Eczema and Asthma/Vit D

U K  Dad seeks help from Vit-D Council for Baby

Vitamin D Council

10/30/2010

Hi Dr. Cannell:I have a few questions which I hope to you will be able to help me God willing: 

Firstly, My wife is currently breast feeding our first child who is a 5 months old girl and she has is currently suffering from a very, VERY common condition called eczema or atopy, which seems to be affecting almost all new born babies and toddlers in the UK.  She also has asthma, which is getting worse. My wife has cut out everything from her diet that it is typically linked to the causes of atopy and she is currently taking vitamin tablets which the NHS in the UK give out free to all women who are pregnant and are breast feeding the content of each tablet is as follows:

Vitamin D              10 ug (400 IU)
Vitamin C              70 mg
Folic acid (Folacin) 400 ug

and we are currently giving our daughter ‘Children Vitamin drops’ which we instructed to give 5 drops and the 5 drops contain in total:

Vitamin A     233 ug (700 IU)
Vitamin C      20 mg
Vitamin D     7.5 ug (300 IU)

Now would this amount be enough for both mother and baby’s Vitamin D level and could there be a link between the eczema/asthma and Vitamin D level?

Secondly, I myself suffer from eczema for a long time since about 2003 and I am 30 years old now. It has been on and off and it especially flares up in winter indifferent places on the body, I have generally managed to control it by watching what I eat especially at winter, now I have read quite a lot from your website and as far as i can understand that i should be taking 1000 IU of Vitamin D for every 25 pounds of body weight and as for the blood test I should take that after 8 weeks of starting the Vitamin D supplement.

Thank you for reading my rather long email but I am learning to avoid that winter fatigue and maybe find out if I can get rid of a few other problems for myself and loved ones.

Thank you

Geoffrey Bingham
Birmingham UK

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Dear Geoffrey:

Eczema is a form of atopy, a disease characterized by a tendency to be “hyper-allergic.”   A patient with atopic allergies often has atopic eczema or atopic dermatitis since infancy and asthma as they grow older. Atopic eczema is an extremely itchy skin condition with a hallmark rash that can involve almost every region of the body. Crusty, scaly, flattened, reddened lesions of atopic eczema can appear almost everywhere, but are worse in certain areas or after exposure to certain irritants (e.g., allergenic soap, freshly cut lawns).

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The single most important feature associated with atopic eczema lesions is that they are extremely itchy, and the itch can occur even before the lesions erupt on the skin and are visible. The itchiness often leads to secondary infections.

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Atopy and asthma has a complicated relationship to vitamin D with some studies showing vitamin D, especially cod liver oil in infancy, making eczema worse in later life. However, one would be silly to stay vitamin D deficient, and all that entails, on the chance your eczema will not worsen. Furthermore, in my experience atopy, including asthma, will slowly improve with physiological doses of vitamin D. Like asthma, eczema can become life-threatening if infection occurs. Such infections are thought to be secondary to reductions in the skin of naturally occurring antibiotics, such as cathelicidin.

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Recently, Dr. Tissa Hata and a group at UC San Diego conducted a randomized controlled trial that demonstrated a remarkable seven-fold increase in skin cathelicidin after adult eczema subjects were given 4,000 IU per day for 21 days.  Hata TR, et al. Administration of oral vitamin D induces cathelicidin production in atopic individuals. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2008 Oct;122(4):829-31.

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Even more important, Dr. Urashima and colleagues at the Jikei University School of Medicine in Japan conducted a randomized placebo controlled trial of young teenagers and found that those with asthma were much less likely to have an attack if they were on vitamin D. Asthma attacks are not an uncommon cause of death among children. They also found that vitamin D significantly reduced the risk of influenza A, which can be much more severe in asthmatics. Urashima M, et al. Randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation to prevent seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren.   Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 May;91(5):1255-60.

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Geoffrey, both you and your baby need to stop all vitamin A supplements, as they will interfere with the vitamin D, and begin taking vitamin D; your infant needs 1,000 IU/day and you need 5,000 IU per day. I wish I could tell you the eczema will rapidly disappear; it will not. However, over a period of several years I predict both the eczema and asthma will slowly improve. More importantly, both you and your infant will have a decreased likelihood of getting a secondary infection in both your skin and your lungs.

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John Cannell, MD

The Vitamin D Council

1241 Johnson Ave., #134

San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Acetaminophen: the Killer Painkiller

Alliance for Natural Health-usa

Acetaminophen: the Killer Painkiller

March 30, 2010

The active ingredient in the painkillers Tylenol, Anacin and Panadol was the focus of a recent analysis of 19 studies of 425,000 children and adults treated with acetaminophen in the past year. Children given acetaminophen were 60 percent more likely to suffer from asthma, while adults who had taken the drug were 75 percent more likely to experience asthma. According to a University of British Columbia-Vancouver review published in the journal Chest, higher doses translated to a greater risk of asthma.

The March 2010 issue of the American Journal of Medicine contained an analysis of data from 26,000 men, participants in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Researchers at Harvard University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Vanderbilt University, and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, determined that men younger than 60 who used acetaminophen were 61 percent more likely to experience hearing loss. Studies appearing in the journal Drug Safety have linked acetaminophen to adverse vision events.

The U.S. Acute Liver Failure Study Group found that acetaminophen poisoning is the leading cause of liver failure in the nation, associated with nearly 50 percent of all liver failure. The Life Extension Foundation has also sounded the alarm about acetaminophen and liver damage.

With 70-75 million prescriptions written annually, acetaminophen is the most commonly prescribed class of drugs in the United States. It is blamed for 56,000 injuries, 25,000 hospitalizations and 450 deaths. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been aware of this situation for decades. As early as 1977, the agency warned about acetaminophen and liver damage. The FDA Advisory Review Panel noted that exceeding the recommended dosage or (please note the or) taking acetaminophen for more than 10 days puts the patient at risk of liver damage. A suggestion that pharmacists distribute information explaining the risks of this drug has fallen on deaf ears at the FDA.

A study published in the journal Arthritis Care and Research cautioned that adverse reactions to acetaminophen not only affect patients’ quality of life, they also impose substantial economic burdens on society. Given all that we know now, how can the FDA remain silent about acetaminophen?

Susan Grant says:

March 30, 2010 at 6:19 pm

Did you know that there are many people who are allergic to Ibuprofen and aspirin and they could potentiallyt kill many more people in the population at large. Sometimes no matter how consistent a person is with natural or homeopathic painkillers, they do not work. It is a matter of moderation in usage! With any product, moderation and mindfulness are VERY important!

Ibuprofen and the associated anti inflammatory drugs can and do cause heart attacks.

If you have osteoarthritis and have tried almost all the herbal and homeopathic and nutritional products and good diet and you still have the basic problem of intense pain, you have to use something. Most of the painkillers have either ibuprofen, asprin or acetaminophen with the painkiller. Unfortunately, sometimes we have to use something, when it gets that bad then thank goodness, they are still available. All of the above for the different individuals.

Reply

• Les says:

  April 2, 2010 at 8:55 pm

  Susan, Pain like that is hard to take. While there are people that experience that kind of pain, many can do well with combinations of Boswellia, ginger, tumeric, upping omega 3 levels, dietary changes and other strategies. For those that suffer severe pain, might it be better to be treated with small amounts of narcotic under a pain manager than to use a hepatotoxin chronically? I have patients that have really improved the quality of their lives with almost no side effects with very small doses of narcotics to reduce the noxious input.

stan alderson says:

March 30, 2010 at 6:25 pm

please send alternatives, my daughter suffer from migraines, much like her mother. what is safe

Reply

• Caroline says:

  April 1, 2010 at 2:46 pm

  Try acupuncture which really does work to get rid of pain and headaches. Also, check the diet. I found I as allergic to cinnamon and it gave me migraines. Many times, if a person is very emotional – anger, frustration, stressed – these bring on migraines as well. As a health consultant, many times a complete calcium/magnesium/manganese/vitamin D/iron/copper can rid us of a headache brought on by stress or overdoing. These have worked work for many over the years. Drink water! the brain needs it too, and cut down on sugars and carbs because the body can only handle so much junk and then rebels. Exercise helps too.

  Reply
• Les says:

  April 2, 2010 at 9:01 pm

  Is it safe to assume you have had a multi-disciplinary workup with multiple trials of care, including: Acupuncture
  Chiropractic
  myoascial release
  dietary counseling

(It is so hard for me to remain silent on this issue when I have found relief for my occasional pains and problems with the use of EFT.  Sorry, those of you familiar with this blog already know that.  I would urge anyone suffering with chronic pain or any kind of pain including emotional [sadness, anger, resentment, grief frustration – anything],  to at least check it out.  You’ve got nothing to lose and it is free if you want to learn how to do it.  Children can learn this as it is simple and not complicated.  At the top right of my blog in the “pages” section, one can find the ABC’s of EFT and of course there are a number of other posts dealing with EFT as well. My hero, founder of EFT, Gary Craig has closed down the newsletter being unable to any longer do all the day to day stuff to keep it going.   But over the last couple of decades he has given it out to the world offering the free download of the manual at http://www.emofree.com   I do not think there are any more videos available, only the free visuals set up there.  But even to see the invitational video is a delight and imparts what it is about.

I am no specialist on EFT, but I use it and have shared it with many who would allow it.  I would be happy to discuss more fully to interested individuals.     Jan)