishment reluctant to incorporate vitamin D?
Doctors, Nurses, Hospitals, Insurance Companies, ...
Why have the vitamin D researches not been able to come to an agreement after 14 years of conferences?
Why are the FDA and Big Pharma opposed to vitamin D?
Why did it take so long to discover the benefits of more than 2000 IU of vitamin D?
Why do many research papers continue to look at small amounts of vitamin D
Why do most health care systems deal with treatment rather than prevention
Why do some doctors say there is no proof that vitamin D is effective?
^Mainstream medicine is closely tied to a concept called evidence based medicine or EVB . When EVB was first developed by the great Persian physician, Avicenna, about 1000 years ago, it was not only a good idea, it was absolutely essential for understanding the physiological effect of various medicinal substances. In the mid 20th century, EVB was enhanced by the use of randomized clinical trials, double-blind, with control group (that is, a placebo) to test the effectiveness of pharmaceuticals. Used properly, these tests provide valuable insights and highly reliable results.
But there's a dark side that you rarely hear about. FDA-approved testing has become so burdensome that costs run in the millions of dollars, and it is not uncommon to reach tens of millions. The costs are so onerous that the only situation that justifies the risks are prescription drugs with the potential of hundreds of millions or billions of dollars of annual sales. Sadly this excludes all natural substances that cannot be patented, and therefore, do not allow Big Pharma a monopoly that allows them to gouge the public. In many cases, they isolate the active ingredients in natural substances, alter it, and then patent the alteration while at the same time claiming the original substance is "unproven". It's not really unproven, but the proof is in a form not recognized by mainstream medicine.
And so it is with vitamin D. Numerous cohort studies and several randomized clinical trials leave no question as to vitamin D's protective effect against cancer, heart disease, and a long list of chronic degenerative diseases. But at under 10 cents a day for a typical dose, there is little money available for thorough FDA-approved testing, so vitamin D gets lumped into the category of anecdotal evidence unsubstantiated by "the gold standard". And it is unlikely that will change not only due to the high cost of testing but the staggeringly high amount of money mainstream medicine stands to lose if educated citizens learn how to effectively cut chronic disease by more than half. We're talking about a serious dent in an industry generating well over $2 trillion a year in the US alone. While individual doctors care deeply about the health of their patients, and genuinely want to do right by their patients, the sad truth is the system they work under forces their hand to do those things which happen to maximize profits for the entire industry, which clearly depends on a large and growing stream of sick and dying patients.
The take home message here is that it is up to you, the patient, to become educated about prevention, and take proactive steps to optimize your health. Everyone knows the list: quit smoking, lose weight, eat sensibly, get some exercise, reduce stress, get a good night's sleep without pills, and avoid toxins, heavy metals, pollutants, and excess radiation. But of all the interventions that help keep you alive with vibrant health, the easiest is to bring your vitamin D level above 50 ng/mL, which for most people requires a daily dose of about 5000 IU. If your doctor warns you "there is no proof", thank your doctor for his or her concern, smile sweetly, and then as you are leaving the medical office, stop in your nearest health food store to take care of what needs to be done. Don't allow yourself to be a victim of a flawed medical paradigm.^
- Started construction Oct 26, 2010