Posts Tagged ‘vitamin d deficiency’

Fibromyalgia patients need more than pharmaceuticals. What is needed is a solution, and the only way to find it means knowing the cause. If there ever was a condition crying our for a natural solution this is it.

Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a condition that has a profound impact on one’s life. The range of symptoms are so great than everyday living becomes a chore. From constant pain, interrupted sleep, fatigue, sore muscles, headaches, irritable bowel, anxiety and depression the condition is takes away any feeling of well being.

The fact that this is diagnosed in females aged 20 to 50 years of age doesn’t help. Until the pharmaceutical companies found a drug for this condition, most doctors thought of it as either a psychological problem or an imagined one. Now, it has an official diagnosis, which requires that there are a certain number of designated tender points that are extremely sensitive to pressure induced pain.

Pharmaceutical Solution

Pharmaceutical solutions can be anything from antidepressants, painkillers and anticonvulsants. Lyrica is an anticonvulsant and the first medication approved by the FDA  specifically for fibromyalgia. The list of medications for this condition has become quite long. Cymbalta and Effexor Cymbalta and antidepressant approved by the FDA to treat fibromyalgia pain, Paxil and Zoloft for sleep, wellbeing and pain relief. Elavil and other trycyclin antidepressants are often prescribed. This has side effects such as weight gain, dizziness and fatigue.

With all these drugs complete relief from the pain isn’t always possible. That is why the natural route seems a good way to find a solution.

Natural Approach

There are ways to restore normal function. Emerging evidence is being to see fibromyalgia as a metabolic condition. One of the areas being look at is how this condition is tied to low thyroid function. The evidence is pointing in that direction. Right off the bat there can are some overlapping symptoms that makes this well worth looking into. More women that men suffer from both hypothyroidism and fibromayalgia. The fibromyalgia symptoms are usually more severe, but they both create havoc in the patients life. From fatigue, depression, digestive issue and muscle weakness both conditions are debilitating.

Vitamin D Deficiency

There is a link between fibromyalgia and vitamin D deficiency. Muscular pain and weakness can be a sign of a vitamin D deficiency. What studies show is that Fibromyalgia sufferers have deficiencies of calcium and serotonin. These contribute to the depression, since vitamin D helps create serotonin, the feel good hormone, this vitamin is extremely important. Serotonin helps you sleep better, and reduces grain fog, depression and anxiety.

Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium, which helps your muscles relax. The Mayo Clinic has identified a relationship between low levels of vitamin D and chronic pain.

Ribose Supplementation

D-Ribose is a 5-carbon sugar (unlike 6-carbon glucose sugar), directly involved in the production of “ATP”. The body uses this sugar for energy production. Many patients that supplement with D-Ribrose have experience significant improvement. This is especially true in muscle strength. Patient’s with fibro reach the anaerobic threshold in their muscles earlier. Their muscles get tired faster and are using less of the available energy. Ribrose increases the muscles energy pool which reduces the metabolic strain in affected muscles. This allows the patient to resume activities that tired them out before.

Restoring Health

The way to restore your health naturally, means seeing that you aren’t deficient in either nutrients or hormones. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a powerful antioxidant, which helps restore energy in the form of adenosine triphospate (ATP). This is deficient in people with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Physical activity provides some pain relief along with improved sleep. There are many people that see benefits of a diet consisting of vegetable juicing, fruits, seeds, and barley grass juice. A whole food diet is essential to healing.

The one modality I don’t want to leave out is Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care. Many patients were able to resume their full activities after treatment.

TANNING BENEFITS

It is estimated that the elderly are more at risk of having a vitamin D deficiency. The national percentage of adults in the United States who are low of vitamin D is anywhere from 25% to over 50%. This vitamin is known to protect you from type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and help prevent many types of cancer from prostate to breast. Because vitamin D is only found in a few food sources that include tuna, sardines, herring and mackerel, supplementation is usually recommended. Natural tanning benefits include a lower risk of many age related diseases.

Supplementation is risky,  if you do not monitor your intake you can wind up with too much vitamin D. The only way to avoid that is to get your vitamin D from the sun. This means that those who live outside the tropics are probably not getting enough sun from late fall to early spring. Here is where you  can pick up the slack, by getting outdoors between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.  With all the warnings about the risk of getting some sun, the public has been kept in the dark about the dangers of not getting enough. Having low levels of vitamin D has been associated with higher risk of prostrate and breast cancer in ecological studies.

AGING

As you age, your skin’s ability to convert vitamin D to its active form decreases significantly. By the time you are 65 your skin will reduce production of vitamin D by up to 60%. The baby boomers and beyond can get many benefits from some sun exposure. The reason that vitamin D deficiency is a silent epidemic is basically because of the guide lines that the public has followed concerning sun exposure. This has also influenced how much time people spend outdoors. This is a viable choice; get a healthy tan with some vitamin D.

The baby boomers and the retired crowd should consider tanning as a health issue, information is emerging that people need higher levels of vitamin D than were established by the National Academy of Sciences. It is becoming established fact that higher levels of vitamin D is needed to prevent and reverse some of the top chronic illnesses of the 21^st century. The outdoor life is protective because you are exposed to the sun.

VITAMIN D DEFINCENCY

Vitamin D plays a role in regulating cell division and differentiation. These findings link the danger of a vitamin D deficiency to common age related health problems. The cells division and differentiation ability is problematic as you age. The dangers of not getting vitamin D from the sun is real. Studies now show that sun actually cuts your risk of most diseases. With that in mind, getting enough sun exposure should become a priority. Natural tanning benefits; it provides a powerful weapon against age related conditions, and supports health.