A bold plan to save tribal health money
by Rod Van Mechelen

If we were a nation suffering from vitamin C deficiency and millions of people were getting sick and dying from scurvy, the cure would be cheap vitamin C supplements. Today, most Americans suffer from vitamin D3 deficiency. We spend billions to treat the sicknesses this causes when, for a fraction of the cost, we can cure the cause.

The cost, even for painfully strapped tribal health budgets, would be small, less than $60 per person per year for a dosage of 5,000 IU per day.

The benefit to tribal members would be an across-the-board reduction in a slew of health risks. These include diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, chronic inflammation, stroke, congestive heart failure, pneumonia, influenza, and a host of other diseases.

The benefit to the tribes could be savings of as little 10% or as much as 50% of tribal health funds. Regardless, the savings would be significant and would more than pay for the program.

Why do it? Because Vitamin D3 deficiency is killing us.

D3 deficiency: a modern plague?
We are a nation suffering from D3 deficiency. This has been linked to radically higher rates of a host of illnesses ranging from respiratory infections to breast cancer and even autism.

Current research has implicated vitamin D deficiency as a major factor in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more. -- Understanding Vitamin D Cholecalciferol, John Jacob Cannell, MD, The Vitamin D Council

Based on our analysis of the reductions in disease incidence that would result from universal supplementation with 1,000 IU/day of vitamin D, Medicare alone would save billions of dollars in outlays each year. The cost to the federal government to give away free vitamin D3 each year to those who request it would be trivial. -- Should the President Declare a National Emergency?, William Faloon, Life Extension® Magazine October 2007

What Medicare and Medicaid cannot do, at least not quickly, tribal health boards can. And what a D3 distribution plan would do for America, it could do even better for Indian Country.

What does D3 do?
Vitamin D3 supplements "cure" only one thing: D3 deficiency. But Vitamin D3, or cholecalciferol (pronounced cola-cal-siff-er-all), is a fat-soluble vitamin that does a lot. According to Vitamin Research Products, that includes:

• Manages critical mineral balance in the blood and bones.
• Improves absorption of calcium
• Promotes strong, dense bones
• Reduces the number of falls and consequent skeletal fractures
• Improves muscle strength and neuromuscular function
• Provides important immune and autoimmune support
• Nourishes gums and teeth
• May reduce coronary plaque
• Improves joints and range-of-motion
• Promotes lung function
• Supports colon, breast and prostate health
• May improve cognition

(If you visit the Vitamin Research Products Vitamin D3 link above, take notice of the price: $20 for a 4-month supply. That's only $5 per month, or $60 per year. The Life Extension® Foundation also sells a 2-month supply of D3 in the 5,000 IU dosage for $14 that includes iodine, another nutrient lacking in most American diets.)

With all that Vitamin D3 does, it affects many systems. Consequently, D3 deficiency increases sickness and death from a number of causes.

How much more?
By how much does D3 deficiency increase sickness and death? Vitamin D-deficient children suffer a 200% increase in Type 1 diabetes, and vitamin D-deficient people suffer 30-50% more cancers. (Should the President Declare a National Emergency?, William Faloon, Life Extension® Magazine October 2007)

Based on information in Millions of needless deaths, William Faloon, Life Extension® Magazine January 2009, here is a small sampling of the number of deaths caused by D3 deficiency:

• 92,500 more Americans died from coronary artery disease-related heart attacks
• 80,000 more Americans died from strokes
• 38,578 more Americans died from colon cancer
• 16,000 more American women died from breast cancer
• 15,000 more American men died from prostate cancer

Taking Vitamin D3 supplements can change this. For less than $5.00 per month, we can turn things around.

How much less?
How many people would be helped by D3 supplements? Most people taking D3 could see at least small improvements. Less downtime for the flu and colds, for example.

And any conditions specifically caused by D3 deficiency would clear up. Hair loss, for example. No, not male-pattern baldness, but if hair is falling out due to D3 deficiency, it should stop and reverse.

The same is true for other conditions caused by D3 deficiency. And the number of people sickened and killed by it is staggering. Millions of needless deaths and diseases would be prevented:

The authors (of a review article in the July 19, 2007 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine) have calculated the rates of various diseases affected by vitamin D status and have come up with the following startling numbers:

• 78% reduction in Type 1 diabetes in children taking 2,000 IU/day of vitamin D in the first year of life
• 33% reduction in Type II diabetes in those taking 800 IU/day of vitamin D plus calcium
• 72% reduction in number of falls in elderly people taking higher-dose vitamin D
• 42% reduction in multiple sclerosis in women taking more than 400 IU/day of vitamin D.

Should the President Declare a National Emergency?, William Faloon, Life Extension® Magazine October 2007

Remember that D3 supplements cure only one thing: D3 deficiency. That's it. But D3 deficiency causes so many problems that it doesn't need to cure anything else.

But how do we get it?

Where can we get D3?

Update: Walmart sells 100 Vitamin D3 in 5,000 IU dosage for only $5.00. That works out to about $20 per year. This is a very good price. My only concern is that it includes Soybean oil, to which many people are allergic.

Individuals have lots of buying options. Most big grocery chains carry it. Your neighborhood food supplement and nutrition stores should carry it. Just be sure that what you're getting is Vitamin D3, or Cholecalciferol.

But tribal clinics should buy in bulk to get the best price. The two sources that I've named in this article, Life Extension® Foundation and Vitamin Research Products, are both of good reputation, and sell quality products at very good prices.

I inquired with both about wholesale pricing. Here is the link to the Foundation's Become a Life Extension® Retail Partner page. I have not yet heard back from Vitamin Research Products, but when I do I will post the information here.

How much D3?
By the time D3 gets into the blood, it has been converted to 25-hydroxy-vitamin D. I don't even know what that means. But for optimal health, the Life Extension® Foundation recommends that we have 50-60 ng/mL of it in our blood.

Nanograms per milliliter? Leave it to the professionals to measure it. But that's the goal:

Based on recent and conclusive published studies, Life Extension’s new minimum target level for optimal disease prevention is over 50 ng/mL of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D. -- Startling Findings About Vitamin D Levels in Life Extension® Members, William Faloon, Life Extension® Magazine January 2010

What about children?

In a recent comprehensive review, (Dr. John Cannell) recommends that "parents supplement breast-fed infants with at least 800 IU of vitamin D daily, while formula-fed infants need 400 IU per day. Toddlers and young children who do not get regular sun exposure should take 1,000-2,000 IU daily year round, depending on body weight, keeping in mind that current Food and Nutrition Board recommendations state doses up to 2,000 IU per day are safe for children over the age of one." -- The Link Between Autism and Low Levels of Vitamin D, Julius Goepp, MD, Life Extension® Magazine April 2009

Who should not take D3?
Despite the dangers of D3 deficiency, the Life Extension® Foundation notes that D3 supplementation is not for everybody:

Vitamin D supplementation is not recommended for individuals with hypercalcemia (high blood calcium levels). People with kidney disease, certain medical conditions (such as hyperparathyroidism or sarcoidosis), and those who use cardiac glycosides (digoxin) or thiazide diuretics should consult a physician before using supplemental vitamin D. -- Vitamin D3 with Sea-Iodine Cautionary Note, Life Extension® Foundation

Some thoughts about prevention and alternative medicine
Mainstream medicine focuses on treating illness and injury primarily with drugs and surgery. This has its place. Unfortunately, it dominates in our society and labels as "alternative" or "preventive" most of the therapies that do not rely on drugs or surgery.

With that mentality, we shouldn’t be surprised if, one day, they label real food as a "preventive" therapy for starvation.

Mainstream medicine does some things very well. To that extent, it matters. Beyond that, should it matter to tribal clinics? To the extent that we must work within the system to get funding for our clinics, yes.

Tribes have to be pragmatic to survive. American Indians are at the bottom of almost every health metric in the nation. Can we afford to blindly follow a paradigm that serves us so poorly? We may have to follow the rules, but we should always look for ways to make the rules work for us.

Good nutrition works. It is in our best interests. In this society, however, good nutrition is problematic even for the wealthiest individuals. That is why there is a need for nutritional supplements, like Vitamin D3.

Most Americans need Vitamin D3 supplements, none more so than American Indians. Tribal clinics can make a profound improvement in the overall health of Indian Country by giving Vitamin D3 supplements to their members and patients, and educating them to take it.

Copyright © 2010 by Rod Van Mechelen; may be redistributed and reprinted with attribution to the author.