Dr. Glenn Huerta-Enochian assumed a poker face as a small group of women approached him in his office early last January. The Samaritan gynecologist was holding forth a cardboard box full of unmarked plastic prescription bottles; and each woman hesitated, almost as if she were embarking upon a game of chance, before carefully selecting a container that might hold either capsules of vitamin D or capsules of nothing but a placebo.
The women were the first of an expected 130 local patients, ages 18 to 65, to volunteer this year for a clinical research study on the effects of vitamin D on women’s well-being. For six weeks, each woman will take varying doses of vitamin D—or a placebo—to help determine if doses higher than what is currently recommended might help boost energy and concentration levels. In a more long-term analysis, this study may shed more light on the protective effects of vitamin D against diseases including breast and colon cancers, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
“We physicians see plenty of anecdotal evidence suggesting that enhanced levels of vitamin D positively affect energy, concentration, muscle strength and even restless leg,” said Huerta-Enochian, a physician with Samaritan Gynecology and Surgical Associates. “It may even play a role in diabetes, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, mood disorders and certain cancers. However, we need definitive studies to prove or disprove what we suspect.
“What we do know is that the current recommended levels of the vitamin are probably too low, Huerta-Enochian continued. “Those levels, 400 to 600 units a day, were set many years ago to prevent rickets; and more appropriate levels to optimize health might be as high as 1,000 to 2,000 units a day.”
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is synthesized in the skin when humans are exposed to ultraviolet B radiation from sunlight. Huerta-Enochian explained, however, that in northern climates—such as that of Oregon—the narrow angle of the sun’s rays does not allow for full (UVB) exposure.
Huerta-Enochian is collaborating with Rebecca Dunsmoor, a physician and statistician from the University of Washington, and with Mandi Hudson, a medical student from Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif., in conducting the research study. He will present his findings to medical practitioners of the Pacific Coast OB/GYN Society in 2009, as well as other area physicians. He also hopes to publish his findings in the American Journal of OB/GYN.
Current vitamin D recommendation
400 to 600 units a day
Research doses
1,000 to 2,000 units a day
Vitamin D may
- help boost energy
- increase concentration levels
- protect against breast and colon cancers, diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis
- increase muscle strength
- help ease restless leg
- play a role in diabetes, hypertension, multiple sclerosis and mood disorders