VITAMIN D – Hit or Myth

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Vitamin D Hit or Myth

Huh? It’s a hormone? Un-huh. Vitamin D is perhaps the single most underrated nutrient in the world of nutrition, in a class by itself. It is made in the skin, gets into your bloodstream and then goes into the liver and the kidney where it becomes activated as a key steroid hormone called Calcitriol. It then goes to the intestines, bones and other tissues, effecting metabolic pathways and the expression of myriad genes. Vitamin D’s active form can interact with almost every cell in the body directly or indirectly, targeting up to two thousand genes.

A Lot Stronger Than Just Strong Bones

Vitamin D is continuing to gain recognition for its role in optimizing health, proven to initiate a physiologic response in 36 tissues of the body.

Being deficient in Vitamin D is one of the best ways to sabotage your health. Vitamin D is involved in so many physiological functions and maintains our health in so many different ways that once you start to count its benefits, you might begin to wonder if there’s anything this fat-soluble vitamin doesn’t do. Here’s just a short list:

  • It fights disease
  • Reduces depression
  • Helps regulate blood sugar
  • Improves muscle function
  • Aids in brain development
  • Helps prevent skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema
  • Boosts weight loss
  • Prevents calcium build-up in the arteries
  • Plays a role in normalizing blood pressure
  • Even has anti-cancer effects (more about this later)

A Dose of D

Are you deficient in D? You can bet your health on it. So how much do you need to do all this amazing stuff? It’s tricky. Seems a lot of people have a lot of opinions. What’s too little? What’s too much? As a general rule, older people need more Vitamin D than younger people, large people need more that small people, fat people need more than skinny people, northern people need more than southern people, dark-skinned people need more than fair skinned people, winter people need more than summer people, sun-scared need more than sun worshipers, and ill people may need more than well people. The numbers never seem to add up.

It’s All in the Balance

Because Vitamin D is a hormone that plays numerous roles in your health, it must be treated as a hormone in getting the help your need. Few people view their vitamin D supplementation as hormone replacement therapy, but that’s exactly what it is. And what do you know about hormones? What does your regular doctor know about hormones? Most likely, not very much. What you need, is someone with serious hormone replacement experience. Someone who understands how delicate trying to balance the hormones in your body is. An expert who knows hormones inside and out, able to make you feel better inside and out. And in the Denver area, no one knows more than Dr. Stephen A. Goldstein MD, F.A.C.S. at Denver Hormone Health. With an in-depth consultation and simple tests, he can determine what D is doing to you. And do something about it.

Call for an appointment now.

Oh, a and stop throwing money away on supplements.

BEAR THIS IN MIND – LOST IN DEMENTIA

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Memory problems are usually the most obvious symptom in people with dementia. Forgetfulness is common. As a rule, the most recent events are the first forgotten. Events of the past are often remembered until the dementia is severe. As the disease progresses, the person may actually think they may be living in the past. They may have difficulty remembering names or finding words. They may appear to be asking questions all the time. Often the same ones. They can have trouble understanding what is said to them or understanding written information. Losing track of time is common, with them not knowing if it is morning, afternoon or evening. They can get lost easily and eventually not even be able to take care of their personal hygiene. They can forget to change their clothes, take their pills, shop, cook and even eat. They need a lot of help just to get through each day.

NOT JUST ABSENT MINDED, MIND ABSENT

Alzheimer’s is the most common, severe, and debilitating form of dementia, and what is most surprising is that it is not a normal part of aging. Up to 5 percent of people with the disease have early onset Alzheimer’s (also known as younger-onset), which often appears when someone is in their 40s or 50s. Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease, where dementia symptoms gradually worsen over a number of years. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, and for someone who knows someone with the disease, it is like losing them, even while they are still alive. It’s devastating. What’s not common knowledge is that it is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. The facts are staggering:

  • Someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s every 66 seconds
  • More than 5 million Americans live with it
  • More than 13 million are projected to have it by 2050

BRAIN DRAIN

Beyond the disorders we’ve discussed, The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes has estimated that more than 400 illnesses are caused by the brain. Below is just a partial list:

  • LUPUS
  • FIBROMYALGIA
  • LOW THROID
  • PARKINSONS
  • PMS
  • STROKES
  • MENINGITIS
  • HUNTINGTON’S DISEASE
  • BELL’S PALSEY
  • DYSLEXIA
  • NARCOLEPY
  • TJOURETTE SYNDROM
  • SHINGLES
  • EPILEPSY
  • TUMORS
  • ENCEPHALITIS
  • ANEURYSM
  • EPIDURAL HEMATOMA
  • MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS MS
  • ALS (LOU GEHRIG’S DISEASE
  • AUTISM

Consider yourself fortunate if you only get headaches.

DRAWING A BLANK?

What do you think of when you hear someone has “brain chemistry” health problems? Usually the answers are dire. But often, hormones are the cause for frightening symptoms like emotional distress, mood swings, depression, anxiety, irritability, extreme fatigue, and yes, even memory. Achieving hormone balance can often restore normality to these issues, offering relief instead of progressively worsening symptoms. And progressively worsening fear. With hormones, it’s all about balance. They can’t be too high, or too low. They have to be just right. Otherwise these imbalances can cause myriad health issues, including mental ones. It’s something you never want to forget. Which is why you should see Stephen A. Goldstein, M.D, F.A.C.S. at Denver Hormone Health. Few other experts in the Denver area have the advanced knowledge, expertise and experience he does in treating hormone-related problems. And few others care as deeply as he does in allaying your fears and giving you answers. Keep in mind that his one goal is to make his patients feel their very best. With simple tests, he’ll be able to tell how hormones are effecting how you feel, and create a uniquely dynamic, individual strategy to make you feel better, and think straighter. So, call now.

I’ll be a load off your mind.

BEAR THIS IN MIND – CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF FOG

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Of course, there’s the fuzz that comes as the result of a night of nonstop drinking. You wake up thinking, “what happened, what did I say, did I insult anyone, come on to anyone or act like a total jerk?”  Happens to everyone, sometimes without alcohol as the stimulus. Brain fog is an inability to really punch through. It’s a vague sense of what your brain is trying to retrieve, but you can’t focus on it. Brain fog can precede, accompany or follow an episode of nervousness, anxiety, fear and stress. The clouds just keep rolling in. The effort to harness those thoughts can be as draining as physical activity. It can mentally exhaust you, but fortunately, it’s temporary. Sounds simplistic, but just try to take it easy, and try to figure out where the anxiety is coming from. And quit the multitasking. Go into a temporary device shutdown. It is important to know that brain fog can be caused by other medical issues, so if it persists, see your doctor.

I’M SURE I REMEMBER WHERE I PUT IT 

Opps, there it is again. In the blink of an eye, you miss your exit, send an email to the wrong person, or forget what you went into the next room to grab.  These changes in your memory function could be a sign that your brain is on a gradual decline. Let’s take a look at what memory is. When an event happens, when you learn something, or when you meet someone, your brain determines whether that information needs to be saved. If your brain judges the information important, it places it in your memory “files.” Sometimes you label it wrong and file it in the wrong place. Many things can make this happen. Concussions; even from bike or skate board dumps, traumatic brain injury, abusing alcohol or drugs. Someone who has a memory problem will be unable to remember important things for varying lengths of time. The more severe the illness or injury, the longer the memory loss is likely to last. Some people forget just the moments right before and after an injury, which is not unusual with a concussion. Sometimes, these memories come back. At this point you really have to be alert as to what’s going on.

SENIOR MOMENTS AREN’T JUST FOR SENIORS

It’s typical for people to forget more things as they grow older. Actually, it has become part of our jargon to joke about having a “senior moment” no matter how old we are. And how many of us are “absentminded” from too much stimuli time to time? How many of us say “our minds were somewhere else at the minute”? Many people over the age of 60 have this common problem, and it is not dementia. For example, it tends to be harder to learn new skills the older you become, or you may more easily forget the names of people you have recently met. It is thought that the more you use your brain when you are older, the more it may counter the development of this age-related decline in memory function. So, doing things such as reading regularly, quizzes, crosswords, memorizing plays or poetry, learning new skills, etc., may help to keep your memory in good shape. “Use it or lose it” applies to every moving, functioning part of us. It’s not that we totally lose memories at this point, it’s just that we get a little more forgetful as our brains decline with age. Hey, there aren’t a lot of seniors doing triathlons as they get older, either.

IMPOSSIBLE TO FORGET

You’ve been racking your brain, wondering if something serious is going on. It seems that more and more, you can’t seem to remember things. The questions swirl in your head; “Do I have Alzheimer’s? Am I going to lose my mind?” It’ terrifying. We get it. But keep this is mind; just losing your memory isn’t always cause for panic. There is a definite link between hormone imbalances and what goes on in your thought processes. Just as hormones are the chemical messengers in the body telling your organs how to function, the brain is the master controller of the nervous system using chemicals called neurotransmitters to “talk” with itself. Neurotransmitters are the chemical messengers of the nervous system, made by nerve cells. Hormone balances are multi- factorial disorders, meaning they are caused by a combination of factors such as your diet, medical history, genetics, stress levels and exposure to toxins from your environment. Which means there is a lot that can go wrong. All of which can cause problems that mimic mental health issues. Well, keep this in mind; Stephen A. Goldstein, M.D, F.A.C.S. at Denver Hormone Health knows just where to start to get answers. With a few simple tests, he can determine if hormones are the issue, and if that’s the case, create a unique treatment plan which along with diet and exercise can put you back in a healthy frame of mind. Call now to see how he can help.

Without question.