For those of you interested in Vitamin D, there is an interview with a physician, Dr. Soran, who specializes in Integrative Medicine, and recently wrote a book called the Vitamin D Revolution.  You can listen to the interview on http://blog.VitaminDRevolution.com.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the audio buttons. The first few minutes of the show consists of another physician discussing the Influenza vaccine, then Dr. Soran (as he prefers to be called) begins. He discusses the risks of Vitamin D deficiency beyond osteoporosis (cancer, infections) but he also discusses how he supplements his deficient patients. It is well worth the time to listen.

Along those same lines, a scientific study* that looked at once-a-year high dose Vitamin D supplementation in older women was recently published.  The intervention group of the study received 500,000 international units of cholecalciferol (D3) once a year, and actually experienced more falls and fractures than the placebo group that received no supplementation.  The lesson to be learned is Vitamin D is important, but don’t take it all at once, once a year.

* Sanders, K. M., A.L. Stuart, E.J. Williamson, J. A. Simpson, M. A. Kotowicz, D. Young, G. C. Nicholson “Annual High-Dose Oral Vitamin D and Falls and Fractures in Older Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial” JAMA 2010;303(18):1815-1822