The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    Might vitamin D deficiency make you chubby?

    Less vitamin D means more adiposity, according to researchers in the US and Bogota, Columbia.

    First, the details.

    • Researchers looked for associations between vitamin D blood levels and changes in body mass index (BMI), skinfold-thickness ratio (upper arm), waist circumference, and height.
    • Blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] were collected from a randomly selected group of 479 school children.
    • Vitamin D status was considered deficient (less than 50 nmol/L), insufficient 50 to less than 75 nmol/L, or sufficient 75 nmol/L or greater).
    • Anthropometric variables were measured yearly for about 30 months.

    And, the results.

    • Children with the lowest vitamin D levels tended to gain weight faster than children with higher levels.
    • Children with the lowest vitamin D levels had more drastic increases in central body fat.
    • Vitamin D deficiency was also linked to slower growth in height among girls but not boys.
    • Of all the children tested, 10% were vitamin D deficient, and another 46% of kids were insufficient, which meant they were at risk of becoming deficient.

    The bottom line?

    So, lower vitamin D levels are associated with greater risk of adiposity.

    The study was conducted in Bogota, a subtropical country. One might be surprised at the high level of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in those children. However, at least 1 other recent study in Costa Rica had similar findings.

    In Australia, researchers reported vitamin D deficiency is a problem earlier than childhood. In that study, 19% of newborns had 25(OH)D levels less than 25 nmol/L and 57% had levels less than 50 nmol/L. Only 27% had levels of 75 nmol/l or higher — levels associated with optimal health in older children and adults.

    11/11/10 19:26 JR

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