Vitamin D in asthma patients
I recently heard from a colleague that vitamin D can help with asthma. Usually I would not prescribe vitamin D for patients who have mild deficiency, but is it something to consider in patients with asthma?
Refractory hypercalcemia
A 72 year old female was brought in with confussion and extreme weakness. She was found to have high serum calcium of 3.6mmol/L (2.6mmol/L one month prior). PTH and vitamin D was also very high. Acute kidney injury (eGFR 37). Phosphrous and albumin was normal. A parathyroid scan revealed a foci of abnormal tracer uptake (suggestive of parathyroid hyperplasia) and increased uptake in the right chest and right axilla, (suggestive of malignancy). The CT scan is also suggestive of parathyroid adenomas. She is currently being investigated for metastases (PET waiting) and decision on further management is waiting for this.
However, despite treatment with normal saline, bisphosphonates and calcitonin, her calcium remains high, between 3.4-3.8 after 4 days of treatment. ECG remains normal so far. Have we optimized her treatment? Is there anything else we can do before we reach the point of dialysis?
Psychiatric symptoms in a young man without prior history
Hi everyone,
I recently received a 26 year old patient with acute onset catatonia - mutisim, blank staring and other motor symptoms including catalepsy, muscle rigidity and negativism.
He is a school teacher and has no history of physical or phsychiatric illnesses. Diagnostic workup including urine toxicology, thyroid, vitamin B12, folate and liver function, CT head, spinal tap is all normal. His friends and family are not aware of any drug use either.
I am concerned we are missing an organic cause considering his previous high functional status and lack of previous psychiatric history.
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Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Diabetes & Endocrinology
United States
What are the PTH and Vitamin D values?
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Internal Medicine
Saudi Arabia
Also, part of workup of this case include measurement of serum vitamin B1 (Thiamine) level. According to the given clinical scenario she is at risk of thiamine deficiency .Thiamine deficiency can explain her GI And neuro symptoms.
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Neurology
Norway
Thiamin is a water soluble vitamin which is normally absorbed in the stomach and must therefore be given to the patient daily after this type of surgery. If not done the patient will become thiamin deficient , rather rapidly, as the storage in the human body covers about one month needs. The consequences of thiamin deficiency are well known, both types of beri-beri and cardiac failure. So all patients should be given daily B1 vitamin after the operation, for the rest of their lives.
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Incidence of A-Fib Reduced With Vitamin D₃ Supplementation
FRIDAY, July 14, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For generally healthy older adults, vitamin D3 supplementation at 1,600 IU/day or 3,200 IU/day is associated with a reduction in the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) during five years of follow-up, according to a research letter published online June 10 in the American Heart Journal.
Jyrki K. Virtanen, Ph.D., from the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, and colleagues compared the effects of five-year vitamin D3 supplementation versus placebo on AF risk among generally healthy men (aged 60 years and older) and postmenopausal women (aged 65 years and older). A total of 2,495 participants were randomly assigned to receive 1,600 IU/day or 3,200 IU/day vitamin D3 or placebo (832, 833, and 830 participants, respectively).
The researchers found that 190 participants were diagnosed with AF during a mean follow-up of 4.1 years. The absolute incidence rate difference was 0.57 per 100 person-years between the 1,600 IU/day and placebo arms and 0.68 per 100 person-years between the 3,200 IU/day and placebo arms. The AF risk was 27 and 32 percent lower in the 1,600-IU/day and 3,200-IU/day arms, respectively, compared with the placebo arm. The risk was reduced by 30 percent in the combined vitamin D3 arms versus the placebo arm. When excluding participants diagnosed with AF during the first two years of follow-up, the risk reductions were larger.
"Our findings suggest possible benefit in AF prevention with high-dose vitamin D supplementation in an elderly population, despite the relatively high baseline 25(OH)D concentrations," the authors write.
Several authors disclosed ties to industry.
Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Por qué los médicos en España piden que comas esta fruta con las lentejas
La combinación de determinados alimentos puede paliar las carencias para nuestra salud y multiplicar sus efectos beneficiosos. Las lentejas y los kiwis son dos alimentos complementarios que ofrecen numerosos beneficios para nuestra salud. Por un lado, las lentejas son una excelente fuente de proteínas, fibra y micronutrientes, mientras que los kiwis son ricos en vitaminas, minerales y antioxidantes.
Existen diversos estudios que respaldan los efectos positivos de las lentejas en la salud. Por ejemplo, se ha demostrado que reducen la presión arterial, el colesterol en sangre y la hiperglucemia. También reducen los niveles de colesterol en personas con diabetes y protegen contra el cáncer de mama en mujeres. Los kiwis, una fruta rica en vitamina C que tiene la capacidad de facilitar la absorción del hierro vegetal. Al combinar las lentejas con alimentos ricos en esta vitamina, se protegen las moléculas de hierro y se aumenta así la cantidad que el organismo es capaz de absorber. De hecho, hay estudios que indican que consumir 25 miligramos de ácido ascórbico (vitamina C) en dos comidas al día puede duplicar la absorción del hierro.
De hecho, incluso la Universidad de Harvard se ha hecho eco del efecto potenciador de la vitamina C. "Las lentejas tienen bajos niveles de sodio y grasas saturadas y tienen altos niveles de potasio, fibra, folatos y químicos vegetales conocidos como polifenoles que tienen actividad antioxidante. Estas propiedades nutricionales han llevado a los científicos a investigar sus efectos en enfermedades crónicas", afirma esta prestigiosa universidad en su página web...Leer más
¿Qué opinas de este 'truco'?
Vitamin D Supplementation May Cut Risk of Major Cardiovascular Events
WEDNESDAY, July 5, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For older adults, vitamin D supplementation may reduce the incidence of major cardiovascular events although the difference is small and confidence intervals consistent with a null finding, according to a study published online June 28 in The BMJ.
Bridie Thompson, Ph.D., from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Herston, Australia, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial of monthly vitamin D to examine whether supplementation in older adults alters the incidence of major cardiovascular events. Data were included for 21,315 participants aged 60 to 84 years at enrollment. For up to five years, 60,000 IU/month vitamin D or placebo was taken orally (10,662 and 10,653, respectively).
The researchers found that 6.6 and 6.0 percent of participants receiving placebo or vitamin D, respectively, experienced a major cardiovascular event. Compared with the placebo group, the rate of major cardiovascular events was lower in the vitamin D group (hazard ratio, 0.91; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.81 to 1.01), especially among those who were taking cardiovascular drugs at baseline (hazard ratio, 0.84; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.74 to 0.97). The difference in standardized cause-specific cumulative incidence at five years was −5.8 events per 1,000 participants (95 percent confidence interval, −12.2 to 0.5 per 1,000 participants), resulting in a number needed to treat of 172 in order to avoid one major cardiovascular event.
"These findings suggest that conclusions that vitamin D supplementation does not alter risk of cardiovascular disease are premature," the authors write.
Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Copyright © 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
