Anti-Vaxer Dr. Whitaker gets pummeled into common sense by Science, Reason &Steven Novella

[RonRules]

I knew Steve Novella's name sounded familiar. Hes a neurologist from Yale. He puts out propaganda to maintain the status quo.

I think you're a shill for Big Placebo and get paid for making posts like this.

They seem to pay you well because it costs around $500. to just download these two courses! In other words, I don't believe you have studied these courses one bit.

Also, most people other loved these courses:

Medical Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths: What We Think We Know May Be Hurting Us
4.1 out of 5 31 of 39(79%) customers would recommend the course to a friend.

Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills
4.3 out of 5, 21 of 23(91%) customers would recommend the course to a friend.


The more likely cause, just like members of a cult who refuse to hear anything, you could not accept the cognitive dissonance.

As one commenter states:
Be prepared to have some of your own beliefs shaken.
Examples of things you'll learn:
*"Alternative medicine" just doesn't work. (Chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, reflexology, etc).
*Vitamins & supplements are not necessary or useful.
*Linus Pauling was wrong about the Vitamin C thing.
*The antioxidant craze is based on outdated research from the 1990s - it was helpful in animals but not people!
*words like "organic" and "natural" are not necessarily good things.
In this course, you will likely need to UN-learn a lot of things you "learned" in the past 20 years...."

[RonRules]

Novella's podcast comes out every Saturday morning. I've listened to pretty much all of them.

But this one is a treat! He will discuss the Anti-Vaxer debate!

The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe Podcast #366 - Jul 21 2012
http://theskepticsguide.org
http://ec.libsyn.com/p/e/d/a/eda622f...8&c_id=4726351

Here are today's topics:

Fake Bomb Detector Maker Charged http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18795651
Debating an Antivaccinationist http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/...t-freedomfest/
Feathered Dinosaurs http://www.amnh.org/science/papers/feathers.php
New Moon for Pluto http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18803212
Higgs Discovery Announced http://www.sciencenews.org/view/gene...FcoQNAodLnEA-Q
Sex Myths 7 common myths about sex
Sapphire Hard Drive http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/...ple-sclerosis/

Edit: Relevant part of the Podcast starts at 09:30. Also note that this was last week's podcast. Look for podcast number: #366

[LibertyEagle]

As one commenter states:
Be prepared to have some of your own beliefs shaken.
Examples of things you'll learn:
*"Alternative medicine" just doesn't work. (Chiropractic, acupuncture, homeopathy, reflexology, etc).
*Vitamins & supplements are not necessary or useful.
*Linus Pauling was wrong about the Vitamin C thing.
*The antioxidant craze is based on outdated research from the 1990s - it was helpful in animals but not people!
*words like "organic" and "natural" are not necessarily good things.
In this course, you will likely need to UN-learn a lot of things you "learned" in the past 20 years...."

Even the AMA has admitted that vitamins are beneficial.

The thing is, RonRules, your arguments go to the opposite extreme of those who argue against vaccinations of any kind whatsoever. When you list the things above, it clearly points out to me that the guy you are sourcing doesn't have a brain cell in his body. Because I have first-hand experience of some of those things and know that some of them work. Maybe not to the extent some claim, but they still are good at some things.

You are trying way too hard.

[trey4sports]

i don't think the OP is trying to force anyone to make their kids get vaccinated, he is merely shaming and belittling them for not doing so. Honestly, i agree with the OP in the sense that there is a lot of nonsense regarding vaccines out there.

[LibertyEagle]

i don't think the OP is trying to force anyone to make their kids get vaccinated, he is merely shaming and belittling them for not doing so. Honestly, i agree with the OP in the sense that there is a lot of nonsense regarding vaccines out there.

Very possibly. But, then again, I think the plethora of vaccinations they attempt to force on kids these days is rather alarming.

But, he doesn't stop there. He goes off into whack land denouncing all forms of alternative medicine. Yes, I know our Western brand of cut if off or medicate the symptoms, must be so far superior than the medicine that Asians and others have used for centuries. Come on, man. There is something to be gained from all.

[RonRules]

The thing is, RonRules, your arguments go to the opposite extreme

I just want claims to be evaluated with proper scientific studies. What's extreme about that?

What IS extreme is to ignore science and go back to the dark ages, given all the evidence we have that science works.

you are sourcing doesn't have a brain cell in his body.

Steven Novella is probably the smartest guy I know. However the above quote is from someone who did his course and liked it.

Because I have first-hand experience of some of those things and know that some of them work.

First hand experience is a horrible way to choose medical treatments. Humans are pattern seeking and often seek to just reaffirm their wrong beliefs. Medical science's greatest discovery is the double-blinded (patient and doctor are blinded) placebo-controlled study technique. It takes you and the doctor out of the equation and ensures that there is no self-emphasized bias.

You are trying way too hard.

Somebody has to work hard around here. I'm in this thread for entertainment. I work hard in the vote flipping theads.

One more thing, I've come up with a quote years ago that you will hate:

"YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO YOUR OWN OPINIONS" The reason is because humans ability to think is flawed. It's a tough pill to swallow but study the topic and maybe you'll eventually agree with me. The scientific process corrects our reasoning shortcomings and that's why it is so successful.

I was pleasantly surprised when Michael Specter in the previously posted video "The danger of science denial" said:
"YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO YOUR OWN FACTS"

Again, with a lot of thought and self-introspection, you will eventually come up to the same conclusion.

[LibertyEagle]

Go back through the thread--thimerisol is still in many of the vaccines. However, the substitute is no better, which is aluminum.

Oh crap!! Now they're putting aluminum in them?? Damn.

[pcgame]

......

[LibertyEagle]

I just want claims to be evaluated with proper scientific studies. What's extreme about that?

What IS extreme is to ignore science and go back to the dark ages, given all the evidence we have that science works.

Steven Novella is probably the smartest guy I know. However the above quote is from someone who did his course and liked it.

First hand experience is a horrible way to choose medical treatments. Humans are pattern seeking and often seek to just reaffirm their wrong beliefs. Medical science's greatest discovery is the double-blinded (patient and doctor are blinded) placebo-controlled study technique. It takes you and the doctor out of the equation and ensures that there is no self-emphasized bias.

Somebody has to work hard around here. I'm in this thread for entertainment. I work hard in the vote flipping theads.

One more thing, I've come up with a quote years ago that you will hate:

"YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO YOUR OWN OPINIONS" The reason is because humans ability to think is flawed. It's a tough pill to swallow but study the topic and maybe you'll eventually agree with me. The scientific process corrects our reasoning shortcomings and that's why it is so successful.

I was pleasantly surprised when Michael Specter in the previously posted video "The danger of science denial" said:
"YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO YOUR OWN FACTS"

Again, with a lot of thought and self-introspection, you will eventually come up to the same conclusion.

I assure you that I absolutely do have a right to my own opinion.

I am all for double-blind studies, but when traditional medicine has failed you, you look elsewhere for a solution. That seems logical to me. Doesn't it to you? And what I have found with alternative medicine is about the same as traditional medicine, in that there are some kooks in both. But, if you are very lucky, you can find people who actually know what they are doing and help you.

For you to write off all of alternative medicine is ignorant to the extreme. And since medical credentials mean so very much to you, my doctor has a foot in both worlds and if you compare credentials, he makes your guy look like a piker.

Sell your swampwater somewhere else. I had an ear open to what you were saying, but you have crossed the rubicon.

[trey4sports]

Very possibly. But, then again, I think the plethora of vaccinations they attempt to force on kids these days is rather alarming.

But, he doesn't stop there. He goes off into whack land denouncing all forms of alternative medicine. Yes, I know our Western brand of cut if off or medicate the symptoms, must be so far superior than the medicine that Asians and others have used for centuries. Come on, man. There is something to be gained from all.

yeah as well as vitamins and organic produce. I mean, there are a ton of studies out there that show the nutrient profile of grass-fed beef vs. grain-fed is incredibly different. That is not conjecture, but rather fact.

[Anti Federalist]

I think you're a shill for Big Placebo and get paid for making posts like this.

What is someone takes a "placebo", whatever it may be, and it, through positive reenforcement or mental stimulation, alleviates the symptoms that somebody is showing.

Why is that non effective?

[Dr.3D]

What is someone takes a "placebo", whatever it may be, and it, through positive reenforcement or mental stimulation, alleviates the symptoms that somebody is showing.


Why is that non effective?

It's quite effective. I tell my physician to prescribe sugar pills whenever he feels it's appropriate.

[Anti Federalist]

It's quite effective. I tell my physician to prescribe sugar pills whenever he feels it's appropriate.

LOL

[RonRules]

It's quite effective. I tell my physician to prescribe sugar pills whenever he feels it's appropriate.

He probably does, seeing your arguments, he's probably having quite a chuckle every time he sees you.

[Anti Federalist]

Another article from that kooky, kwazy, Scientific American.

Placebo Effect: A Cure in the Mind

Belief is powerful medicine, even if the treatment itself is a sham. New research shows placebos can also benefit patients who do not have faith in them

http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...re-in-the-mind

In Brief

In recent decades reports have confirmed the efficacy of various sham treatments in nearly all areas of medicine. Placebos have helped alleviate pain, depression, anxiety, Parkinson’s disease, inflammatory disorders and even cancer.

Placebo effects can arise not only from a conscious belief in a drug but also from subconscious associations between recovery and the experience of being treated—from the pinch of a shot to a doctor’s white coat. Such subliminal conditioning can control bodily processes of which we are unaware, such as immune responses and the release of hormones.

Researchers have decoded some of the biology of placebo responses, demonstrating that they stem from active processes in the brain.

[Anti Federalist]

Sell your swampwater somewhere else. I had an ear open to what you were saying, but you have crossed the rubicon.

This.

On this subject, I become instantly skeptical of anybody that claims they "have every answer out there", and anybody who says otherwise is "a stone age cave dweller" or a "big pharma shill".

Each person is different, each ailment unique in certain ways, and one size certainly does not fit all.

I'm convinced this forced, "cookie cutter" approach to medicine that contributes to the hundreds of thousands of deaths every year at the hands of the medical establishment that I documented in my previous post.

[Dr.3D]

He probably does, seeing your arguments, he's probably having quite a chuckle every time he sees you.

Hey, I'm for whatever works.

[donnay]

Officials: Ebola breaks out in Uganda

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) – The deadly Ebola virus has killed 14 people in western Uganda this month, Ugandan health officials said on Saturday, ending weeks of speculation about the cause of a strange disease that had many people fleeing their homes.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/s...eak/56553600/1

____________________________

Makerere University Walter Reed Project

The Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP) is a non-profit partnership between Makerere University and MHRP. MHRP has been conducting HIV research in Uganda since 1998 and expanded its portfolio to include prevention, care and treatment activities in 2005 under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). More recently, MUWRP expanded its portfolio to research into other communicable diseases of public health importance in Uganda.

By building infrastructure and increasing the capacity of local public and private partners, MUWRP ensures quality services for communities participating in vaccine research and HIV cohort studies.

(...)

Ebola/Marburg Vaccine Study

This site was recently selected by the Vaccine Research Center at NIH to conduct a clinical trial on candidate vaccines for Ebola/Marburg. This study, called RV247, is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of two recombinant DNA vaccines: one against Ebola virus and one against Marburg virus infections. A second part of the study will evaluate simultaneous administration of the Ebola and Marburg vaccines, which are evaluated independently in part one.

http://www.hivresearch.org/network.php?OfficeID=5

____________________________

Uganda to conduct Marburg and Ebola vaccine trials

Published 15 October 2009

Ebola and Marburg are viral infections that have a high mortality, killing 90 percent of victims; no effective treatment exists for these highly infectious diseases, which cause extensive internal bleeding and rapid death

Uganda could hold the key to the Ebola and Marburg vaccines as the country has been selected for a high profile second stage safety trial in humans. Dr. Hannah Kibuuka, the director clinical programs at the Makerere University Walter Reed project, who is conducting the experiments, said the trial comes after a smaller one in the United States.

Irene Nabusoba writes that in an interview with the New Vision on Tuesday, Kibuuka said they hope to administer the vaccine next week. The exercise will kick off a research process that is expected to last two years. “They are artificially made DNA vaccines. They do not contain any Ebola or Marburg virus particles,” Kibuuka explained. “The DNA instructs the body to make one type of protein that is similar to the surface protein of the virus, triggering an immune response when the virus attacks because the body recognizes it as foreign.”

Ebola and Marburg are viral infections that have a high mortality, killing 90 percent of victims. No effective treatment exists for these highly infectious diseases, which cause extensive internal bleeding and rapid death.

Experts say vaccination is the best strategy for preventing the deadly infections classified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as category A of bioterrorism agents. “The viruses are associated with bio-terrorism because they are highly infectious, easily transmissible, cause public panic and social distress. It is important that we develop a vaccine,” Kibuuka noted.

She said Uganda is the only country participating in the second trial (phase1B). Phase 1A trial by the US vaccine research center involved 20 people.

http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire....vaccine-trials

__________________________________

A top scientist gave a speech to the Texas Academy of Science last month in which he advocated the need to exterminate 90% of the population through the airborne ebola virus. Dr. Eric R. Pianka's chilling comments, and their enthusiastic reception again underscore the elite's agenda to enact horrifying measures of population control.

Pianka's speech was ordered to be kept off the record before it began as cameras were turned away and hundreds of students, scientists and professors sat in attendance.

Saying the public was not ready to hear the information presented, Pianka began by exclaiming, “We're no better than bacteria!”, as he jumped into a doomsday malthusian rant about overpopulation destroying the earth.

Standing in front of a slide of human skulls, Pianka gleefully advocated airborne ebola as his preferred method of exterminating the necessary 90% of humans, choosing it over AIDS because of its faster kill period. Ebola victims suffer the most tortuous deaths imaginable as the virus kills by liquefying the internal organs. The body literally dissolves as the victim writhes in pain bleeding from every orifice.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles...assculling.htm


____________________________________

Genocide & Vaccinations in Uganda
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/vacci...a22dec03.shtml

Polio vaccine genocide in Uganda
http://www.whale.to/a/nkuba.htm

Genocide & vaccination quotes
http://www.whale.to/b/genocide_vax_q.html

CIA oversees "war" on AIDS by Dr. Len Horowitz
http://www.whale.to/a/horo.html

"Hepatitis B Vaccine and the Origin of HIV/AIDS: Perspectives on a Possible Vaccine Induced Pandemic"
http://www.whale.to/m/horo.html

AIDS, MURDER OR MYSTERY?
http://www.umoja-research.com/aids_murder_docs.htm

[Nickels]

Even the AMA has admitted that vitamins are beneficial.

Who here denies that?

[Nickels]

He probably does, seeing your arguments, he's probably having quite a chuckle every time he sees you.

this is why I wear these, and give them to friends who bought those stupid Power Balance bracelets.

[LibertyEagle]

Who here denies that?

Ask RonRules. The protector of all things establishment (medical).

[RonRules]

Ask RonRules. The protector of all things establishment (medical).

BTW, I'm not in the medical business AT ALL. I just like science and the mental discipline that critical thinking provides.

Vitamins are mostly produced and pushed by the alt-med people. Some large med companies are selling them too.

Doctors, for the most part will say that vitamins are unnecessary, UNLESS you have a bad diet or a definite deficiency.

I haven't taken ONE in 45 years. I'm a resplendissant image of health and fitness!

The latest research indicates that they are harmful, particularly in high doses.

Will Supplements Kill You?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...-to-study.html

But here's what ironic: The alt-med loons will deluge you with copies of articles as soon as a scheduled drug has the slightest mark against it, even if it is a mild side-effect that is trivial compared to the benefit.

BUT NOOOOO! They won't snitch and bitch about vitamins possibly causing harm, because vitamins are a major source of income for their gaudy lime green websites.

[LibertyEagle]

BTW, I'm not in the medical business AT ALL.

Oh, that was quite apparent from the outset.

Doctors, for the most part will say that vitamins are unnecessary, UNLESS you have a bad diet or a definite deficiency.

Have you been to a doctor lately? Because I haven't heard this for years.

[RonRules]

"According to the Council for Responsible Nutrition, 150 million Americans currently take dietary supplements. In a gift to the industry, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah pushed through legislation 17 years ago that allows supplement manufacturers to make health claims for their products, with no need for federal regulators to OK them. That’s why manufacturers typically say things like “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration,” as Nature Made’s website puts it. In other words, don’t go looking for warning labels on bottles of vitamins any time soon."

There's lots of vitamin producers in Utah. Cults are notorious for pushing various scams that have no effectiveness, are sometimes dangerous, are hyped to the extreme, cost very little to make and consequently highly profitable.

For the most part (except for people with identified deficiencies), vitamins are a scam.

[RonRules]

Oh, that was quite apparent from the outset.



Have you been to a doctor lately?

No, I don't get sick. I get vaccinated.

[RickyJ]

No, I don't get sick. I get vaccinated.

Oh, so that is your problem. At least you practice what you preach. But not getting sick has little to nothing to do with getting vaccinated. You have been lucky so far, unfortunately luck does not last forever.

[RonRules]

“Vitamin D is not really a vitamin,” wrote scientists for the New England Journal of Medicine. For something to be a vitamin, it should provide the body with an essential nutrient that it cannot make on its own, but requires for survival.

Since synthetic vitamin D is a drug, foreign to the body, and not required for survival, it’s technically a fraud – an impostor posing as a vitamin. It has “vitamin like” activity, which initially tricks the body into thinking the host of associated co-hormones is present. But this biological ruse proves to be devastating to the body over time.

[twoggle]

Oh crap!! Now they're putting aluminum in them?? Damn.

Yep, another injected poison!

I showed that the formaldehyde dose from vaccines is not insignificant
as compared to formaldehyde toxicity research. See post at:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post4554230

Here is a quote from research demonstrating adverse neurological
effects and potential neurotoxicity in preterm infants at doses
(56 micrograms/day) of aluminum, *lower* than found in some vaccines:

"...the effect of aluminum exposure was dose-related. Aluminum exposure
from the standard intravenous solutions was calculated to be associated
with a mean loss of one point on the Bayley Mental Development Index
per day of full intravenous feeding, after adjustment for potentially
confounding factors. In infants fed intravenously for 10 or more days,
those receiving the standard solutions had a major (10 point) deficit
in their Mental Development Index and were twice as likely to have a
Mental Development Index below 85. These results provide support for
our hypothesis that intravenous aluminum may have neurotoxic effects,
with longer-term consequences for neurologic development."
[From "Aluminum Neurotoxicity in Preterm Infants Receiving Intravenous
Feeding Solutions," Bishop et al., NEJM, 336:1557-1561, 1997.]

Dose of aluminum for the infants discussed above was 45 micrograms (ug)
per kg of body weight per day for 10 days or more. 45 ug/kg/day ~= 56 ug/day
for these infants.

A 15 year followup to the above-quoted study looked at the effects of infant
exposure to aluminum on bone development:

"Our study produced 2 principle findings suggesting that exposure to
aluminum from standard PN [intravenous] solutions that are used in neonatal
period may impair long-term bone mineralization."
[From "Aluminum Exposure From Parenteral Nutrition in Preterm Infants: Bone
Health at 15-Year Follow-up," Fewtrell, et al., Pediatrics: 124:1372-1379, 2009]

Another relevent quote from these authors:

"Aluminium is the most common metallic element, but has no known biological role.
It accumulates in the body when protective gastrointestinal mechanisms are bypassed,
renal function is impaired, or exposure is high...."
[From "Aluminum Exposure From Parenteral Nutrition in Preterm Infants and Later
Heath Outcomes During Childhood and Adolescence," Proceedings of the Nutrition Society,
70(3):299-304, 2011]

The quote is particularly important because some people still think that you can
compare doses of injected aluminum with that of orally injested aluminum. Most of
the research shows that less than 1% of orally injested aluminum is absorbed (usually
around 0.1-0.3%).

The infants in the research described above showed signs of neurotoxicity when
receiving ~56 microgrames of aluminum per day for 10 days or more. How much
aluminum is in vaccines? Here is one list I found:

•Hib (PedVaxHib brand only) - 225 micrograms per shot.
•Hepatitis B - 250 micrograms.
•DTaP - depending on the manufacturer, ranges from 170 to 625 micrograms.
•Pneumococcus - 125 micrograms.
•Hepatitis A - 250 micrograms.
•HPV - 225 micrograms.
•Pentacel (DTaP, HIB and Polio combo vaccine) - 330 micrograms.
•Pediarix (DTaP, Hep B and Polio combo vaccine) - 850 micrograms.

Now some may claim that the infants in the above-mentioned studies are more
susceptible than a healthy infants to aluminum toxicity and that is certainly
true. However, the doses in vaccines contain 2 to 15 times more aluminum
than the daily dose received by the susceptible infants. In addition, vaccines
contain other toxic substances such as mercury (in some cases), formaldehyde and
excitotoxins which may have synergistic toxic effects.

I think that next time some government official wants to force injections into
children, I would ask him/her to show independent published controlled research
on the injections of these multiple poisons into the bloodstream of infants --
looking at the short-term, medium-term and long-term effects. These government
officials claim to have science on their side, but really they have little safety
research and mostly just industry propoganda.

BTW, here's a list of book titles that I've found. I've read some, but not all
of these books:

http://vactruth.com/vaccine-books/

Also, the bottom of the following page has a more concise list "in
order of importantce":

http://www.adjustbacktohealth.com/abth_hi_vaccines.html

[donnay]

“Vitamin D is not really a vitamin,” wrote scientists for the New England Journal of Medicine. For something to be a vitamin, it should provide the body with an essential nutrient that it cannot make on its own, but requires for survival.

Since synthetic vitamin D is a drug, foreign to the body, and not required for survival, it’s technically a fraud – an impostor posing as a vitamin. It has “vitamin like” activity, which initially tricks the body into thinking the host of associated co-hormones is present. But this biological ruse proves to be devastating to the body over time.

I had already explained this a couple of posts back. Vitamin D is actually a hormone. Our bodies produce Vitamin D from UVB from the sun. Have enough Vitamin D in the system is better than any vaccine out there!

Here learn something why don't you...


Vitamin D in a New Light

by Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD


There are thirteen vitamins humans need for growth and development and to maintain good health. The human body cannot make these essential bio-molecules. They must be supplied in the diet or by bacteria in the intestine, except for vitamin D. Skin makes vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation from the sun. A light-skinned person will synthesize 20,000 IU (international units) of vitamin D in 20 minutes sunbathing on a Caribbean beach.

Vitamin D is also unique in another way. It is the only vitamin that is a hormone, a type of steroid hormone known as a secosteroid, with three carbon rings.

Steroid hormones such as cortisone, estrogen, and testosterone have four carbon rings. Ultraviolet B radiation in sunlight breaks open one of the rings in a steroid alcohol present in the skin, 7-dehydrocholesterol, to form vitamin D (cholecalciferol). The liver changes this molecule into its circulating form, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (calcidiol, 25[OH]D), the "vitamin D" blood tests measure. Cells throughout the body absorb 25-hydroxyvitamin D and change it into 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (calcitriol), the active form of vitamin D that attaches directly to receptors on the DNA of genes in the cell’s nucleus.

The vitamin D hormone system controls the expression of more than 200 genes and the proteins they produce. In addition to its well-known role in calcium metabolism, vitamin D activates genes that control cell growth and programmed cell death (apoptosis), express mediators that regulate the immune system, and release neurotransmitters (e.g., serotonin) that influence one’s mental state.

Severe deficiencies of some vitamins cause vitamin-specific diseases, such as beriberi (from a lack of vitamin B1, thiamine), pellagra (B3, niacin), pernicious anemia (B12), and scurvy, (vitamin C). A deficiency in iodine produces a goiter, mental retardation, and, when severe, cretinism.

Rickets, a softening and bending of bones in children, first described in 1651, is another nutritionally-specific disease. It reached epidemic proportions following the industrial revolution, which began in the 1750s. In the 19th century, before the importance of exposing children to sunlight was recognized, the majority of children that lived in cities with sunless, narrow alleyways and pollution developed rickets. An autopsy study done in Boston in the late 1800s showed that more than 80 percent of children had rickets.

Early in the 20th century an investigator found that cod liver oil could prevent rickets in puppies. The nutritional factor in the oil that promotes skeletal calcium deposition was named "vitamin D," alphabetically after already-named vitamins A, B, and C. Rickets was thought to be another vitamin-deficiency disease, and the curative agent, a steroid hormone, was mislabeled a "vitamin."

Now, a century later, a wealth of evidence suggests that rickets, its most florid manifestation, is the tip of a vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency iceberg. A lack of Vitamin D can also trigger infections (influenza and tuberculosis), autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease), cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Practitioners of conventional medicine (i.e., most MDs) are just beginning to appreciate the true impact of vitamin D deficiency. In 1990, medical journals published less than 20 reviews and editorials on vitamin D. Last year they published more than 300 reviews and editorials on this vitamin/hormone. This year, on July 19, 2007, even the New England Journal of Medicine, the bellwether of pharmaceutically-oriented conventional medicine in the U.S., published a review on vitamin D that addresses its role in autoimmune diseases, infections, cardiovascular disease, and cancer (N Engl J Med 2007;357:266–281).

Up until 1980, doctors thought that vitamin D was only involved in calcium, phosphorus, and bone metabolism. Then two investigators proposed that vitamin D and sunlight could reduce the risk of colon cancer. A growing body of evidence indicates that they were right and that vitamin D can prevent a whole host of cancers – colon, breast, lung, pancreatic, ovarian, and prostate cancer among them. Colon cancer rates are 4 to 6 times higher in North America and Europe, where solar radiation is less intense, particularly during the winter months, compared to the incidence of colon cancer near the equator. People with low blood levels of vitamin D and those who live at higher latitudes are at increased risk for acquiring various kinds of cancer. Many epidemiological, cohort, and case control studies prove, at least on a more likely than not basis, that vitamin D supplements and adequate exposure to sunlight play an important role in cancer prevention (Am J Public Health 2006;96:252–261).

There is now strong scientific evidence that vitamin D does indeed reduce the risk of cancer. Evidence from a well-conducted, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial proves beyond a reasonable doubt that this is the case, at least with regard to breast cancer. A Creighton University study has shown that women over the age of 55 who took a 1,100 IU/day vitamin D supplement, with calcium, and were followed for 4 years had a highly statistically significant (P <0.005) 75% reduction in breast cancer (diagnosed after the first 12 months) compared with women who took a placebo (Am J Clin Nutr 2007;85:1568–1591).

Some of the genes vitamin D activates make proteins that halt cancer by inducing apoptosis (programmed cell death), which destroys aberrant cells before they become cancerous, like adenoma cells in the colon and rectum. Others promote cell differentiation and reining in of out-of-control growth of cancer cells (like prostate cancer cells). Vitamin D-expressed genes inhibit angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels that malignant tumors need to grow, as studies on lung and breast cancers show. Other genes inhibit metastases, preventing cancer that arises in one organ from spreading its cells to other parts of the body, as studied in breast, and prostate cancers.

Vitamin D also expresses genes that curb cardiovascular disease. One gene controls the renin-angiotensin system, which when overactive causes hypertension (high blood pressure). Others stifle the immune system-mediated inflammatory response that propagates atherosclerosis and congestive heart failure (Curr Opin Lipidol 2007;18:41–46).

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurologically devastating disease that afflicts people with low vitamin D levels. Its victims include the cellist Jacqueline Du Pré, whose first symptom was loss of sensation in her fingers, and some 500,000 Americans who currently suffer from this malady. MS is an autoimmune disease, where the body’s immune system attacks and destroys its own cells. With multiple sclerosis, T cells in the adaptive immune system, Th1 cells (CD4 T helper type 1 cells), attack the myelin sheath (insulation) of the axons (nerve fibers) that neurons (brain cells) use to transmit electrical signals. The Vitamin D hormone system regulates and tones down the potentially self-destructive actions of Th1 cells. These cells make their own 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D if there is a sufficient amount of vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) circulating in the blood. Researchers have shown that the risk of MS decreases as the level of vitamin D in the blood increases (JAMA 2006;296:2832–2838). People living at higher latitudes have an increased risk of MS and other autoimmune diseases. Studies show that people who live below latitude 35° (e.g., Atlanta) until the age of 10 reduce the risk of MS by 50% (Toxicology 2002;181–182:71–78 and Eur J Clin Nutr 2004;58:1095–1109).

In a study published earlier this year, researchers evaluated 79 pairs of identical twins where only one twin in each pair had MS, despite having the same genetic susceptibility. They found that the MS-free twin had spent more time outdoors in the sun – during hot days, sun tanning, and at the beach. The authors conclude that sunshine is protective against MS (Neurology 2007;69:381–388).

New research suggests that influenza is also a disease triggered by vitamin D deficiency. Influenza virus exists in the population year-round, but influenza epidemics are seasonal and occur only in the winter (in northern latitudes), when vitamin D blood levels are at their nadir. Vitamin D-expressed genes instruct macrophages, the front-line defenders in the innate immune system, to make antimicrobial peptides, which are like antibiotics (Science 2006;311:1770–1773). These peptides attack and destroy influenza virus particles, and in human carriers keep it at bay. (Neutrophils and natural killer cells in the innate immune system and epithelial cells lining the respiratory tract also synthesize these virucidal peptides.) Other vitamin D-expressed genes rein in macrophages fighting an infection to keep them from overreacting and releasing too many inflammatory agents (cytokines) that can damage infected tissue. In the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which killed 50 million people, of which 500,000 were Americans, young healthy adults (as happened to my 22-year-old grandmother) would wake up in the morning feeling well, start drowning in their own inflammation as the day wore on, and be dead by midnight. Autopsies showed complete destruction of the epithelial cells lining the respiratory tract due, as researchers now know, to a macrophage-induced overly severe inflammatory reaction to the virus. These flu victims were attacked and killed by their own immune system, something researchers have found vitamin D can prevent (Epidemiol Infect 2006;134:1129–1140).

Randomized clinical trials need to be done to test the vitamin D theory of influenza. With what we know now, however, perhaps an annual shot of 600,000 IU of vitamin D (Med J Aust 2005;183:10–12) would be more effective in preventing influenza than a jab of flu vaccine.

Our species evolved in equatorial Africa where the sun, shining directly overhead, supplies its inhabitants with year-round ultraviolet B photons for making vitamin D. Our African ancestors absorbed much higher doses of vitamin D living exposed in that environment compared to the amount most humans obtain today. A single mutation that occurred around 50,000 years ago is responsible for the appearance of white skin in humans. It turns out that a difference in one rung, or base pair, in the 3 billion-rung DNA ladder that constitutes the human genome determines the color of one’s skin (Science 2005;310:1782–1786). White skin, with less melanin, synthesizes vitamin D in sunlight six times faster than dark skin. People possessing this mutation were able to migrate to higher latitudes, populate Europe, Asia, and North America, and be able to make enough vitamin D to survive.

The majority of the world’s population now lives above latitude 35° N and is unable to synthesize vitamin D from sunlight for a period of time in winter owing to the angle of the sun. At a large solar zenith angle, ozone in the upper atmosphere will completely block UVB radiation. In Seattle (47° N) and London (52° N), from October to April UVB photons are blocked by the atmosphere so one’s skin cannot make vitamin D. (The half-life of circulating vitamin D is approximately one month.) Making matters worse, even when UVB radiation is available in sunlight, health authorities, led by the American Academy of Dermatology, warn people to shield themselves from the sun to avoid getting skin cancer.

Except for oily fish like (wild-only) salmon, mackerel, and sardines and cod liver oil – and also sun-dried mushrooms – very little vitamin D is naturally present in our food. Milk, orange juice, butter, and breakfast cereal are fortified with vitamin D, but with only 100 IU per serving. One would have to drink 200 8-oz. glasses of milk to obtain as much vitamin D as skin makes fully exposed to the noonday sun.

The U.S. Food and Nutrition Board in the Institute of Medicine puts the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin D at 200 IU for children and adults less than 50 years old, 400 IU for adults age 50–70, and 800 IU for adults over the age of 70. Most multivitamin preparations contain 400 IU of vitamin D. These guidelines are directed towards maintaining bone health and are sufficient to prevent rickets – but not cancer, cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, or influenza. Without evidence to support it, the board arbitrarily set the safe upper limit for vitamin D consumption at 2,000 IU/day.

Vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) blood levels, the barometer for vitamin D status, are measured in nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) or nanomoles per liter (nmol/l), where ng/ml = 0.4 nmol/l. Children and adults need a vitamin D blood level >8 ng/ml to prevent rickets and osteomalacia (demineralization and softening of bones) respectively. It takes a concentration >20 ng/ml to keep parathyroid hormone levels in a normal range. A level >34 ng/ml is required to ensure peak intestinal calcium absorption. Finally, neuromuscular performance steadily improves in elderly people as vitamin D levels rise up to 50 ng/ml. Accordingly, a vitamin D blood level <8 ng/ml is regarded as severely deficient; 8–19, deficient; and 20–29, insufficient, i.e., too low for good health. A level >30 ng/ml is sufficient, but experts now consider 50–99 ng/ml to be the optimal level of vitamin D. Levels 100–150 ng/ml are excessive and >150 ng/ml, potentially toxic.

A majority of Americans have insufficient or deficient vitamin D blood levels. In veterans undergoing heart surgery at the Seattle VA hospital, I found that 78% had a low vitamin D level: 12% were insufficient; 56%, deficient; and 10% were severely deficient.

In order to enjoy optimal health, we should maintain a vitamin D blood level of ≥50–99 ng/ml. Without sun exposure, to reach a level of 50 ng/ml requires taking a 5,000 IU/day vitamin D supplement. There are two kinds of vitamin D supplements: vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), the kind our skin makes, and vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol), a synthetic variant made by irradiating plants. Vitamin D2 is only 10–30% as effective in raising 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood levels compared to vitamin D3, leading the authors of a recent study conclude, "Vitamin D2 should not be regarded as a nutrient suitable for supplementation or fortification" (Am J Clin Nutr 2006;84:694–697).

Concerns about vitamin D toxicity are overblown, along with those about sun exposure. As one researcher in the field puts it, "Worrying about vitamin D toxicity is like worrying about drowning when you’re dying of thirst." The LD50 of vitamin D in dogs (the dose that will kill half the animals) is 3,520,000 IU/kilogram. One can take a 10,000 IU vitamin D supplement every day, month after month safely, with no evidence of adverse effect. (Am J Clin Nutr 1999;69:842–856). A person must consume 50,000 IU a day for several months before hypercalcemia (an elevated calcium level in the blood, which is the initial manifestation of vitamin D toxicity) might occur. Vitamin D in a physiologic dose (5,000 IU/day) prevents the build up of calcium in blood vessels. (Circulation 1997;96:1755–1760). If one takes 10,000 IU of vitamin D a day and spends a lot of time in the sun, it would be prudent to check vitamin D blood level to ensure that it does not exceed 100 ng/ml.

Sensible sun exposure should be encouraged, not maligned. If one avoids sunburn, the sun’s health-giving benefits far outweigh its detrimental effects. A large body of evidence indicates that sunlight does not cause the most lethal form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma. A U.S. Navy study found that melanoma occurred more frequently in sailors who worked indoors all the time. Those who worked outdoors had the lowest incidence of melanoma. Also, most melanomas appear on parts of the body that are seldom exposed to sunlight (Arch Environ Health 1990;45:261–267). Sun exposure is associated with increased survival from melanoma (J Natl Cancer Inst 2005;97:195–199). Another study showed that people who had longer lifetime exposure to the sun without burning were less likely to get melanomas than those with less exposure (J Invest Dermatol 2003;120:1087–1093.)

The rise in skin cancers over the last 25 years parallels the rise in use of sunscreen lotions, which block vitamin D-producing UVB radiation but not cancer-causing ultraviolet A radiation (UVA). (Newer sunscreen lotions also block out UVA.) Each year there are 8,000 deaths from melanoma and 1,500 deaths from nonmelanoma (squamous and basal cell) skin cancer. Surgical excision of nonmelanoma skin cancers cures them, except in rare cases where the growth has been allowed to linger for a long time and metastasize. Dr. John Cannell, Executive Director of the Vitamin D Council, makes this point: 1,500 deaths occur each year from non-melanoma skin cancer, but 1,500 deaths occur each day from other cancers that vitamin D in optimal doses might well prevent. (The Vitamin D Council website is an excellent source of information on vitamin D.)

The U.S. government and its citizens currently spend $2,000 billion dollars ($2 trillion) on "health care," i.e., sickness care, each year. The cost of taking a 5,000 IU supplement of vitamin D every day for a year is $22.00. The cost for 300 million Americans taking this supplement would be $6.6 billion dollars. The number and variety of diseases that vitamin D at this dose could prevent, starting with a 50 percent reduction in cancer, is mind-boggling. If everyone took 5,000 IU/day of vitamin D, the U.S. "health care" industry would shrink. It would no longer account for 16 percent of the gross domestic product.

Health food stores typically do not sell vitamin D3 in 5,000 IU tablets, but they are readily available online. BIO-TECH Pharmacal produces both 5,000 and 50,000 IU tablets of Vitamin D3, which online sites sell. Some people prefer to take one 50,000 IU tablet a week (equivalent to 7,100 IU a day) and a three-day course of 150,000 IU vitamin D at the first sign of a cold.

Two sites that sell both "D3-5" (5,000 IU) and "D3-50" (50,000 IU) are here and here.

September 10, 2007

Donald Miller (send him mail) is a cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is a member of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness and writes articles on a variety of subjects for LewRockwell.com. His web site is www.donaldmiller.com

[RonRules]

Your study:
There is now strong scientific evidence that vitamin D does indeed reduce the risk of cancer.

My study:
(from the Journal of the American Medical Association. JAMA, the most prestigious American journal")

When a huge study examining whether vitamin E supplements can reduce the risk of prostate cancer had to be halted prematurely in 2008, it was because the men taking vitamin E seemed to be getting no benefit from it. In fact, not only did they not benefit, they exhibited a higher risk of prostate cancer than the men taking a placebo.

I'll take MY study instead of YOUR study. Thank you.