That Health Rules

 Every morning before I start my work, I usually review my journals, read blogs and then scan for interesting topics about diabetes and health matters. Sorting studies whose results impact our decision making takes top priority making sure that the source comes from a reputable institution published in a reputable journal! So if somebody approaches me regarding the effect of this herbal preparation published in thick magazine which we consider “throw away journals”, these studies are labeled JUNK and not worth a first look.

A study published in Diabetes Care , March of 2006 looked at the intake of Vitamin D and Calcium and the risk to develop diabetes.  Researchers enrolled 83,000 women in the Nurses Health Study and were evaluated for a total duration of 20 years.  Huge number of subjects and long term follow up are parameters of a good study.

Interesting Facts from the Study:

1. Only 3 % had adequate Vitamin D intake. See My Post on Vitamin D… Low intake plus low sun exposure equals Vitamin D Deficiency.

2. Only 24% of the subjects had adequate Calcium Intake. Not a surprise…How many of our women readers are taking calcium supplements?

3. Among the subjects with the highest Vitamin D Intake, the risk to develop diabetes was 13% lower.

4. The subjects with the highest Calcium intake had 21% lower risk to develop diabetes than those who had the lowest intake. The result was irregardless of which calcium supplements were taken!

In Clinical practice…I always recommend calcium and Vitamin D to all my women patients irregardless of age to prevent osteoporosis ( brittle bones resulting in curved back and fractures).  Now this study further helps these women be more compliant to their intake of calcium and Vitamin D as a way to reduce ones risk to develop Diabetes.  Remember Diabetes is already an epidemic that is estimated to increase in prevalence to affect 300M individuals by year 2020.

A daily Multivitamin with 400 IU of Vitamin D plus elemental calcium from whatever calcium source 2 times a day should suffice.

Calcium and Vitamin D:

Our Partners In

Disease Prevention

This entry was posted on August 10, 2006 at 12:38 pm and is filed under General Health Tips, Healthy Practice Tips, The Diabetes Facts.