Lower Vitamin D Levels Linked To The Development Of Type 1 Diabetes
At a recent conference on Vitamin D, Frank Garland, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, presented research on the rate of type 1 diabetes in Finland. Prior to the 1960s Finland had normal rates of type 1 diabetes. Today, Finland has the world’s highest level of the disease. What changed?

It appears that it was the Vitamin D level recommended for infants. In 1964 the Finnish health authorities lowered the level of Vitamin D recommended for infants from 4500 IU to 2000 IU per day. This led to an increase in the type 1 rates. In 1974, they reduced the amount to 1000 IUs and the rate increased again. And in 1992, the rate was dropped to 400 IU and type 1 diabetes became epidemic in Finland showing a 400% increase from the 1950s.

According to Dr. Garland, Vitamin D is helping to maintain a barrier that keeps immune cells from attacking the pancreas. Without enough Vitamin D, these immune cells attack the insulin producing cells in the pancreas and destroy them. This leads to children developing type 1 diabetes.

The recommended daily dose of Vitamin D3 is: infants -1000 to 1800 IU, children ages 1 to 12 – 2000 IU and adults - 2000 to 4000 IU.

Why Vitamin D Supplements May Be Necessary
According to Dr. Joesph Mercola, we have a problem getting enough Vitamin D into our bodies. When we are out in the sun, we assume that Vitamin D is being immediately produced on your skin and it’s ready to be used in the body. Well, according to Dr. Mercola that is not the case at all. It takes 48 hours for the Vitamin D to be absorbed and start working in the body.

Mercola found that during that 48-hour absorption period washing with soap and water will remove the Vitamin D from the skin before it can be absorbed. Just running water on the body does not wash the Vitamin D away. Since we are an ultra hygiene-focused society, all those vigorous Zest showers (an old TV commercial) may be robbing you of your Vitamin D. Mercola’s recommendation is to wash the sensitive parts of the body every day (arm pits, groin, etc.) and wash the whole body every other day.

This also means that getting sun exposure just on your face and hands will do little good since you will wash your face several times a day and your hands even more frequently.   

Since you might be reluctant to not washing your whole body every day and you might be only getting sun shine on your face and hands, you may want to consider taking Vitamin D3 supplements. Remember, Vitamin D3 is absorbed better than Vitamin D.

Questions About The Group Setting Vitamin D Standards
As I have written before and also in the previous article, the list of diseases and illnesses helped by taking Vitamin D3 is growing longer and longer. A government board, appointed by the Institute of Medicine, sets the recommendations both for adequate intake and for upper levels of Vitamin D intake for the next decade. You’d expect the top Vitamin D researchers and clinicians to be appointed to the Vitamin D Food and Nutrition Board, so we could all benefit from their expertise. If you’d think that, it turns out that you’d be wrong. Not a single one of the scientists and researchers who have led the Vitamin D information revolution over the last 10 years was appointed.

Could this be another example of certain interests in the medical community attempting to manipulate outcomes? Just think, if Vitamin D3 is so effective, you might not have to take drugs to get rid of the illnesses caused by a lack of Vitamin D3. So…I wonder whose interests that might serve?

10 Reasons To Stay Away From Soda
A post on the Web site Squidoo listed 10 reasons to stay away from soft drinks. I decided to present this list to you because soda accounts for more than 25 percent of all drinks consumed in the U.S. This is a total of more than 15 billion gallons sold annually.
 

Soda is a significant contributor to obesity. A single can of soda a day equals more than a pound of weight gain every month and drinking diet soda may even raise the amount.
 

Soda damages your liver. Too many soft drinks raise your risk for liver cirrhosis.

Soda may interfere with the body’s ability to process sugar. This may help to explain the epidemic of type 2 diabetes.
 

Heavy consumption of soda is a strong predictor of heartburn due to the acidity of the beverage. The carbon dioxide in soda can also cause distension of your stomach.
 

Soda can weaken your bones leading to osteoporosis by lowering the calcium levels and increasing the phosphate levels in your blood.
 

Excessive soda consumption may lead to high blood pressure.

Drinking sodas on an empty stomach can upset the acid-alkaline balance in your stomach which may lead to inflammation of your stomach and duodenal lining.
 

It seems the reason soda is linked to all the items on this list is because of all the high fructose corn syrup that soda contains. So…please pass the...water or tea!

Communicate With Family & Friends Online When Someone Becomes ILL
A friend of mine recently became very ill. The way her daughter decided to communicate with all of Judy’s friends was by using a Web site called Caring Bridge. It’s a free personalized Web site where you can keep family and friends updated about the person’s condition, treatment and hopefully recovery.

Rather than sharing the same story about what happened to Judy over and over again to everyone who calls, interested folks can now read all the information posted on this Web site. This allows the caregiver more time for giving care directly to the person. All Judy’s daughter had to do, besides enter the updates, was send an e-mail out directing everyone to this site. To learn more about this site, go to www.caringbridge.org.

Exciting Recognition From The Meetings Industry
The quality of my keynotes and seminars has been recognized recently by the meetings industry as I was selected to speak at the Professional Convention Management Association’s (PCMA) Annual Convention in January.   I’ve also spoken at the American Society of Association Executives’(ASAE) Great Ideas Conference and will be speaking at the ASAE Annual Convention on Increasing Your Leadership Power To New Levels of Excellence. The Canadian Society of Association Executives has also invited me to speak at their annual convention.

Finally, PCMA has designated me as a “Best-in-Class” speaker because of the quality of the experience I have previously given their members. Pretty cool…So, if you need a speaker, call Sandra Lee in my office and talk to her about matching your needs with my expertise. Call her at 800-77-RELAX.

Possible Solutions For Controlling and Killing MRSA
MRSA is a very serious drug-resistant infection that is untreatable with most antibiotics and can cause death. Hospital and nursing homes are the main breeding grounds for this disease. In 2005 there were 100,000 cases of MRSA leading to 18,600 deaths. This is a very dangerous super bug and it’s spreading.

Researchers at Cook Institute of Technology tested a group of 300 strains of staphylococci, which included MRSA, using extracts of the Irish wildflower (Inula helenium). The researchers found that the plant was 100% effective against MRSA.

In a study published in the British Journal of Community Nursing, which reviewed other studies evaluating the benefits of tea tree oil, it was found that tea tree oil was very effective in stopping MRSA.

Questions About The Validity Of Medical Research
The government’s General Accounting Office (GAO) decided to investigate the validity of medical trials supervised by for-profit organizations to see whether they are doing an adequate job. The GAO created a fake medical study of a fake product and submitted it to several firms for the firms to supervise these trials. Two firms turned the studies down. The third, Coast IRB, accepted the study. This has led Coast IRB, at the request of the FDA, to voluntarily halt many of its review operations, which could interrupt up to 300 medical trials.

This situation raises concern about the safety of volunteers in clinical trials as well as the objectivity of the results that are presented to the FDA. If this company can’t tell the difference between a real study and a fake study, it could mean that there is something rotten in the medical community.

That's it for this month! 

The result is a work force that is more positive, effective, focused, energized and more productive. He is an author of four books and has been interviewed on over 200 radio stations. He speaks and consults in the areas of Stress Management, Management and Leadership Training, Sales Development and Brain Integration.  

Dr. Teplitz' dynamic, educational and entertaining keynotes and seminars have a long-term impact on performance enhancement and productivity. For more detailed information on Dr. Teplitz' programs, to read a free monthly article, or to find the monthly Teplitz Email Reports visit http://linkbee.com/TeplitzReports