Thinking of getting a stairlift?

This week, along with my copy of the Radio Times coming through the letterbox, there were also some of those leaflets advertising this and that. There is usually at least one with a photo of a photogenic TV doctor endorsing something or other, and doubtless being very well paid to do so. This time the 'doctor advert' was trying to sell stairlifts. 

 

If you too received one of these leaflets and it has started you wondering whether you should be getting a stairlift - a very expensive purchase - I would just like to invite you to read this blog article I posted earlier this year. You too may well be short of vitamin D. Most people in this country are short of vitamin D because the main source of vitamin D is sunshine, and we don't get a lot of that in the UK. Perhaps you too would benefit more from improving your nutritional status and thus your bone and muscle strength and general health, than by spending thousands of pounds on an expensive stairlift.

We Need More Vitamin D

Vitamin D has emerged as the nutrient of the decade. Numerous studies have found benefits for nearly 100 types of health conditions. These health benefits include reduced risk of bone diseases, many types of cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes mellitus, bacterial and viral infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, neurological conditions such as cognitive dysfunction, and improved athletic and physical performance.
Read news release at orthomolecular.org

Rickets reported in Cardiff

BBC Wales reports that cases of the crippling children's bone disease rickets are being seen in Cardiff. "Caused by a lack of vitamin D, the disease can lead to deformities like bowed legs and stunted growth, but it largely disappeared last century. Eye on Wales has learnt health professionals working in communities in south Cardiff are reporting incidents."

Vitamin D deficiency can result in a host of serious health conditions, including susceptibility to colds and flu, overweight and dental problems. See Vitamin D Deficiency. Sunshine is a good source of vitamin D. Food sources include oily fish such as salmon and sardines, eggs, full fat natural yoghurt, whole milk and beef liver. Low fat diets are not healthy, but they are particularly bad for children. Your doctor can arrange for vitamin D level testing.

Birmingham launches Vitamin D Against Rickets drive

Birmingham is launching a Vitamin D Against Rickets drive. Well done to Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust, who have taken this important initiative to safeguard/improve the health of the children of Birmingham.

Rickets, in former times a disease of poverty and deprivation, has re-emerged in Birmingham and other parts of Britain, partly because of our chronic shortage of sunshine, partly because screening children from possible sunburn has been too zealous, and partly because the preponderance of processed foods and salty snacks makes modern-day children's meals less nutritious than they might be.

You've heard of rickety stairs, no doubt: rickety meaning shaky, not strong, weak, liable to break, etc. A child with rickets is recognisable by bowed legs as well as weakness and by the physical disabilities of this serious bone disease.

Safeguard your children's health by ensuring they get their share of sunshine when our summer eventually brings us some. And protect them from the harm that a salty food intake and ready meals with insufficient nutrition can do to them. Read Fat Retention and the consequences of salty food, insufficient calcium and insufficient Vitamin D. Read also about Salt Intake and Child Health. You can read further about Vitamin D and its many health benefits by clicking on the labels beneath this blogpost.

Vitamin D deficiency in infants and nursing mothers carries long-term disease risks

Once believed to be important only for bone health, vitamin D is now seen as having a critical function in maintaining the immune system throughout life. The newly recognized disease risks associated with vitamin D deficiency are clearly documented in a report in the December issue (Volume 3, Number 4) of Breastfeeding Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., and the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.
Read article at physorg.com

Prednisone - Steroid-Induced Osteoporosis - Bones at risk!

Steroid-Induced Osteoporosis
Long-term use of prednisone could cost you the health of your bones.

I came across the website with the link above. It is very interesting and informative. Here you may read about steroids such as prednisone being prescribed to decrease inflammation during an acute flare-up of IBD. You may like to consider whether the potential harm from the prednisone is actually worth the relief of the inflammation. There is also information about statins and about risk factors in the formation of cataracts and the development of glaucoma.

If I had my time again, speaking for myself I'd avoid prescription drugs as though they were poison. - I'd put my trust in plenty of good nutritious food, no added salt and absolutely NO DIETING! But obviously we must all do what we think best.

I definitely don't recommend weak bones...)o: - I had a fall in August last year. - It wasn't a big fall but it made a real mess of my right arm, and delay in getting it operated on lost me the use of my right hand for months - and appalling pain - pain that hasn't gone... Guard your bones! - You won't get another set...

Calcium and vitamin D can help.

And you can also reduce the harm done by prednisone and other steroids by cutting out salt from your meals.

See Sodium in foods

and prescribed steroids and HRT

Study Finds Postmenopausal Women Still at Risk for Calcium and Vitamin D Deficiency

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body, contributing to muscle contraction, the secretion of hormones and enzymes, and colon cell health, helping control blood sugar and blood pressure and even helping recovery from thyroid surgery. However, the most well-known role for calcium is for bone health, since 99% of all the calcium in the body resides in the skeleton. But despite these known health benefits of calcium, particularly for bone health, a new study has found that most postmenopausal women are still at risk for both calcium and vitamin D deficiency.
Read article on the Natural Health Research Institute website (USA)