Dr Nadia Al-Ali "Vitamin D a medical miracle”

[eileen]

‘Close to 100 pc in ME lack vitamin D’ KUWAIT CITY, March 21, (KUNA): Consultant physician Dr Nadia Al-Ali said that Vitamin D is considered nothing short of a “medical miracle” due to its ability to heal a number of diseases. Speaking to KUNA, Dr Al-Ali said that the many years of experience she had in the medical field had shown that Vitamin D deficiency had emerged as a silent global epidemic, affecting over 85 percent of the world’s population. “The percentage of people in the Middle East, including Kuwait, suffering from lack of Vitamin D is estimated at close to 100 percent,” she said, adding that people in this region could die as a result of this deficiency, which was linked to diseases of the heart and arteries, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and even some cases of cancer.
Other diseases brought on by Vitamin D deficiency include rickets, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, auto-immune diseases, asthma, skin diseases and pregnancy toxemia. Dr Al-Ali, also Secretary of Kuwait Obesity Diseases Society, explained that Vitamin D was produced when the skin is exposed to the sun, and a sufficient amount of this vitamin enables the body to better absorb calcium. Women, the elderly, the obese and those with dark skin are susceptible to Vitamin D deficiency, and are thus advised to eat food containing this vitamin and expose themselves to the sun, she noted. Dr Al-Ali said a person should expose 40 percent of his/her body to direct sunlight for 10-20 minutes from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm three times a week. In the 20th century, awareness of the importance of Vitamin D came when doctors discovered that giving children doses of cod liver oil heals and prevents rickets, as it contains Vitamin D, she explained.
For many years, doctors believed that Vitamin D is only beneficial for the bones, she added, but studies conducted in the 1980s and 1990s proved that the benefits of this vitamin extended to include all body functions. She pointed out that sea guards and farmers were exposed to the sun for periods that produced 10,000 units of Vitamin D and in spite of this, not a single case of intoxication was recorded.
However, one must be aware that over-exposure to the sun causes sun burns and skin cancer, Dr Al-Ali warned.
Taking Vitamin D via injections or tablets is a very safe treatment; however, one must pay attention to excess amounts of calcium. When asked how a person could establish whether or not they maintained the right level of Vitamin D in the body, she said a blood test was conducted to determine the amount needed, and later the patient is given high doses of the vitamin and then subjected to another test to make sure the adequate level was reached. She said that nowadays, annual checkups include Vitamin D tests for children and adults. Women taking Vitamin D lessen their chances of contracting multiple sclerosis by 40 percent, as proven by studies, the doctor said. Vitamin D combats cancer and halts cancer cells from growing and the blood from nurturing them, she said.


SOURCE LINK: Arab Times :: ‘Close to 100 pc in ME lack vitamin D’

[eileen]

had a question but already figured it out