Vitamin D

[bakunin]

Well, I found out that some doctors, based on research, do a treatment based on vitamin D to autoimmune diseases. There is a neurologist in Brazil that have a great success doing it to multiple sclerosis patients. I read that vitamin D tretament had been even a more impressive result to Lupus.

Have anyone here tried vitamin D to treat Sjogrens?

[Blinks]

Bakunin,
So very glad to see your post. Just finished reading Michael Holick's book "The Vitamin D Solution" and highly recommend it. The book is very compelling and outlines the impact of Vit D defiency as underlying many chronic illnesses including autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Hmm. So this has launched me on another little research!

There is a PubMed study on Vit D and inflammation in the heart. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23314982 The mention in the study of inflammatory cytokines and epithelial cells makes me think Vit D may have similar impact on inflammatory cytokines in dry eye and cornea epithelial cells, but I have no research to back that. It would be interesting to hear how many on DEZ have had their Vit D levels checked and if there's even anecdotal correlation between low levels and dry eye!

I've been supplementing with 1500 IU of Vit D for about six months and finally have my levels above 30. My eyes are better, but I can't tie this directly to Vit D since I've been doing many other things in attempts to improve dysfunctional tear syndrome at the same time. I am convinced Vit D is a contributing factor. We all know from reading the DEWS report and many other articles dry eye is a "mutli-factorial" disease, and after reading on the topic, it seems plausible a low level of D may be a contributing factor in the inflammation cascade.

There may be studies on Vit D, but I haven't found any Vit D studies in connection with dry eye. (Vit D is cheap, perhaps there's no financial incentive for such studies in the US?)

The book's author, Dr. Holick (MD, PhD, of Boston University Medical Center) recommends everyone be tested for Vit D level and to take steps to get their level to above 30 ng/ml. Here is a link to one of several videos: http://drbenkim.com/dr-michael-holick-vitamin-d.htm He has a couple of slides on inflammatory cytokines and Vit D receptors. (He's a highly entertaining presenter!)

There's an article on Elaine Moore's site about Vit D and autoimmune disease, including thyroid, and since I have Grave's disease this topic is of interest to me.

PubMed has lots on Vit D, Sjogrens, age related macular degeneration, inflammatory diseases:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22835660
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21482873
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22155603
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22301548

Very interested in more discussion on this topic.
No, I don't have Sjogrens.

[bakunin]

Thank you very much Blinks, for all the contribution you brought.

My vit D level é 15,0

Here in Brazil there are no suplements with more than 600 IU! So I purchased online a brand that has 10.000 IU (I think it will arrive in some weeks). 10.000 IU are more or less the same as 15 to 20 minutes of sun in the beach. Some multiple sclerosis patients take 30.000 IU per day (with medical monitoring, of course), but the neurologist I talked about says that anyone can take 10.000 IU per day without medical monitoring. But we must be aware of the calcium, because more vit D means more calcium absorption, and so possibly more kidney stones and other problems related to calcium.

I think for people with autoimmune diseases (and for anyone it is good I guess) to reach 60,0 of vit D will be beneficial (at least it was what I have read in some place in the web). Vit D has toxicity only above 100,0, in the blood test.

For those who don't know, "vitamin D" is not a vitamin, in fact it is a hormone.

P.S. Vitamin D is cheap, so there is no interest to spread the knowledge and treatment based on it, no only in the US

P.P.S. My blodd tests for Sjogrens were negative, but besides the dry eyes, I have fatigue, I suppose from chronic inflammation. So, I don't know if I have Sjogrens.

[jads]

Have read a similar book just recently. 8 studies of pregnant women in different countries around the world showed, on average, that 60-70% of the study participants were woefully deficient in vitamin D

Two people I know personally (dark skin ) were treated urgently for low vitamin D. It's very common and goes undetected.

Multi vitamins with small amounts of D, say 400 IU, aren't sufficient to raise a person's serum D amount to adequate levels. Think pre natal vitamins for example.

2-4000 IU D3 should be a daily regime, especially in winter months.