The other day I made a post that discussed the importance of Vitamin D, and how most people are Vitamin D deficient and need to get tested. I also spoke about how a big reason for this deficiency is due to people avoiding the sun, as well as wearing sunscreen all of the time.
Recently I read a book called “Diabetes Rising”, by Dan Hurley. In this book there is a chapter that focuses on some of the benefits of Vitamin D. Although it mainly focuses on how sufficient Vitamin D intake can prevent diabetes, the information it provides also leads me to believe that Vitamin D can also help to prevent an autoimmune thyroid disorder, and quite possibly help to restore the health of people with Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Here is one of the quotes from this chapter regarding Vitamin D:
“It’s a peacemaker in the immune system. It goes to where there’s an autoimmune attack, and will modulate or stop the attack.”
This statement alone is telling us that Vitamin D does more than just help prevent Diabetes. So for people with an autoimmune thyroid disorder, wouldn’t you agree that having a deficiency in a vitamin/steroid hormone that can help modulate or stop the body from attacking its own tissues can be a pretty big factor? In addition to helping prevent and/or cure people with these conditions, Vitamin D has been shown to help with other conditions as well, as here is another quote from the book:
“Cedric and Frank Garland “have since linked increased sun exposure, vitamin D levels, or both to dramatic reductions in the risk of cardiovascular disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia.”
So as you can see, increasing the amount of Vitamin D intake through sun exposure and/or supplementation can not only help with your current condition, but very well might prevent other serious conditions from developing in the future. And this isn’t just speculation, as if you visit the website I suggested in my previous post (www.vitamindcouncil.org), and read the book Diabetes Rising, you’ll see some of the research regarding Vitamin D.
In fact, one of the research studies from the book “Diabetic Rising” was from Finland, where 12,055 women who gave birth were surveyed as to how often they gave a Vitamin D supplement to their children. Thirty years later, a follow-up with the children was done with these people (by Danish researcher Elina Hypponen), and the goal was to compare their Vitamin D intake to their risk of getting type 1 diabetes. Here is what they found:
“Compared to their non-diabetic peers, those with diabetes were over eight times more likely to have never received Vitamin D. Even among those who were given the supplement regularly, the ones who received the recommended dose of 2,000 IU had about one-fifth the risk of developing type 1 as those who received less”. In other words, supplementing with Vitamin D had reduced children’s risk of diabetes by about 80%.”
I realize this is only one study, but there is another one in the same book that focuses on type 2 diabetes, as well as a few other studies. And of course these are just a small sample of the research studies done with regards to Vitamin D.
Now as far as I know, there has been no research study that has been conducted on people with an autoimmune thyroid disorder. And I’m not suggesting that Vitamin D deficiency by itself is THE cause of Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. And I’m definitely not saying that just correcting this deficiency alone will cure your disorder.
However, I think that the fact that more people are becoming Vitamin D deficient, and that the increasing rates of Graves’ and Hashimoto’s isn’t coincidental. In summary, one shouldn’t neglect a vitamin/steroid hormone that has been proven to play an important role in stopping the autoimmune response.
After all, while the book “Diabetes Rising” of course focuses on diabetes, let’s not forget that type 1 diabetes, like Graves’ Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, is an autoimmune condition. So disregarding these research studies just because they focus on a different condition would be unwise.
While receiving ample sun exposure and/or adequate supplementation alone probably won’t completely restore your health back to normal, in most individuals with an autoimmune thyroid disorder, it is an important piece of the puzzle. As I’ve discussed previously, there are numerous factors that are important when it comes to restoring one’s health, and addressing a Vitamin D deficiency can without question be an extremely important part of the recovery process.
I would tell my case how Vitamin D deficiency was detected. At first I was suffering from lip vitaligo, the Dermatologist wrote for Thyroid profile test and TSH value was too high. I was directed to an define endocrinologist. after meeting him and after few months, my TSH value became normal and he found out that Vitaligo is directly related to TSH.
As vitaligo is an autoimmune disease, he asked me to test for Antibody and antithyroid test which was negative. Then asked me to test for Vitamin D deficiency which was positive (7.3 ng/ml).
I hope that by bringing Vit D to sufficiency, my Vitaligo might reduce.
Correcting a vitamin D deficiency definitely can help with many conditions…especially those that involve the immune system. So you definitely want to get those levels above 50!
I can tell you that I had weight gain for years. I started when I was 7 years old. My siblings and I ate the same things and did the same physical activity, but for some reason I gained weight. For years, I had severe issues. Every time I would go to the Dr, they said something different. I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism and put on a small dosage. I stopped it mainly because it did not work. They re-tested me years later, and I found out later that the test was not correct, and they failed to find out that I had Hashimoto’s, even after they found a goiter. Okay, fast forwarding I t finally got pregnant, at the age of 34. NOT on MEDS. I informed my OB that I had a goiter and my levels were bad before. She said I was fine. I had my son, and then the real issues came. I thought I was going to die. My doc would not listen to me, and I told him I needed a thyroid uptake scan. He finally agreed. I stopped seeing him because he basically said I was making up all the pain and symptoms. A month later, I went into a clinic, and they checked that uptake scan, and sure enough I had issues with the thyroid gland. Found a new doctor and when tested my TSH was 82.3 and my T3 and T 4 were so low it was barely detectable. Long story short I am a month in, and on 88 of synthetic hormone. But, when I was barely on medications, I ended up in the Emergency room because the pain was too much to bare anymore. My carotene levels were 2300. They had me in the hospital and never told me why, but sent me home, saying I had a thyroid storm, even though I had only been on meds for a week. When I had received the Blood labs I noticed my Vit D was almost undetectable, and asked the DR to place me on some. Sure enough 3 weeks later I was almost rid of pain and my energy levels were better. I ran out for 4 days and the pain and symptoms came back. I truly believe what is helping is the vit d3 5000. Just wanted to share my story. SORRY so LONG though.