Vitamin D is produced in the body from exposure to the sun, food and supplements. Vitamin D has two forms – vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). Vitamin D has to undergo chemical reactions in the body before it become activates at calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol). Calcitriol is particularly essential in the preservation of several organ systems.

Calcitriol primarily oversees the absorption of calcium and phosphorus from our food and enables bone development. We cannot digest calcium without adequate amounts of vitamin D3. That is why vitamin D3 is highly recommended when taking calcium supplements. Calicitriol works with preserving normal functions in the thyroid, neuromuscular system, immune system and assists in reducing inflammation.

For many reasons, our population is vitamin D3 deficient – nearly at epidemic proportions. Vitamin D3 deficiency can result or attribute to obesity, diabetes, depression, chronic fatigue, kidney stones, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s and may also lead to cancer, particularly breast, prostate and colon cancers. Vitamin D3 deficiency comes from reduced exposure to the sun (especially during the winter), low dietary intake, liver and kidney diseases, malabsorption in our systems and certain medicines can block vitamin D3 absorption.

Vitamin D3 is considered by many scientists to be vital in strengthening the immune system, particularly by reducing the risk of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The best source of vitamin D3 is sun exposure. Twenty minutes exposed to sunshine daily is recommended to maintain optimum levels of calicitriol in your body. This means that you expose 40% of your body to the sun, but do not allow yourself to get sunburned. People burn at different rates and it is important not to increase the risk of skin cancer from overexposure to the sun. Tanning beds do not provide the right wavelength of sun for vitamin D3 production.

Foods high in vitamin D3 include salmon, mackerel, sardine, egg yolks and beef liver. Vitamin D3 supplementation is best. The Food and Drug Administration has recommended 400 IUs per day for dietary intake. Twenty minutes of exposure to the sun will produce 5,000 to 15,000 IUs in the body. The definitive amount to take should be based on the results of a vitamin D3 test called 25-OH vitamin D test, sometimes called the 25-hydroxyvitamin D test.

If you are deficient in vitamin D3 you should increase your daily intake and test again in three months. A test value less than 50 nanograms/milliliter is considered deficient. I personally take 7000-8000 IUs a day in the winter time and decrease it during the summer time through supplementation and that yields an optimal value in the range of 65-80 nm/ml for me. MS patients have been put on a regimen of 50,000 IUs a day and have seen remarkable improvement. Start slow with 1000 IUs a day and retest periodically to determine if you have reached an optimal range. Recent studies indicate that 10,000 IUs a day is a safe upper limit.

Vitamin D3 deficiency is a major problem that most of us do not even know about. A lot of us avoid the direct sunlight to reduce the risk of skin cancer. We apply liberal amounts of sun block to affect the same result. Sun block is incorporated in many cosmetics. We tend not to eat foods rich in vitamin D3. The result is a severe deficiency in vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 supplementation is very inexpensive. Testing is also inexpensive. As always, choices have consequences.

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Choices have consequences.  When you choose to do nothing long enough, the consequences may be life-threatening.  How many people do you know were told that their doctor just discovered they have cancer and they have six months to a year to live?
Disease starts early in your body.  So early that you don’t feel a thing, and if you had a test for a variety of diseases, you probably won’t be able to detect anything.  The disease is developing at the cellular level and has not taken root in any of your organs.
As the disease progresses, you do not have any symptoms.  Disease gains a foothold in your body and could be detected if you started looking for it.  Soon, symptoms may or may not become apparent and most of us ignore symptoms longer than we should, especially men.

When the symptoms get bad enough, we go to a doctor.  Cancer is one of those diseases that builds up on our bodies and doesn’t produce symptoms until it is nearly too late to do something.  The AMAS, Anti-Malignin Antibody in Serum, test detects cancer cells up to nineteen months prior to any other test on the market.  And, this test has been around for the last 25 years.  More importantly, this test is highly active.

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The good part is that AMAS detects cancer cells in time to take effective action.  The bad part is that AMAS does not tell you where you have cancer.  When cancer starts growing in your body antibodies to Malignin begin to build up.  It doesn’t matter whether the cancer is bowel, brain, lung, etc.  These antibodies are detectable at very low levels.

From my experience most doctors are unaware of this test.  Oncolab is the only company performing this test.  It is located in Boston.  Oncolab will be you a free test kit.  Their website will also give you a list of laboratories in your area that can perform the test.  The protocols are a little different from normal blood testing.  After approximately three hours you will need to pick up your blood sample, put it in your sample shipping container, pack it with dry ice, and ship it to Oncolab.

Usually within four or five days the results will be sent to you doctor.  Reading the results is pretty easy.  You either have cancer cells in your body or you don’t.  If your test results are sitting right on the edge of having cancer, it is recommended to have the test repeated.  Because of the high accuracy of the test, it is nearly impossible to get two false positives in a row.

I get this test done every year as part of my annual physical.  The first time my wife had the test done, it came back as barely positive.  The test was rerun and it came back well in the safe range.  Since then we’ve never had to repeat the test.
If you’ve had cancer in the past and it has been determined to be removed or in remission, this test is a viable option for monitoring any recurrence of your cancer.

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Again, choices have consequences.  Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin

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Homocysteine Level Test

Another potential life-saving test for you to consider is the homocysteine level blood test. An elevated homocysteine level is associated with atherosclerosis – the hardening and narrowing of your arteries – which can increase your risk of heart attack and stroke. Additionally, increased homocysteine levels in your blood might lead to deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

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Homocysteine and Amino Acids

Amino acids are required for all proteins in your body. Homocysteine is an amino acid that you produce in your body. Under normal conditions, it is completely converted into two other amino acids. This conversion is accomplished primarily by folic acid, and secondarily by vitamin B6 and B12. If your diet is deficient in any of these nutrients, then homocysteine levels can increase. High levels of homocysteine are not desirous.

Homocysteine and Coronary Blockages

Medical researchers have found that as homocysteine levels increase, the severity of the coronary blockages increase. Coronary blockages restrict the blood supply to your heart muscles and increase your probability for a heart attack. Likewise, coronary blockages in your brain can lead to a stroke.

Homocysteine and Atherosclerosis

High levels of homocysteine can contribute to atherosclerosis. Abnormally high levels of homocysteine have been shown to be corrosive to certain functional proteins in your arteries. High levels of homocysteine also degrade and inhibit the formation of three main structural components in your artery – collegen, elastin and proteoglycans.

Homocysteine Normal Levels

A blood test is used to determine the level of homocysteine present in your body. There are no special preparations necessary. Normal levels of homocysteine are less than 15 micromoles per liter. I’ve seen some recommendations for your normal range to be less than 11 micromoles per liter. Readings in the 15-30 micromoles per liter range are considered moderate. The intermediate range is 30-100 micromoles per liter. Severe levels are defined as greater than 100 micromoles per liter.

Treatment for High Levels of Homocysteine

Homocysteine is broken down by folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12. So, treatment is fairly simple. Consume more folic acid, and vitamins B6 and B12. Fruits and leafy green vegetables are good sources of the nutrients necessary to lower your homocysteine levels. Additionally, some cereals have been fortified with folates.

Vitamin B6 can be found in fortified breakfast cereals, potatoes, bananas, chicken and some kinds of beans (garbanzo, for example). Vitamin B12 sources include dairy products, organ meats (liver), beef and some kinds of fish.

It is possible that diet might not be effective to reduce your elevated homocysteine levels to the normal range. Studies have shown that most doctors would probably recommend a folate supplement along with an increased dosage of vitamin B6 and B12.

FDA Recommendations

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) daily recommended dose for folic acid is 1 milligram per day; for vitamin B6 is10 milligrams per day; and for vitamin B12 is 1/2 milligram per day.

Recent Studies of Folic Acid

There is no direct proof that folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12 can prevent heart attacks and strokes. But, studies with a large population of women have shown interesting results. Those women consuming higher levels of folic acid had fewer heart attacks compared to those women consuming minimal amounts of folic acid.

Comparative studies with folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12 indicate that folic acid is the predominant nutrient. Another recent study followed 80,000 women for 14 years and found collaborating results. Heart attacks were lower in the group taking multivitamins and folic acid.

Importance of Checking Homocysteine Levels

Some doctors believe that elevated levels of homocysteine in your blood are as important as high levels of cholesterol. Cholesterol and homocysteine operate independently of each other, but 10-20% of coronary heart disease has been attributed directly to elevated levels of homocysteine.

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Other Factors to Consider

Elevated homocysteine levels may contribute to increased risk of heart attack and stroke. How can you take effective preventive action if you don’t know your homocysteine level? It is not a test that you doctor will schedule without reviewing your medical history and risk factors for heart attack and stroke. There is no official recommendation as to who should get tested and how often. However, it’s a relatively inexpensive blood test (around $40) and I add it to my annual physical.

Risk Factors for Heart Attack and Stroke

There are at least nine well-known risk factors can help predict the risk of heart attack and stroke: heredity, being male, advancing age, cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity (especially excess abdominal fat), lack of physical activity, and abnormal blood cholesterol levels.

Prevention

Several of the risk factors identified above can be controlled by your behavior – exercise, diet, cigarette smoking, maintaining proper weight, etc. Heredity, age and gender are not controllable. But, you are responsible for your health. Know what you risk factors are, and take the necessary actions to reduce any controllable risk. A homocysteine level blood test is one of several potentially life-saving tests for your consideration.

Choices have consequences.  Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin

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I believe in preventive health care.  As a result I have additional tests done with my annual physical.  One life saving blood test that everyone should consider is the C-reactive protein (CRP) test.  CRP is a protein synthesized by your liver.  CRP is used as a marker for inflammation.

In 1930, Tillett and Francis in 1930 discovered a common factor, CRP, in a number of people with a variety of diseases.  It is not uncommon for CRP levels to increase 50,000 times more than normal in the presence of acute inflammation.   The rise in inflammation above normal limits can happen in as little as six hours and peaks after 48 hours.  As long as you have the cause of your inflammation, the level of CRP will remain elevated.

So, CRP can tell me if I have inflammation?   The basic answer is YES.  Bacterial infections cause CRP levels to rise higher than viral infections. There are many causes for inflammation, so the CRP test will not tell you the cause of the inflammation.  But, it does tell you that there is something wrong.  It is very useful in determining the presence of disease, its progress and the effectiveness of any treatments.

The role of inflammation as the genesis of disease is accepted by many in the medical field.  A highly sensitive CRP is used by many laboratories today to determine the level of CRP with greater accuracy.  The highly sensitive CRP can be used in the diagnosis of: inflammatory bowel disease, some forms of arthritis, autoimmune diseases, lupus, rheumatic fever, pneumonia, cancer, pelvic inflammatory disease, coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease and others.

Since CRP is such a good marker for inflammation, it is also used to monitor healing after surgery, particularly organ transplants and burns.  It acts as an early detection system for possible infection.  A drop in CRP indicates that the cause of your inflammation is being treated properly.

Can you get a false positive with CRP?  Yes, there are some things that affect the accuracy of the CRP test.  High levels of CRP have been found in the later stages of pregnancy, with women using birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy, cases of severe stress, after strenuous exercise and with women using intrauterine devices (IUDs).  Additionally, higher levels of CRP have been observed in the obese.

There are two types of medicines affect the accuracy of CRP also.  Statin drugs – cholesterol lowering medications reduce the levels of CRP.   Corticosteroids – anti-inflammatory medicines containing the hormone cortisone have been shown to reduce CRP levels.

What do I have to do to get a CRP test?   The CRP test is a blood test.   It can be ordered by your doctor as part of a normal office visit or your annual physical.  There are some laboratories that will perform the CRP test for you without a doctor’s order.  Then the results go directly to you.  The cost is minimal – under $50.00.  There is no fasting or other requirement prior to taking the test.  It may be ordered periodically to check the progression of treatments that your doctor has ordered.

The results are easy to understand – the lower the better.  Levels below 1.0 mg/L are considered normal with no significant acute or chronic inflammation.  My last highly sensitive CRP test was 0.25 mg/L.   Levels between 1.0 mg/L and 3.0 mg/L are cautionary – you have an average risk of disease.  The test results indicate that inflammation is present at levels slightly above the average, but not to a level to become alarmed.  A level over 3.0 mg/L is an alarm for further investigation.

In 2003, the American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a joint scientific report about using CRP as a marker of inflammation.  The report indicated a high correlation between CRP and coronary heart disease and stroke.
Obviously, you have a lot of chronic and acute levels of inflammation when you have coronary heart disease or a precursor condition to stroke.  I personally place more confidence in another blood test, the homocysteine level test, along with CRP, to isolate heart related inflammation.

Should I get my CRP tested?  I get one every year in conjunction with my annual physical.  Since CRP is a marker for inflammation, it is an excellent test to determine where you are today.  If you get the test this year and everything is OK, then getting the CRP test annually gives you a good indication of your health or disease progression.

If it continues to remain below 1.0 mg/L, then you can have some level of assurance that you are doing things to remain healthy.  If your CRP results increase over time, then it is something for you and your doctor to start other tests to determine the cause.  The good news is that you are on the front end of most diseases and treatments should work well.

I hear, more often than I want, that someone was just diagnosed with a tumor or some other very significant malady, and they must have surgery and they may not have long to live.  I shake my head and think that monitoring your health on a regular basis could have detected something when it was treatable before it became life threatening.  I use the CRP as my early warning system to something very life threatening in my life – cancer, coronary disease, etc.  It takes a long time for those kinds of diseases to become well established in your body.  The early detection, the better your chances of saving your life.  CRP won’t tell you what is causing the inflammation in your body, but it will tell you to look.

Choices have consequences. Your Prosperity Professor, Red O’Laughlin