Most readers of Second Opinion are not worried about getting pregnant. But what you are about to read is such an amazing medical breakthrough that I just have to tell you about it. And it could impact your life as well.
My colleague, John Cannell, MD, who runs the Vitamin D Council, recently told me a story that could give hope to the millions of people facing infertility. Ive told you many times in these pages that we have an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency. But you may not know that we also have an epidemic of infertility (up to 25% of couples). I always wondered if there might be a connection. Now we know there is!
Dr. Cannell told me about a letter he recently received from Darcy Hemstad, RN, BSN. She told him, Its nothing short of amazing. (I guess we do not need a large study to prove what we are seeing, it is across the board success.) Every one of our women (treated with vitamin D) has conceived that previously had difficulty. One was infertile for ten years, another for three years, and one had no cycles for three years, they all returned to full fertility within six weeks.
Many women with fertility disorders of every kind go on to develop breast, uterine and ovarian cancers. If her observation is correct, we have a clear link, and something that we can remedy easily. We know full well that vitamin D deficiency is linked to breast, prostate, and other cancers. It makes sense that this essential nutrient could affect infertility as well. After all, it is actually more of a hormone than a vitamin. So just because you are not going to have a baby, you still want to prevent cancer. And vitamin D can help.
This is an awesome observation, one that deserves mentioning to your family. I take vitamin D regularly, 10,000 units daily. Many of my patients take 5,000-10,000 units daily. This amount might seem like a lot, but it only brought my blood test level up from low normal to mid range. My personal target is in the upper third of the reference range.
Please have your vitamin D level checked on a yearly basis, even if you spend a lot of time in the sun. Vitamin D deficiency, a cause of so many possible problems, from cancer to osteoporosis to vascular disease, and now to infertility, is a totally preventable problem. You can order 5,000 unit tablets from Advanced Bionutritionals.