Sat, 9 Feb 2008 10:07:51 -0500
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It's hard to comment on the polycythemia without a number for the
hemoglobin or hematocrit. Polycythemia has many causes but also implies a
specific value for the hematocrit. An elevated hemoglobin does not
necessarily mean polycythemia.
But the vitamin D is a great, exciting area of research. Those of us who wear
sunscreen probably have been chronically vitamin D deprived. Manifestations
of vitamin D insufficiency include don't just include rickets, osteomalacia, and
osteoporosis, but chronic vitamin D deprivation has been connected to
inceased risks for malignancies,myopathies, depression, and immune
dysfunction/autoimmune disease(diabetes type 1, rheumatoid arthritis,
inflammatory bowel disease, and multiple sclerosis) with more associations
coming.
It's not breastfeeding, breastfed kids...it's potentially all of us. Your patient
was lucky enough to find out her levels. If you look at the first issues of
Breastfeeding Medicine, or look up Dr. Carol Wagner's articles, you see that
the women enrolled in vitamin D studies were almost all insufficient. Same
thing for men enrolled in other research. And the RDA is really, really wrong.
We just don't know what the right dose is yet. And it may be that we get our
levels checked in the future just like we do for thyroid issues.
I know the info is out there--my eight grader came home with an article from
our local newspaper talking about the new immune system discoveries of
vitamin D and you can get 1000IU pills over the counter in my grocery store!
Jenny Thomas
www.drjen4kids.com
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