Vitamin D and Prevention of Chronic Diseases

From Religion is Man-Made
http://religionismanmade.blogspot.com/2010/08/vitamin-d-and-prevention-of-chronic.html
8/21/2010 11:31:00 AM
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Vitamin D is a fascinating molecule with a fascinating story.  Historically, “vitamins” were defined as chemicals that humans required from their environment that were “vital” to human health.  These chemicals were needed only in very small amounts to prevent disease; an absence of a particular vitamin in the diet led to a specific deficiency disease: [...]

From White Coat Underground
http://scientopia.org/blogs/whitecoatunderground/2010/08/18/vitamin-d/
8/19/2010 1:22:57 AM
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submitted by kateweb
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From Skeptic's Subreddit
http://www.reddit.com/r/skeptic/comments/okx97/study_vitamin_d_has_no_clear_benefit_for_copd/
1/18/2012 2:40:59 AM
Search rank: 475

A friend was telling me yesterday she had watched a programme about vitamin D. Some people were...

From JREF Forum
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=181736&goto=newpost
8/2/2010 6:51:38 AM
Search rank: 474

It seems Calcium plus Vitamin D Supplementation is used to treat Osteoporosis patients. Are...

From JREF Forum
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=182815&goto=newpost
8/13/2010 7:01:55 PM
Search rank: 474

A Walmart ad in my local newspaper trumpets “75% of all Americans don’t get enough Vitamin D” and offers to sell me Maximum Strength Vitamin D3, 5000 IU capsules to “promote bone, colon and breast health.” Meanwhile, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) tells me that “the majority of Americans and Canadians are receiving adequate amounts [...]

From Science-Based Medicine
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=8725
12/7/2010 7:00:41 PM
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The author of one of my favourite podcasts, Security Now!, mentioned on his latest podcast something which sounds like crankery to me: Vitamin D supplements. The claims made include invulnerability to colds/flus and (in the long term) cancer. He hosts a page which I will not link to directly (simply copy/paste and change the two x's to t's) to avoid giving it pagerank. Is this crankery? AFAIK you don't need vitamin supplements unless you're deficient in some way.

hxxp://www.grc.com/health/vitamin-d.htm

From Skeptic's Subreddit
http://www.reddit.com/r/skeptic/comments/efiaz/vitamin_d_supplements_crankery/
12/3/2010 7:39:56 PM
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submitted by gthing
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From Skeptic's Subreddit
http://www.reddit.com/r/skeptic/comments/iwm69/vitamin_d_is_the_answer_to_what_ails_us/
7/22/2011 5:01:57 PM
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Darren weighs the evidence on whether or not people should take vitamin D supplements. Elan will find out if brainstorming is effectiveness. Adam answers the question: Does it cost more to insure red cars?

From The Reality Check
http://therealitycheck.libsyn.com/trc_101_vitamin_d_brainstorming_red_car_cost
8/9/2010 12:38:05 PM
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submitted by kylev
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From Skeptic's Subreddit
http://www.reddit.com/r/skeptic/comments/n8s3t/vitamin_d_and_multiple_sclerosis/
12/12/2011 7:44:40 AM
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READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT YAHOO NEWS Sometimes too much of a good thing can be … not such a good thing. That’s the conclusion of the largest study to date of the effects of giving superdoses of vitamin D. The supplement helps bodies build bone and muscle, but the new study, published this week [...]

From Skepfeeds-The Best Skeptical blogs of the day
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Skepfeeds-theBestSkepticBlogsOfTheDay/~3/OS4XI0Xmlmo/
5/18/2010 6:46:31 AM
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Interesting: ---Quote--- As we continue to learn more about nutrition, the DRIs will continue...

From JREF Forum
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=194065&goto=newpost
12/7/2010 5:01:23 PM
Search rank: 469

The discovery of various vitamins – essential micronutrients that cause disease when deficient – was one of the great advances of modern scientific medicine. This knowledge also lead to several highly successful public health campaigns, such as vitamin-D supplementation to prevent rickets. Today vitamins have a deserved reputation for being an important part of overall [...]

From Science-Based Medicine
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/vitamins-and-mortality/
10/12/2011 11:08:48 PM
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http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/654881?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref....

From JREF Forum
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=185006&goto=newpost
9/8/2010 10:26:00 AM
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Report questions need for calcium and vitamin D supplements – Cynically, I doubt this will quell the surge in popularity of vitamin D supplements. Three times as many stars in the universe as previously thought – Scientists in Hawaii have found that the universe contains a lot more red dwarfs than we thought. For those [...]

From Skepchick
http://skepchick.org/blog/2010/12/skepchick-quickies-12-2-2/
12/3/2010 2:15:09 AM
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Hello everyone! Here is more science to tantalize your synapses and neurons! Keep Your Fingers Crossed: How Superstition Improves Performance More Than Half the World’s Population Gets Insufficient Vitamin D, Says Biochemist Low Vitamin D Levels Associated With Cognitive Decline Team Develops Non-Toxic Oil Recovery Agent Smoking Mind Over Smoking Matter: Surprising New Study Shows [...]

From Heaving Dead Cats
http://www.heavingdeadcats.com/2010/07/27/more-groovy-science-4/
7/28/2010 12:37:18 AM
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Magical musical tour by Marc West,
Vitamins and sex by Ian Woolf,
Science news by Matt Clarke and Catherine Beehag,
Presented and produced by Tilly Boleyn.

From Diffusion Science radio
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/diffusionradio/~3/koZKfc4QbZQ/diffusion07-09-2006
9/7/2006 9:00:38 AM
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!/podcasts/Gavura.jpg(Scott Gavura)! "Pharmacist":http://sciencebasedpharmacy.wordpress.com/ "and":http://www.skepticnorth.com/2010/05/reality-bites-for-andrew-wakefield/ "blogger":http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?page_id=5099 Scott Gavura returns to give us the evidence-based perspective on vitamins and the claims that are made about them. Which ones are beneficial, which ones are bunk, and how is this billion-dollar industry regulated? **Please note, due to technical issues during the recording, the sound quality of this week's episode is not up to our usual standard. We apologize for the inconvenience.**

From Skeptically Speaking
http://skepticallyspeaking.com/episodes/63-vitamins
6/11/2010 5:00:00 PM
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!/podcasts/Gavura.jpg(Scott Gavura)! "Pharmacist":http://sciencebasedpharmacy.wordpress.com/ "and":http://www.skepticnorth.com/2010/05/reality-bites-for-andrew-wakefield/ "blogger":http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?page_id=5099 Scott Gavura returns to give us the evidence-based perspective on vitamins and the claims that are made about them. Which ones are beneficial, which ones are bunk, and how is this billion-dollar industry regulated? **Please note, due to technical issues during the recording, the sound quality of this week's episode is not up to our usual standard. We apologize for the inconvenience.**

From Skeptically Speaking
http://www.skepticallyspeaking.com/episodes/63-vitamins
6/11/2010 5:00:00 PM
Search rank: 464

A vitamin D overdose is nothing to laugh about — it's painful and debilitating, can cause kidney damage, and can kill. This is a case where consuming excessive amounts of a vitamin supplement can do more than help you make expensive urine, and can lead to crippling illness and death. Gary Null is a thorough quack who has been raking in the dough with — you guessed it — nearly worthless vitamin supplements. Now this would simply be a tragic story of one of his poor deluded suckers clients had come to harm from his magic crap food, but it's almost funny that Null nearly killed himself by eating his own supplements.

It's not his fault, of course: he's suing the contractor who made his Ultimate Power [...]

From Pharyngula
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/scienceblogs/pharyngula/~3/oc0y15S__lQ/quack_gets_dose_of_his_own_med.php
4/29/2010 3:49:54 PM
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Last week, Mayer "the Butcher" Eisenstein, was sending emails about how he had harnessed the secret of losing weight. Oh, this is Eisenstein:
Why do the words "lacks credibility" come to mind?
This week, he elaborates:

Dr. Eisenstein's Comments:

I recommend that you eat spinach leaf at least 3-4 times a week. It contains Vitamin K, [...]

From Happy Jihad's House of Pancakes
http://hjhop.blogspot.com/2010/03/mayer-eisenstein-quack.html
3/7/2010 3:18:00 PM
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Show Notes courtesy Amanda Leinbaugh

Vitamin supplements are so popular that last year in the US there were $23 billion of sales.  This number is only growing as more and more people look to vitamins as a relatively cheap way to improve their health and prevent disease.  They are supposed to offer a wealth of health benefits- from cancer prevention to healthier hair.  The CDC even recommends that *all* women who can become pregnant take folic acid (which is a B vitamin) supplements in order to lower the risk of fetal developmental problems

CDC report - http://cdc.confex.com/cdc/pcs2007/techprogram/P13424.HTM

If we take vitamins in pill form, will we actually get the purported benefits? Will they just be a waste that we pee out? Or could they even possibly harm us?

-Harriet Hall’s “Should I Take a Multivitamin?” article http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=160

FDA regulation of [...]

From Curiosity Aroused
http://skepchick.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=589142#
1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
Search rank: 462

Show Notes courtesy Amanda Leinbaugh

Vitamin supplements are so popular that last year in the US there were $23 billion of sales.  This number is only growing as more and more people look to vitamins as a relatively cheap way to improve their health and prevent disease.  They are supposed to offer a wealth of health benefits- from cancer prevention to healthier hair.  The CDC even recommends that *all* women who can become pregnant take folic acid (which is a B vitamin) supplements in order to lower the risk of fetal developmental problems

CDC report - http://cdc.confex.com/cdc/pcs2007/techprogram/P13424.HTM

If we take vitamins in pill form, will we actually get the purported benefits? Will they just be a waste that we pee out? Or could they even possibly harm us?

-Harriet Hall’s “Should I Take a [...]

From Curiosity Aroused
http://traffic.libsyn.com/skepchick/02_02_Vitamins__Like_Candy_But_Good_For_You_.mp3
3/4/2010 7:04:00 PM
Search rank: 462

In a recent study, 35,533 prostrate cancer-free men in a higher risk age group for prostrate cancer in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico were given various treatments of Vitamin E, selenium, and placebo in order to see if claims that Vitamin E and/or Vitamin E with selenium were effective in reducing prostrate cancer risk.

• 8752 received selenium alone - 575 developed prostrate cancer.
• 8737 received Vitamin E alone - 620 developed prostrate cancer.
• 8702 received both - 555 developed prostrate cancer.
• 8696 placebo - 529 developed prostrate cancer.

It turns out that Vitamin E may increase the risk of prostrate cancer. Using Vitamin E and/or Selenium to reduce risk of prostrate cancer in men old enough to [...]

From Greg Laden's Blog
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GregLadensBlog/~3/zuItIOP4pi0/do_you_take_vitamin_e_to_avoid.php
11/3/2011 8:06:18 AM
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The Anti-Sunscreen Movement

Skin cancer presents some frightening statistics. Today, it is the most common form of cancer in the United States with more than 3.5 million cases diagnosed in more than 2 million people annually.¹ One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of his or her lifetime,² and every hour one American dies from skin cancer.³

There are three main types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas, and melanomas. Although melanomas also have a genetic component, skin cancers are caused by repeated unprotected sun exposure, sunburn, and tanning. These factors cause DNA damage that triggers skin cells to mutate. Over time, these mutations turn into skin cancers.

Fortunately, skin cancer is recognizable, and most cases are curable if caught early enough. Moreover, skin [...]

From Committee for Skeptical Inquiry | Main Feed
http://www.csicop.org//specialarticles/show/dark_side_of_the_sun_the_anti-sunscreen_movement
1/1/2001 12:00:00 AM
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