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Vitamin D and Anemia

"I started taking Vitamin D10 about 6 months ago, after reading some info on anemia and causes, and the iron in my blood normalized so quickly that it shocked my doctor. I feel better than I have in years, and owe it all to Vitamin D10"! - Tom Aldrich, Mesa AZ

Narinder Duggal MD, FRCPC

There is overwhelming medical evidence that shows that a person with anemia suffers from many different symptoms, and associated conditions. The actual causes of anemia are still not full under stood, but if you suffer from Anemia, and all of its symptoms, and you have low Vitamin D levels, there is evidence to suggest that there is a direct correlation between the two, and makes you a candidate for Vitamin D therapy, and if your Healthcare Professional has suggested you start therapy, then Vitamin D10 from Synergy Therapeutics RX is the right product for you. Visit our products page, call 800-991-3265, or click here to order Vitamin D10 from us now. 

How Vitamin D benefits Anemia:

•  Patients with the lowest levels of vitamin D, were 2.8 times more likely to have anemia than those with the highest levels,

•  Vitamin D helps normalize and regulate hemaglobin levels, a predictor used to asses Anemia risk.
•  Replacing vitamin D in patients with low levels boosts hemoglobin levels.
•  Each 10 ng/mL increment in vitamin D level was associated with a 29% reduced risk of anemia.
•  Studies have shown that 10,000IU of Vitamin D3 taken daily for 90 days can increase your Vitamin D levels by up to 50-70 ng/mL. 
•  Each 10 mg/dL increase in CRP level was associated with a 68% increased risk of anemia, and Vitamin D works to reduce CRP in the body. 

Anemia and Vitamin D deficiency:

Anemia is a reduction in the normal number of red blood cells (RBCs), or less than the normal hemoglobin in the blood. Anemia is measured on a complete blood count (CBC). There are many causes of anemia. Iron-deficiency anemia, the most common type, causes RBCs to be abnormally small. Anemia occurs when the body produces too few red blood cells, loses too many of them, or if red blood cells are destroyed faster than they can be replaced.

Anemia can only be diagnosed by a blood test that measures the body's iron stores. Iron deficiency can have many non-nutritional causes (such as excessive menstrual bleeding, bleeding ulcers or hemorrhoids, gastrointestinal bleeding caused by aspirin or related drugs, frequent blood donations, or colon cancer), but may also be caused by a lack of dietary iron. Menstrual bleeding is probably the leading cause of iron deficiency; however, only about one in ten premenopausal women is iron deficient.

Some common symptoms of anemia include:

Fatigue

Lethargy
Weakness
Poor concentration
Impaired immune function

Advanced anemia may also result in lightheadedness, headaches, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), irritability, pale skin, unpleasant sensations in the legs with an uncontrollable urge to move them (restless legs syndrome), and becoming short of breath easily.

Regarding Anemia and Vitamin D deficiency, a recent study by Jessica Kendrick, MD, and her colleagues at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver examined data from a population-based sample of 16,301 subjects aged 18 years and older who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) conducted from 1988 to 1994.

The researchers categorized subjects according to estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR): less than 30, 30-59, 60-89, and 90 mL/min per 1.73 m2 or higher. Individuals with with an eGFR of 30-59 and less than 30 mL/min per 1.73 m2 were at two times and 28 times higher risk of anemia (hemoglobin level below 12 g/dL) compared with those with an eGFR of 90 mL/min per 1.73 m2 and higher.

Additionally, as eGFR declined, 25 (OH) D levels decreased and CRP levels increased. Further analysis showed that 25 (OH) D and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels independently predicted hemoglobin levels. Each 10 ng/mL increment in 25 (OH) vitamin D was associated with a 29% reduced risk of anemia. Additionally, each 10 mg/dL increase in CRP level was associated with a 68% increased risk of anemia. Study findings suggest that replacing vitamin D in patients with low levels of this vitamin may boost hemoglobin levels, Dr. Kendrick said. Anemic patients have a high prevalence of 25 (OH) D deficiency.
Vitamin D may influence hemoglobin through its effect on inflammation, she explained. Data shows that supplementation with 25 (OH) Vitamin D is associated with reductions in pro-inflammatory cytokines.

In a separate study presented at the conference, the same investigators reported on an analysis of 16,864 NHANES III participants showing that decreasing 25 (OH) Vitamin D levels were significantly associated with increasing prevalence of cardiovascular disease in the entire study population.

In a related study, a high degree of association between iron-deficiency anemia and vitamin D deficiency in Asian children has been reported. In three different ethnic groups living in England, iron-deficiency anemia was found to be a significant risk factor for low vitamin D levels in children. These findings suggest that children with iron-deficiency anemia should be screened for vitamin D deficiency and be given vitamin D supplements if necessary.

Patients with the lowest levels of calcidiol -- 25-hydroxyvitamin D which is used to asses deficiency, were 2.8 times more likely to have anemia (95% CI 1.5 to 5.1) than those with the highest levels, Orlando Gutierrez, M.D., of the University of Miami in Florida, reported at the American Society of Nephrology meeting here. Patients who had the lowest levels of calcitriol -- 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D -- had a similarly increased risk (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.5 to 2.9). "The possibility that vitamin D receptor activation may be useful in the direct or indirect treatment of anemia is intriguing and needs to be further explored," Dr. Gutierrez said.

Although vitamin D deficiency and anemia are both very common in chronic kidney disease, few studies have examined the relationship between the two, according to Dr. Gutierrez. He said that past studies have shown that calcitriol increases erythropoietin receptor expression in hematopoietic progenitor cells and works together with erythropoietin to increase the cells' proliferation. Thus, he and his colleagues hypothesized that vitamin D deficiency may be highly associated with anemia in chronic kidney disease.

To test that hypothesis, they examined levels of hemoglobin, calcidiol, and calcitriol in 1,661 participants 40 and older (mean 70) in the Study to Evaluate Early Kidney Disease (SEEK), which was conducted at 153 U.S. centers. All patients had untreated, early chronic kidney disease. Patients were excluded if they required renal replacement therapy, had primary parathyroid disease, or were using prescription vitamin D therapy. Participants' mean estimated glomerular filtration rate was 47 mL/min/1.73 m2 and mean hemoglobin was 13.0 g/dL. Overall, 41% of the patients were anemic, defined as a hemoglobin of less than 13.5 g/dL for men and less than 12.0 g/dL for women.

Anemic patients were slightly older and more likely to be male, black, and to have diabetes, hypertension, a lower estimated glomerular filtration rate, lower concentrations of both vitamin D types, and a higher parathyroid hormone concentration (P<0.01 for all). Just over half of the patients (54.8%) had a calcidiol concentration of 10 to 30 ng/mL; 3% had a lower concentration and 42% had a higher concentration. After adjusting for age, sex, race, estimated glomerular filtration rate, diabetes, and parathyroid hormone, mean hemoglobin levels dropped from 13.5 g/dL in patients with the highest levels of calcidiol to 11.7 g/dL in those with the lowest levels (P<0.001 for trend). Almost 70% of those in the lowest category and about 47% in the middle category had anemia, compared with 31% in the highest category (P<0.01 for both comparisons).

For calcitriol concentration, 54% of patients had a level less than 30 ng/mL; 27% had a concentration of 30 to 45 ng/mL and 19% had a concentration greater than 45 ng/mL. Mean hemoglobin levels dropped from 13.7 g/dL in patients with the highest levels of calcitriol to 12.7 g/dL in those with the lowest levels (P<0.001 for trend). About 50% in the lowest category and 30% in the middle category had anemia, compared with 24% in the highest category (P<0.01 for both comparisons). Adjusting for markers of inflammation did not affect the results.

"We conclude that deficiencies of both [calcitriol and calcidiol] are independently associated with anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease," Dr. Gutierrez said.

Visit our products page or click here to order Vitamin D10 from us now. 

Primary source: American Society of Nephrology
Source reference:
Gutierrez O, et al "Vitamin D deficiency and anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD)" ASN 2008;

Kidney Int. 2010 Apr;77(8):715-20. Epub 2010 Feb 3.

Vitamin D deficiency and anemia in early chronic kidney disease.

Patel NM, Gutiérrez OM, Andress DL, Coyne DW, Levin A, Wolf M.
Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida 33136, USA.

http://www.renalandurologynews.com/low-vitamin-d-anemia-linked/article/110231/