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Lately I have musing on the relationship between vitamin and mineral deficiencies and ill health.
Having watched my mum struggle badly with glaucoma surgery, I was also looking for natural preventatives/treatments for that. So when I skimmed an article that claimed a miraculous cure from glaucoma and cataracts by high supplements of vitamin A, I was interested.
A bit more research indicates that not only eyes, but also asthma can be impacted by vitamin A. Today I found this 2002 study that shows rats get colitis if they are vitamin A deficient. There are a bunch of other studies on the subject as well, but most of them are seriously technical.
So why don't doctors do a full vitamin and mineral study for those of us with hard to diagnose or chronic health issues?
I've never had a doctor volunteer to do a vitamin or mineral test. Ever. Yet they tell us that good nutrition is essential for health. I guess it just isn't part of the approved protocols.
Maybe next time I see my GP I'll ask her about it.
Just a reminder, there is also a correlation between vitamin D and IBDs.
Docs should do a test for vitamins and minerals. I had to ask to have my B12, Vit D and Folate checked. Folate was good, but was severly deficient in B12 and D. I have a B12 shot once a month now, and take 2,000 iu's of D daily.
Docs aren't trained in vitamins and don't worry about it until your blood test comes back with a severe deficiency.
My doc said he has patients come to him with Alzheimer's symptoms, and he told me that most of the time they are severly deficient in B12.
I have not had my Vit A checked, but here is what it is good for:
Vitamin A has a number of important functions. For example it:
•helps maintain the health of skin and mucus linings (in the nose for example)
•helps strengthen immunity from infections
•helps vision in dim light
Lyn wrote:So why don't doctors do a full vitamin and mineral study for those of us with hard to diagnose or chronic health issues?
Probably because vitamins and minerals are available OTC, so they wouldn't need to write a prescription, even if they found anything out of line, and that would be a frustrating experience for them.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
My B12 shots were given at my Doc's office for the first 3 months. I was so low, I had to have a shot every week for 6 weeks and then 2x a month and now once a month. B12 tests normal now. He prescribes the B12, and I give myself the injections once per month. I have been doing this for 2 years.
Also, D was so low, Doc wrote me a script for 90,000iu's, once per week for 12 weeks. My D level improved, but is still low, so he told me to take 2,000iu's a day, which I buy OTC.
Note that I cannot eat beef or dairy, so I am sure this is why I am so deficient in these vitamins.
At 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day, you will probably lose ground, especially in the winter. I take 4,500 IU daily, most of the year, and 2,500 IU during the summer, and I spend a lot of time working in the sun, including the mid-day hours, and I live about 125 miles south of Dallas. My 25(OH)D level was decent, but not as high as I thought it should be, the last time I had it checked.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Lyn i have been meaning to reply to this for a while...
Functional type tests of vitamins and minerals are available, of course they are not subsidised by Medicare, i have the referral signed by the doctor for the tests i would like to have done and the range of tests would cost me over $1,000 AUD. At this point i dont have that moula. I would still like to do them and that will be dependant on finding the right doctor and me having the spare moula.
As Tex mentions, these tests would show issues that in most cases could be resolved with diet or good quality vitamins. (mmmm maybe this why the lab is not subsidised by medicare....)
This situation is one of my major gripes. I am trying to be pro-active about my health and wellness so i can minimise health issues later in life, If i dont then in my old age i might well be a burdon on the medical system.
Currently there is no incentive for me to do that. Half the tests i am requesting to have done to monitor my health (such as bone density etc) will not be subsidised until I turn 50. If I wait for when the tests are subsidised it may well be too late to correct the issue.
again with this, the issue that in published docs, and that a substantial number of Specialists and GP's believe that this condition is only recognised in 'mostly females over the age of 50' so hence any of the linked health issues, and tests required are not considered necessary until i turn 50.....
IMO - Self management and making sure you have a doctor who 'gets it' is crucial for the long term management of your health and attaining wellness when you have MC.
Gabes Ryan
"Anything that contradicts experience and logic should be abandoned"
Dalai Lama
Lyn thats a good note. I have been struggling for a while to get my vitamin D and A levels back to the acceptable range. At one point a little over a year ago my vitamin D level was 2! I will be having my vitamin D level checked again later this month after taking 7k IUs of vitamin D for the last 6 weeks. I think m Crohns has been affecting vitamin absorption.
Gabes wrote:If I wait for when the tests are subsidised it may well be too late to correct the issue.
You've pinpointed the main problem with the health care system, all over the world, (not just the medical industry, but the part that governments play, as well). They talk about preventative medicine, but most of their recommendations for diet, etc., are wrong, so they end up promoting disease, instead. They do pretty well at diagnosing and treating disease, though, after it develops, so that's what they choose to concentrate on, (and that's where the money is, not just for the hospitals, but for the pharmaceutical industry, as well).
It's mighty frustrating.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Visit the Microscopic Colitis Foundation Website
