eileen

Vitamin D Society Declares November 'Vitamin D Awareness Month' in Canada

KELOWNA, BC, Oct. 31 /CNW/ - Research this year has left no doubt that
vitamin D deficiency - which affects an estimated 97 per cent of Canadians in
the winter - is nothing less than a Canadian crisis and a worldwide problem.
This is why Canada's Vitamin D Society is recognizing the month of
November as the world's first Vitamin D Awareness Month.

Consider:

- Vitamin D deficiency in Canada is a multibillion-dollar contributor to
skyrocketing health care costs, according to a soon-to-be published
report commissioned by the Vitamin D Society. Dr. William Grant, whose
Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center is a leading vitamin D
advocacy group worldwide, is the study's author. Dr. Grant
conservatively calculates the cost of vitamin D deficiency on the
Canadian health care system to be no less than $9 billion annually,
based on established disease risk reduction in individuals with
natural vitamin D levels. Vitamin D deficiency is now associated with
higher risks of 22 forms of cancer, heart disease, multiple sclerosis,
osteoporosis, flu and many other disorders.

- A landmark Creighton University study this year - the first-ever
clinical trial to confirm the results of hundreds of epidemiologic
studies on this topic - showed that people rich in vitamin D have up
to a 77 per cent lower overall cancer risk. Published in the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition in June, the four-year clinical trial
followed 1,200 women who took high levels of vitamin D and matched
them against a control group who did not take the vitamin. Those rich
in vitamin D had up to 77 per cent fewer cancers as compared to the
control group. That's twice the impact on cancer risk attributed to
smoking.

- The Canadian Paediatric Society in September recommended that pregnant
women consult their physicians about getting 2,000 international units
(IU) of vitamin D daily - 10 times the current government
recommendation - based on the avalanche of new pro-vitamin D research.
Breast milk is believed to be a poor source of vitamin D only because
mothers typically are deficient in vitamin D, according to Dr. John
Godel, principal author of the Canadian Paediatric Society's
statement.

- The Canadian Cancer Society in June called for all Canadian adults to
get 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily. In a bold move in October, the group
called for major medical institutions in North America to organize
more clinical trials to further substantiate the vitamin D case.

Long known only as the body's catalyst for proper calcium absorption,
vitamin D plays a key part in cell growth regulation in the body - a recent
discovery which explains how researchers in the past five years have
quantified the vitamin's role in the prevention of 22 forms of cancer as well
as heart disease, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis and several other
disorders.
Because of the profound effects of vitamin D deficiency, the Vitamin D
Society is recognizing November in Canada as the world's first Vitamin D
Awareness Month. The message is simple:

- Canadians especially are at risk for Vitamin D deficiency because of
the country's relatively weak sunshine most of the year and the fact
that vitamin D is rare in diet, occurring naturally only in fatty
fish. Milk typically is supplemented with vitamin D.

- The Vitamin D Society recommends asking your doctor for an annual
blood test to check your vitamin D levels. More important than your
daily intake of vitamin D is your actual vitamin D blood level, which
can be measured with a calcidiol test (also known as a
25-hydroxyvitamin D test). Optimal vitamin D blood levels are
50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L), according to The Vitamin D Council.

For more information on vitamin D visit:
- www.vitaminDsociety.org
- www.vitaminDcouncil.com
- www.Direct-ms.org.
- www.sunarc.org

The Vitamin D Society is a Canadian non-profit group organized to:
increase awareness of the many health conditions strongly linked to vitamin D
deficiency; encourage Canadians to be proactive in protecting their health and
have their vitamin D blood levels tested annually and fund valuable vitamin D
research.

MEDIA: Canadian vitamin D expert Dr. Reinhold Vieth is available for
interviews. To arrange an interview, contact Olga Petrycki at 416-360-6522
ext. 226.

For further information: Olga Petrycki at (416) 360-6522 ext. 226

SOURCE: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/a.../31/c2359.html

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under-exposure to uv rays is as dangerous as over-exposure...This is "D" life! (eileen)

eileen

Maybe we'll follow suit next year in the USA. :)

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under-exposure to uv rays is as dangerous as over-exposure...This is "D" life! (eileen)

Gidget

Hum, I was not aware of that!

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