12/02/2023
GREAT NEWS...here's an article from MEDSCAPE. Vitamin D deficiency...you can do something about it and feel better...but:
Please speak to your doctor about possible Vitamin D deficiency, and what to do about it, of course. S/he may advise taking a supplement. However, you could also go out side more often and absorb the sunshine FREE...because this article says there are less su***des when vitamin D is added to a person's medically prescribed daily health regime.
Here's how the article opens: "Oral vitamin D supplementation nearly halved the rates of su***de and intentional self-harm in a study of US veterans, with an even stronger effect among Black veterans."
I read somewhere that most of the U.S. population is Vit. D deficient!!! Information=POWER
Share the information if you know someone in crisis who is depressed...you could save a life.
Starlight Network News is dedicated to saving lives because my younger brother won medals among them THE BRONZE STAR in Nam for saving lives at only 19 yrs old. He single handedly pulled
out 5 survivors of a burning USAF plane. At only 19...and it cost him his life.
So we have done our part in print in NYC to help people be a little happier by publishing GOOD NEWS- there's not enough of it. Lets help people? I blog for a sunroom builder and I have touched on this subject many times because juvenile diabetes numbers are soaring because kids don't go out and play in the sunshine...they stay in and play video games!
A lack of sunshine and Vit D has serious medical ramifications... please get information for your kids and your self and get blood work from your doctor. Kids (and adults) with diabetes need help, please pass the word?
TITLE OF THE ARTICLE:
Vitamin D Supplementation Linked to Fewer Su***de Attempts
by Miriam E. Tucker
(She's is a freelance journalist based in the Washington, DC, area. She is a regular contributor to Medscape, with other work appearing in The Washington Post, NPR's Shots blog, and Diabetes Forecast magazine. She is on Twitter: Miriam E. Tucker
February 01, 2023
Her article:
Asked to comment, Michael F. Holick, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Massachusetts, told Medscape Medical News: "In my opinion, this is an incredibly important publication for a variety of reasons. For one, it's such a huge number."
Holick noted that there has been controversy in the literature as to whether vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) is as effective as D3 (cholecalciferol), but that this study backs up his previous work showing that they have equal activity. "This now also demonstrates that Vitamin D2 is as effective as Vitamin D3 in this case of reducing risk of su***de."
Moreover, Holick said, "When you look at the plots showing the su***de rate versus controls, it's dramatic...an almost 50% reduced risk...This study is very powerful."
Su***de Attempt Rate With Vitamin D Versus Controls Is "Dramatic"
Using electronic health data, Lavigne and Gibbons conducted their retrospective cohort study of 1.3 million US veterans in 2010-2018. About 490,885 veterans who received vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) and 169,241 veterans who received vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) were compared one-on-one with veterans of similar demographics and medical histories who didn't receive supplementation.
Unadjusted su***de attempt/intentional self-harm rates in the D2 sample were 0.27% for those treated versus 0.52% for those untreated. The corresponding percentages for D3 were 0.20% versus 0.36%, respectively.
Vitamin D2 supplementation was associated with a 48.8% reduction in su***de/self-harm risks, and vitamin D3 with a 44.8% reduction, both highly significant (P < .001). Those risk reductions were similar between men and women.
There was a difference by race, however. The effect of supplementation was greater among Black versus White veterans, with su***de/self-harm attempt risk reductions of 57.9% versus 46.3%, respectively, for vitamin D2 and 63.8% versus 38.7%, respectively, for vitamin D3.
And by baseline serum vitamin D levels, among those with deficiency (0-19 ng/mL) vitamin D3 was associated with a significant 64.1% reduction compared with untreated controls. Each additional percentage point increase in average daily dose was associated with a 13.8% greater risk reduction, which was also significant.
For veterans with baseline blood vitamin D levels of 20-39 ng/mL, while the overall association was not significant, vitamin D3 supplementation was associated with a significant 9.6% reduction in su***de attempt and self-harm risk for each additional percentage point increase in average daily dosage.
Among those with vitamin D sufficiency (≥ 40 ng/mL), there were no significant overall or dose–response associations with vitamin D2 or D3 and su***de/self-harm attempt risk.
This study was supported, in part, with resources from the Department of Veterans Affairs Center of Excellence for Su***de Prevention. Support for VA/CMS data was provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Health Services Research and Development Service, VA Information Resource Center awarded to Lavigne and Gibbons. Holick has received research grants from Carbogen and Solius, and is a consultant for Pulse and Solius.
PLoS One. Published online February 1, 2023. Full text
Miriam E. Tucker is a freelance journalist based in the Washington, DC, area. She is a regular contributor to Medscape, with other work appearing in The Washington Post, NPR's Shots blog, and Diabetes Forecast magazine. She is on Twitter: .
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