Of Mice and Mold

Mice...cute furry little creatures.

Aspergillus...a tiny white mold that happens to grow on compost piles and decaying leaves.

What do these two items have in common?  

1.  When they invade homes in large numbers, they can expose people to respiratory problems such as asthma, pneumonia, sinusitis, and even cause death.  

2.  Both are more prevalent in rainy weather, now upon us in the northwest.

Many people don't know they have either of these inhabitants in their home.  Mice can hide in walls and scurry around at night while people are sleeping for years before anyone sees a mouse or mouse dropping. One night I was up at midnight, sitting in our living room when I saw something scurry from under the couch to under the TV cabinet.  We left mouse traps out every night after that and caught (and killed) 1-2 mice a night for two weeks straight.  We did have a cat at the time who simply watched the mice scurry past.  After looking for entry points, we found that the mice generally lived in warm places--the wall behind the stove (where they had chewed a hole) and the walls surrounding the heater (where we found more holes).

Telltale signs of a mouse infestation are scratching in the walls, dark rice sized feces here and there, and chewed holes in interior walls and at the base of siding on exterior walls.  Mice are especially attracted to cat food left out, bird seed, and other unsecured food items.  They can also be drawn to homes during wet weather simply to get out of the rain.  

What is the problem with having mice other than they are icky when uninvited?  They can cause serious illness.  Read the article in the link below:

http://www.aanma.org/2009/05/a-cautionary-tail/

I have a patient right now that has had such severe allergic reactions, she has had to be on high doses of prednisone for months.  She is worse at home.  She revealed that they have had a huge mouse problem in the past.  According to the above article, even if live mice have been killed, their feces, urine and decaying bodies can create allergic reactions that are life threatening.

How about mold?  Did you know that mycotoxins from mold can pass through dry wall and cause allergic reactions and respiratory disease even when you can't see the mold?  For anyone dealing with chronic asthma, allergies, or pneumonia, you need to have your house checked for mold.  If you already know of a place where mold tends to accumulate (such as your bathroom ceiling) you need to rip out that drywall and do a full renovation including having a plumber check for leaks.  Don't think you can just keep wiping the mold away.  Cleaning mold covered areas with bleach only lets the mold release more mycotoxins!  Read the article below about an unfortunately fatal case of inhaled mold.

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/jun/13/medicalresearch

As you can see, it is easy to be exposed to mold.  Being vigilant outdoors is as important as indoors.  If you have a compost or are raking up a pile of soaking decaying leaves, be careful not to breath in any clouds of dust that are released.  Tell your children to avoid the white mold spores if they are doing leaf raking as a chore.

If you decide to do a renovation, get a mold remediation specialist to do the job. check out the gear they have to wear when dealing with mold:

And you've been living in the house without all this protection!

For more info on aspergillus, go to the link below

http://www.aspergillus.org.uk/

I don't mean to scare you, but I do want you to consider your home environment.  If your home has either of these infestations, no amount of drugs or natural treatment options will help you get over all of the symptoms caused by living in a house that is infested.  Although mice can be cute and aspergillus can look pretty under a microscope, they should not be welcome guests in your home!

Poison Oak, Wonderful Poison Ivy

Poison ivy, poison oak, Rhus toxicodendron.  I love them.  Why? Because they make such a wonderful medicine!  I hope they never becomes eradicated because then we would lose a very useful tool in treating back pain, joint pain, arrhythmia, restless legs and anxiety. Although these plants Toxicodendron pubenscens and toxicondendron diversilobum are no longer officially placed in the Rhus genus, we still call the homeopathic medicine made from them "Rhus toxicodendron".

Case 1: 35yo male came into the clinic for chronic back pain.  He had had this pain since his late teens and had been using chiropractic to treat it. He needed adjustments at least twice a month.  X-rays and MRI imaging done in his twenties and then repeated recently showed no physical pathology.  The patient was also otherwise very healthy, very fit, and ate plenty of organic meat and vegetables with very little sugar or processed foods in the diet.

I asked what made the pain better and what made it worse. It was worse when he was just sitting around and really worse in the morning when he tried to get out of bed.  When laying in bed, he would toss and turn due to being uncomfortable.  After he walked around, he felt better and generally felt fine when he was active.  Sometimes he put a hot pack on it.  Also he had restless legs at night. As soon as he put his feet up to watch TV in the evenings, his legs would get restless.

Classic Rhus tox!  I wanted to ask him if he had ever had poison oak. I knew he was a hunter, so it was likely.  I also wanted to ask if he liked cold milk, a small but interesting detail in people who need Rhus tox.  i didn't ask these questions because I didn't want to lead his answers.  I told him that the treatment would be simple--homeopathic poison oak.

"Oh, I'm deathly allergic to poison oak!" he said. "I get it at least once a year and end up in the hospital sometimes.  I had to take steroids to make it go away on a couple of occasions.  Even when I put my hunting gear back on months after using it, the gear will give me poison oak again."

Ah-ha! So he had had poison oak and had suppressed it with steroids.  When skin symptoms are suppressed, we see the pathology be driven inward.  We see this in kids when their eczema is suppressed with cortisone cream--they get asthma.  With poison oak, you can get back and joint pain, and restlessness.

"Aren't you going to check food allergies or other things?" he asked.  He had heard that when you go to a naturopath, this is what would happen.  I told him I didn't think he had any food allergies but I would check them if he wanted.

"Oh, he'll kill you if you take away his milk!" his wife stated. Ah-ha! He craved milk. I  told him how people who need Rhus tox often crave cold milk.

"Really? Because I put ice in my milk!" he exclaimed.  He was convinced.  He went home with a few doses of Rhus tox 200c.

We followed up three weeks later.  He reported that the Rhus tox had worked very well for the back pain.  It was better than Ibuprofen or anything else he had tried.  He had gone to the store to get more Rhus tox homeopathic and had used it with decreasing frequency over the last two weeks, only as needed for symptoms.  He had been to the chiropractor once and the chiropractor remarked on how much looser his back was.

Case 2: 29yo female with arrhythmia.  Her arrhythmia had been bad enough in the past to actually stop her heart. She had been put on beta-blockers to prevent this but even with the beta blockers, she would have terrible arrhythmia every evening where she felt like she was going to die.  Because of other symptoms and personality traits I thought about Rhus tox. I asked about anxiety and specifically anxiety about her children.

"Yes!" she said. I feel like I just want to sit with my children at home with a gun to protect them from anything that could come in from outside. I know it sounds crazy, but I just feel like they are in danger."  Classic Rhus tox.

I gave her two doses of Rhus tox 200c to take the first one in the early evening or afternoon before the arrhythmia usually starts. Take the second one in case arrythmia occurs.  She called back two days later.

"I can't believe it," she said. "I was waiting and waiting for the arrhythmia to start, fully dreading it and believing it would happen, but then it didn't.  Every hour I expected it, but then finally went bed without any palpitations at all. This is amazing!"

So you see that poison oak and ivy can be very useful and we should not eradicate it.  I often use Rhus tox (and Rhododendrun homeopathic) with lyme disease patients. Maybe there is some wisdom in nature that supplies the medicine we need for the maladies we contract right in the same place we contract them.

So instead of hating poison oak the next time you are hiking or hunting, respect and appreciate it....from a safe distance.

Poinsetta plants and migraines--is there a connection?

A lady came in this week with longstanding migraines--on and off for five years.  And the migraine she had the day she came into the office had been present for over 2 weeks straight despite several heavy duty migraine medications.

I asked about what makes the migraines worse, and she stated that when she eats a banana, she gets a migraine.  Banana is a known cross reaction for people with a latex allergy.  She had not noticed a latex allergy before but she does  not work with medical gloves or any obvious latex where people would usually notice such an allergy. We tested latex allergy and she was positive.  Other sensitivities to a few food and environmental items also came up on testing.

Towards the end of the visit I asked if she had noticed any more migraines around Christmas time or near pointsetta plants.  Then she revealed that she grows pointsetta plants year round and has some right now in her home (In June)!  They are in bloom and one of them is stationed in front of the air intake vent for their airconditioning system.

Here is an article about latex allergy and pointsettas from: Georgia Regents University
http://news.georgiahealth.edu/archives/137

Anyone with a known latex allergy or who gets reactions from bananas should consider avoiding pointsetta plants....or at least trying to notice if they feel worse around them.  Also consider getting the allergy treated with an accupressure technique called NAET that I do in my office.  Call 360-573-2273 for more info.

Burt's Bees--is it really hypoallergenic?

I've had several moms bring their babies in who have very bad eczema since they were little babies--1-3 months old.  Everyone thinks there is probably a food allergy to blame, and usually there are one or two allergies.  However contact allergies are also a big deal.  But when I try to get the moms to change their baby products, they all say one thing, "Oh no, I use Burt's Bees products only."   Are Burt's Bees products really hypoallergenic as they claim?

Take the Burt's Bees Baby Bee Shampoo and Wash.

Here is the description in the advertising: 

"When it is time for your baby's bath, Burt's Bees Baby Bee Shampoo & Wash offers a tear-free, nonirritating formula to gently clean delicate skin and hair. Tested by pediatricans, the hypoallergenic Shampoo & Wash features moisturizing, plant-based ingredients such as aloe, oat flour, and soy proteins. It contains no phthalates, petrochemical, parabens, or synthetic fragrances, and it is safe and effective for everyday use."

Look closely and you'll see that although they claim the soap is hypoallergenic, they promise just that those certain ingredients listed which are widely known to be unpopular will not be found. For instance:

No synthetic fragrances:  people who are sensitive to fragrances aren't only sensitive to synthetic fragrances.  Many people are sensitive to citrus oils, lavender, rose and other natural fragrances.  To truly be hypoallergenic, a product should at least be fragrance free.  I've had many parents swear they are using fragrance free skin care products, only to go home and read their Burt's Bees label and discover that it contains fragrances. The Baby Wash contains rosewood, coriander and cedar oils.  I have found some people to be allergic to cedar wood (and thus the oils).  The Burts Bees Baby Bee Tear Free Shampoo contains fragrance, Orange Oil, Anise Oil, Lemon (Citrus Medica Limonium) Oil, Vanilla (Vanilla Planifolia) Extract, Clove Oil.  I have found many people to be sensitive to citrus oils.

No phthalates, petrochemical, parabens:  Ok, yes, we want to avoid these, but not because of allergen problems.  The distaste for these are due to their cancer causing and hormone disrupting potentials, not to mention how we don't usually like the term 'petrochemical' and it's possible detrimental environmental connotations.  Leaving these out of a product does not make it hypoallergenic.

So what is in Burts Bees Baby Bee Shampoo and Wash?

Glycerin:  although glycerin allergy is thought to be rare, I've seen about one case a year, so it does happen.  It is seen in kids with the worst types of eczema.  That's because parents have tried putting everything on the skin from different types of soaps to creams--all containing glycerin. It's ubiquitous in skin formulations.  It was written up in the Journal Contact Dermatitis as causing allergic dermatitis (Preston PW, Finch TM, Allergic contact dermatitis from glycerin in a moisturizing cream. Contact Dermatitis. 2003 Oct;49(4):221-2

Coco betaine: it's short for cocamidopropyl betaine (similar to cocoamide DEA): this is an ingredient that contains a derivitive of coconut oil that is when it is change by a reaction with dimethylamine.  Amines are proteins which are responsbile for the allergic reactions.  Cocamidopropyl betaine has been shown in some studies to be an allergen, causing contact dermatitis:

Mowad, C. (2001). "Cocamidopropyl betaine allergy".American Journal of Contact Dermatitis 12 (4): 223–224.
De Groot, A. C.; Van Der Walle, H. B.; Weyland, J. W. (1995). "Contact allergy to cocamidopropyl betaine".Contact dermatitis 33 (6): 419–422.
Brand, R.; Delaney, T. A. (1998). "Allergic contact dermatitis to cocamidopropylbetaine in hair shampoo".The Australasian journal of dermatology 39 (2): 121–122
My question is, if coconut oil is so great and the advertising says there is coconut oil in it, why not just put coconut oil in it?

Decyl and lauryl glucosides:  these are surfactants, much like the natural surfactants made to degrease your kitchen stove.  Although they are made from dervitives of natural things such as coconut and sugar, these are mentioned in the list of hidden allergens in sunscreen and skin products in the scientific article 

Contact-Allergic Reactions to Cosmetics, by An Goossens at the Department of Dermatology, Leuven, Belgium (Received 30 November 2010; Accepted 11 January 2011).

Now I understand it's frustrating to find a natural product because anyone can be sensitive to anything.  That's why I want parents to understand what is in Burt's Bees products and not just assume that because the advertising says 'natural and hypoallergenic' that it will be safe for everyone's skin.  The rule of thumb is if what you're doing isn't working, change it.

So what should you use?  

If your baby has very bad eczema, try using just water for the bath for a week at least to see if things improve.  As a lotion, I use Devita Natural Skin Care Shea Butter Hand and Body Brulee.  You can get it at our office.  An adult male patient with very bad eczema on his hands used it recently and said it took away the itch immediately and felt soothing and healing with long lasting effects.

Insurance coverage for Naturopathic Medicine

Red Tape.  That's what it is all about.  How do I get my insurance to cover my naturopathic care?  Meanwhile the insurance company is asking 'How do we avoid paying for naturopathic care?'   The big question is "How do I even find out if my naturopathic care should be covered under my plan?"

In unlicensed states--where naturopathic physicians are not recognized by any health board--forget about it. You will pay out of pocket for anyone you go see as a health coach.  You insurance will not cover anyone who is not licensed as a health care practitioner.  It would be illegal for them to do so. If the naturopathic doctor is also a chiropractor or accupuncturist, they can bill for these services, but time spent for naturopathic services (reading of test results, creating a treatment plan with dietary and lifestyle management changes) is not covered by your insurance.  The doctor cannot bill the insurance for a body work (chiropractic) code if the chart notes do not reflect that treatment.  Insurance companies can ask for chart notes and even demand money back years after they 'accidentally' paid a doctor.

In licensed states: naturopathic physicians may be considered 'alternative' practitioners or 'primary care' physicians depending on the laws in that state.  Some health plans have specific coverage for alternative care vs. primary care.  It is important to ask your insurance plan where naturopathic visits fall.  Some insurance companies demand that you specify one doctor as your primary care physician.  If you have specified a certain doctor and then go to another doctor who is a naturopath for an annual physical, your insurance can deny payment for that visit.  You can still see a naturopathic doctor for other health concerns and get it paid by your insurance, just not for the once-a-year health physical.  To get annual health exams at a naturopathic office paid for, you may have to specify your naturopathic doctor as your primary care doctor.   I am pointing this out because many insurance plans waive the deductible for one health visit per year.  If you are trying to get your one visit paid for by insurance, you may have to see your primary care doctor for this visit.

Deductible?  Some people don't understand what a deductible is.  Insurance companies make deals with you based on your expected usage of their coverage.  They are betting that you will go to the doctor and you are betting that you will stay healthy. A deductible is the amount you have to pay the doctor per year before your insurance kicks in.  For instance, your insurance might offer you a plan where you pay $200 per month and you have no deductible. You can go see a doctor anytime and your insurance will pay.  OR, if you want to pay only $170 per month, they will put a $500 deductible on your plan but you can see a doctor for one health check up and the deductible is waived.  Sounds pretty good, until you want to see a doctor for your ear infection or strep throat or hot flashes and you have to pay $500 worth of visits before your insurance will pay anything.  (so you saved $360 per year by paying $500).  The doctor cannot code this visit as a health check up if you have a new diagnosis code for a new health complaint.  Remember...most deductibles renew in January.  So if you have already paid your deductible by the time Fall comes around, don't wait until next year to see the doctor!  Your insurance will finally pay for your health visits!  If you're lucky, your insurance will cover 3 or 4 visits before the deductible kicks in.  But even in these cases some codes are 'subject to the deductible'.  Since naturopathic physicians spend more time explaining things to you and developing a treatment plan specific for you and your multiple diagnoses (thus they spend more than just the 5 minutes typical M.D.s spend with you), they will bill for an additional time code.  On many plans, the patient has to pay for the amount billed for these codes until the deductible is paid off.  If your naturopathic physician has had time to verify your insurance before your visit, they should know this information.

Whew! still with me?  Read on....

Max per year:  pay attention to this especially if on your health plan naturopathic physicians are classified as 'alternative care'.  You may have a max per year for alternative coverage.  Even if it is high, say $1200, remember that that amount will be shared by your chiropractors, accupuncturists and massage therapists.  If you see all these types of practitioners, your coverage could be used up before the end of the year, at which time you would be responsible for paying the naturopathic visits--or massage visits--or whatever comes last chronologically after the coverage has run out.

'In Network' or 'Out of Network': Your insurance plan probably has different coverage for naturopathic physicians who are in network or out of network.  If a naturopathic physician is 'in network' on your plan, they have agreed to accept the amount your insurance will pay and you will only pay a co-pay (that is after the deductible, see above).  This also gets you discounts on visits you have to pay if you are still paying on your deductible.  For instance, if a physician normally charges $200 for a visit, but your insurance has said the price for that visit should be $160, you get the discount.  Of course, if you don't have a deductible to pay, you only pay your co-pay and it doesn't matter to you what price the doc and insurance have agreed upon.  If your insurance has a 20% copay for in-network and a 40% copay for out-of-network, that means that if your doctor is out of network, you will pay 40% of the $200, whereas if they were in network, you would pay only 20% of $160 (the discounted price).  With out of network docs, they can set the price.  If the out-of-network doctor you see is in-network with other insurance plans (just not yours), the price will be reasonable.  However if it is a doc that does not bill any insurance whatsoever, the price can be high.  It is good to ask what the charge will likely be in these cases.  Some out-of-network doctors will bill the charges for you, and others will ask you to send in receipts for reimbursement yourself.  Some insurance companies have no out-of-network coverage at all.  Then you have to pay the whole price.  To find out if the doctor you want to see is in network with your plan, go to your insurance website.  Doctors names should be listed there.  Don't stop there, though. You might have good out-of-network coverage. Find out by calling the number on the back of your insurance card.

What about the Federal Health Care Reform?  As of now, naturopathic physicians are not part of the Federal Health Care Reform Plan.  That means that naturopathic physicians will get paid the same amount they now get paid by Medicare--ie: nothing!  I am not disappointed because traditionally Medicare does not pay well.  Many M.D.s are going out of business because Medicare did not pay them well enough for their services.  Yes, going out of business.  Retiring.  It's not just about making less money. It's about making money at all.  People ask why I don't accept certain insurance plans.  It is because they do not pay well enough.  Friends who are also naturopathic doctors post pictures (on Facebook) of checks they get from certain insurance companies--checks for $0.13 (that's thirteen cents!) and even one time a check for $0! Yes, a check was actually sent for zero dollars and zero cents.  What companies pay so poorly?  ASH (American Specialties Health) and Kaiser.  Avoid them like the plague.

The best way to know if your insurance pays naturopathic care, what your deductible is, and if a max per year applies, call the number on the back of your insurance card and ask all these questions.  You can also ask the HR representative at your work.  Our office will call and check for you before your visit if you give us the information at least 24 hours in advance of your first visit (48 hours in advance would be better).

I hope this has answered your questions about how to find out if your insurance will cover your naturopathic visits.  It is not uncommon to be confused about all of this.  Call your insurance to find out what your levels of coverage is, then refer back to this article for a better explanation of what the terms mean.  For us to do it for you when you have an initial visit scheduled, call us at 360-573-2273.

Melatonin, babies, and breastmilk

Some call it baby's "witching hour" but most of us know it can last much longer than an hour-- from 4p.m. to 9p.m. is usually the time frame. The most intense symptoms usually come around 7p.m. when you are trying to eat dinner or relax with the family. Suddenly crying, screaming, flailing arms and kicking legs are the baby's favorite thing to do; they have to do it as if driven by some malicious demon.   Your baby cries, screams, and generally fusses unconsolably despite attempts to soothe him or her with feeding, rocking, bouncing up and down, and even desperate drives in the car.

New research suggests that the problem may be low melatonin.  Is it just coincidence that the evening 'colic' magically disappears at around 9-12 weeks of age, just at the same time the pineal gland increases it's endogenous melatonin production to near adult levels?

The truth is melatonin is much more than a sleep hormone.  It can release beta endorphins, and therefore act as an analgesic--relieving pain.  It is an anti-oxidant, stimulating and balancing glutathione production, our most important reducer of free radicals in the body.  Much research has shown that melatonin is useful in treating cancer, possibly due to it's anti-oxidant capacity.  Melatonin stimulates prolactin (the milk producing hormone).  Therefore moms that have low milk supply might be passing on milk that is low in melatonin.

Melatonin is found in breast milk in significant amounts in the evening and night hours whereas daytime levels in breast milk are undetectable.  This could explain why a breastfed baby would calm down later in the evening when mom's melatonin production kicks in. Parents who insist on letting their child cry it out for 10-12 hours during the night when they want the baby to sleep could be depriving them of melatonin rich breastmilk.  A formula fed baby obviously would also get less melatonin, and parents using pumped breastmilk could be giving their babies inconsistent amounts of melatonin, depending on when the breastmilk was pumped.

Most parents who come in to my office are hesitant to give their kids melatonin.  The say their fear stems from melatonin being a hormone and the general thought in our minds is that we should not be giving our kids hormones (think hormones in cow milk, hormones in beef, steroid hormones--generally regarded as unsafe). However, a "hormone" is just a substance produced by the body that has a regulatory effect on an organ.  Certain hormones have negative feedback loops, meaning when levels are high, endogenous (self) production drops.  However, in the case of melatonin, we know that babies naturally get it through breast milk. Therefore, oral supplementation is a natural process. Also we know that when people take melatonin for jet lag, they do not become addicted to it, rather it aids the body in getting into a new pattern.  Since melatonin levels will be low in the daytime, there is no constant high amount that would cause an negative feedback loop to kick in.  Melatonin has a cycle and therefore endogenous production will kick in at the time when pineal gland production matures.

Parents of preemies know that this pineal maturation may take longer for their babies.  Actually, when measured by the date of conception, preemie babies start producing their own melatonin at the same time as full term babies.  However, since a preemie might have been born 8 weeks early, instead of quieting down at 10 weeks old, they quiet down at 18 weeks old--2 months more of evening 'witching hours' for those parents.  This is especially true if these babies are formula fed and have been exposed to high amounts of artificial lighting in the NICU.  (Light breaks down melatonin production; that is why our melatonin production is down in the daytime.)

Not every child responds well to melatonin--there are some people who, due to genetics, get revved up by melatonin.  But in general, parents who try melatonin to help their kids get to sleep or stay asleep consider it a God send and only discontinue it because they fear they are getting their kids addicted.

This need not be a fear.  However, if endogenous melatonin production doesn't seem to kick in, their are other avenues to investigate.  Melatonin is made from serotonin, our happy, stress relieving neurotransmitter. Serotonin is made from 5HTP which is made from tryptophan, a protein in our food (high amount in turkey meat).   Therefore, if tryptophan is low in the diet, if there is inadequate nutrient absorption, or if our enzymes making these important conversions are not present, melatonin will be low.  Supplementing with these amino acids is a good way of increasing melatonin.  Fixing digestive issues is also important.

However, for newborns, the pineal gland just isn't mature enough to produce melatonin.  Since melatonin supplementation does not limit the maturation of the gland, it is completely safe to give melatonin to babies and small children.  We already know that is it not only safe but beneficial to supplement adult cancer patients with melatonin.  So don't be afraid the melatonin, just because it is labeled a "hormone".

How much is safe?  Generally, melatonin is given in 0.5 to 3 mg dosages, one dose at bedtime.  Melatonin comes in drops which makes it easy to give to babies and easy to adjust the dose.  In our office, a 1 ounce bottle of melatonin contains 300 drops at 1mg per 5 drops, providing many nights of peaceful slumber.  It is my belief that anyone at any age that needs help with sleep could benefit in many ways from supplementation of melatonin.

P.S. due to the unusually high number of emails I've received regarding this post, I've decided to add a caveat: I cannot diagnose or treat your child through email.  I have already suggested in the above text dosages of melatonin to give and other problems that may be causing night time waking and fussiness including but not limited to: environmental problems, inadequate calorie intake, inadequate absorption of nutrients, other problems in the digestive tract, and genetic issues that cause neurotransmitter imbalances. Please consult a doctor, preferably a naturopathic doctor for problems with baby fussiness and waking that do not resolve with normal interventions.  I would not recommend using melatonin during the daytime.  A normal baby without pain or other issues will be generally happy and content during the daytime with normal care and attention from their primary caregiver.  Also, for some reason I cannot view comments on the page.  so if you want to ask a question, please give your email address so that I can answer it.

Vitamin D--time to start supplementing to reduce winter colds

We will soon be on the shady side of the world here in North America as we move into Fall and Winter.  What that means for nearly everyone is less natural vitamin D production in the body.  Vitamin D is normally produced when sunlight hits the skin and changes cholesterol into vitamin D precursors which then get activated in the kidneys and sent out into the circulation to help in all of the processes where vitamin D is necessary.

What are those processes, you ask? Good question.  New research has shed light on the importance of maintaining healthy vitamin D status in all ages.  A recent Harvard affiliated study published this year in the scientific journal Pediatrics stated that supplementing children with vitamin D during the winter decreased the  incidence of respiratory infections by half!  All of the children in the study had low vitamin D status at the beginning of the study and even the children who were still lower than optimal in vitamin D but whose vitamin D had increased through supplementation fared better than the children who had not been given vitamin D at all.

In the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine researchers this year gave their results on vitamin D effects on damage to the lungs caused by tobacco smoke.  In study subjects who had adequate levels of vitamin D, the damaging effects of tobacco smoke such as decreased respiratory function were reduced.  Subjects low in vitamin D had twice the decline in respiratory function.  It is important to remember that all subjects experienced decline in lung function due to smoking--smoking tobacco is never a good idea. However, smokers who had adequate vitamin D levels declined in lung function at a much slower rate.

Even non-smokers can benefit from vitamin D.  The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences this year printed a study assessing possible vitamin D effects on mobility in people in their 70s.  It was found that those who had low vitamin D status throughout a span of 6 years had a 30% higher incidence of decline in mobility (mobility being defined as the ability to walk half a mile, climb 10 steps and perform daily activities without help).  Wow! a simple supplement can help protect an older person's ability to care for themselves?  Although the direct effects of vitamin D on mobility are not known, it is postulated that since vitamin D is important for muscle function, protecting adequate levels of vitamin D kept people strong and active, which then protected mobility.

There are several reasons vitamin D levels decrease in winter. The obvious reason is we are not wearing bathing suit, shorts and short sleeves outside; therefore, less of our skin is exposed to the sun.  Also the hours of sunlight per day are decreased and mainly fill the hours when we are indoors at work or school.  Furthermore, since the sun is actually near the equator rather than directly overhead during the winter, the sun's rays must pass through more earth atmosphere before reaching our skin, similar to putting a lampshade over a lightbulb.  Then there is the obvious effect of more days of rain and cloudy weather on sunlight.

Luckily, vitamin D is easy to supplement.  In our office, we carry liquid vitamin D drops that can be dropped directly into the mouth or added to food (without your child knowing the difference!).  At 1200 drops per bottle, one bottle will supplement a family of four at a dosage of 2,000iu per day (2 drops) for 6 months!  If you'd like more information, call 360-573-2273