Vitamin D and immune system with comment by Hutchinson Mar 2010
Vitamin D crucial in boosting immune system, researchers say
By Amanda Lucas  March 9, 2010
http://eatdrinkandbe.org/article/index.0309_nut_vitamind 
Next time you feel a cold coming on, you may want to think about getting some sun. Researchers found the sunshine vitamin, also found in fatty fish and eggs, plays a crucial role in boosting the immune system.
While researchers previously acknowledged a link between vitamin D and the immune system, they have now discovered how crucial the vitamin is to activating immune defenses. Without sufficient intake, cells in the body that destroy invading bacteria, known as T cells, are not able to react to and fight off serious infections.
When T cells are exposed to foreign pathogens, such as clumps of bacteria or viruses, they expose a receptor that searches for vitamin D. If they cells do not receive the nutrient, the cells will not activate, the researchers, from the University of Copenhagen told the Telegraph.
Active T cells can multiply at an explosive rate and create an inflammatory environment with serious consequences for the body.
Scientists believe the discovery provides much needed information about the immune system, which will help doctors regulate the immune response, according to the Telegraph.
“Scientists have known for a long time that vitamin D is important for calcium absorption and the vitamin has also been implicated in diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis, but what we didn’t realize is how crucial vitamin D is for actually activating the immune system – which we know now, ” the researchers said to Ivanhoe Broadcast News.
Although it is not found naturally in many foods, vitamin D is in types of fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel and tuna, as well as cheese and eggs, according to the National Institutes of Health. Most vitamin D is produced as a natural by-product of the skin’s exposure to sunlight.
NIH guidelines recommend men and women under 50 years old get 200 International Units of vitamin D per day, 50- to 70-year-olds get 400 and those over 70 get 600.
Sources:
Telegraph. "Vitamin D 'triggers and arms' the immune system," http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7379094/Vitamin-D-triggers-and-arms-the-immune-system.html ; 07 March 2010.
Ivanhoe Broadcast News. "Vitamin D crucial to immune system," http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=23742 ; 09 March 2010.
National Institutes of Health. "Vitamin D," http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp#h3 ; accessed 09 March 2010.
Reader Comments
Ted Hutchinson   swabymanor@gmail.com   Website:    http://vitamind3.blogspot.com/
      03/10/2010       The assumption that it is best to discuss your Vitamin D is based on the idea that your doctor knows best is naive. Unfortunately it is idiot doctors who use D2 Erogcalciferol Drisdol the most expensive least effective form of the vitamin that is used by rats but not naturally by humans. This form of the vitamin is less effective, less safe, shorter lasting and a lot more expensive. Why use an expensive ineffective synthetic form when there is available CHOLECALCIFEROL, Vitamin D3 biologically identical to the form human skin makes, it''s cheaper, it lasts longer it is more effective and safer. The fact that Doctors only prescribe D2 is clear evidence they put the best interests of big pharma before the best interests of their patients. Similarly why trust your doctor, It is the doctors who were telling us to stay out of the sun. It''s doctors who say only lay in the sun when there is no UVB present. In practice if you want to make vitamin D3 then you must do the opposite of what health professionals say. Sunbathe at midday, Never get burnt but expose as much skin as possible for 20~30minutes. 
Doctors have suggested that we should only use 2000iu/daily D3 because more is toxic. What utter rubbish. Our skin makes 10,000~20,000iu of D3 given the above exposure to sunlight yet no one ever has developed toxicity from sunlight and there is absolutely NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that up to 10,000iu/daily /D3 has ever caused toxicity. See The Risk of Additional Vitamin D http://www.grassrootshealth.net/media/download/vieth_sip_vitd_cancer_symp_2009.pdf 
Similarly Doctors will tell you that only the official RDA for vitamin D is required but in practice this doesn''t work. The official RDA is designed to keep people vitamin D DEFICIENT. To achieve the NATURAL PRIMITIVE 25(OH)D3 status human bodies homeostatically attain and maintain requires 1000iu/daily/per 25lbs weight. so a person 175lbs requires 7000iu/daily to achieve a level of 60ng/ml. Ask you doctor what his/her 25(OH)D is. Only take advice from someone who know their current 25(OH)D3 status and can tell you how much D3 they take daily to maintain that level. If they don''t know personally what it takes then their advice is not worth following. It your body and you are responsible for it. Human breast milk flows replete with D3 only above 58.8ng/ml. Circulating 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels in Fully Breastfed Infants on Oral Vitamin D Supplementation http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ije/2010/235035.html  At latitude 32n this takes 6400iu/daily. Further north it will take more. It follows you need to take 1000iu/daily for each 25lbs weight +100iu/d per remaining 2.5lbs for 2~3 months then get a postal 25(OH)D3 test to check you are above 60ng/ml then when you have done that go tell your doctor so your doctor is fully aware of what actually works in practice. Look at the graph in the banner of Grassrootshealth D ACtion http://www.grassrootshealth.net/  Look what actually happens in practice when people take just 5000iu/daily. http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2010/jan2010_Startling-Findings-About-Vitamin-D-Levels-in-Life-Extension-Members_01.htm