Thanks to all of our subscribers who helped us connect with over one million YouTube viewers from around the world to experience the wonders of waterbirth! Many thanks to Yves and all those involved with the documentary “Waterbirth in the 21st Century” and much appreciation for allowing us to show short clips of these most amazing waterbirths.

Need a good video channel to quickly bring your clients up to speed? Have your clients take a look at:  http://www.youtube.com/user/pregnancysecrets

The Canadian Childbirth Association is holding another fundraiser on September 20th and 21st, 2011. We are in the midst of assembling our dream team of very important volunteers. If you are in the Calgary and can give us a hand for a shift or two we would be very grateful to have your assistance. With this fundraiser we will continue our project of providing childbirth books and films to the Central Alberta Aboriginal Reserves. We have had wonderfully positive feedback from our first stage in this fundraiser and are looking forward to seeing more positive results with healthier mothers and babies.

Please call or write me if you can assist with our CCA fundraiser in the fall. We would love to have you come out!

Thanks for all that you do for our moms and babies!!

Best wishes,
Gail
Gail J. Dahl
Award Winning – National Bestselling Author and Childbirth Researcher
National Bestselling “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets”
Executive Director, Innovative Publishing Incorporated
Founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Childbirth Association

http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets

http://www.youtube.com/user/pregnancysecrets

http://twitter.com/childbirth2020

http://gaildahl.wordpress.com

Gail J. Dahl is a childbirth researcher, award winning and national bestselling author. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Childbirth Association. Dahl has received many awards, including  “The YWCA Woman of Distinction Award”, “The Woman of Vision Award” and “The Great Women of the 21st Century Award” for her contributions toward women’s health and education.

Copyright 2011, Copyright released with references if the article is to be used for the purpose of childbirth education. “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets” by National Bestselling Author Gail J. Dahl. Available across North America at our major book stores. For more great secrets see the website at:  http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets. The information contained in or provided through this publication is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be, and is not provided as, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your midwife, physician or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment or for answers to any questions you may have regarding any medical condition.

Secrets – Childbirth Education in the Classroom 2011

The Canadian Childbirth Association is requesting community support from university faculty members, teachers, physicians, midwives, childbirth professionals, nurses, doulas, students, mothers and grandparents to support childbirth education in the classroom across Canada and the United States. Please email your comments of support and forward this message on.

The Canadian Childbirth Association would like your support for childbirth education in the classroom. If you would like to see pregnancy and childbirth information provided for our young women and men starting from Grade 4 and continuing to Grade 12 in our public school system, please comment below. Thanks for your support and for helping us make this important health information available.

Your Comments:            Send to gaildahl at shaw.ca

Many thanks,  Gail J. Dahl,  Award Winning, National Bestselling Author, “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets”,  Founder and Executive Director of The Canadian Childbirth Association

Thanks for all of the wonderful letters of support sent in already. Here is a sample of some of your comments and support received so far that have been forwarded to the school boards who have requested community support:

Hi Gail,  I really like getting your “secrets”.  I would love to see childbirth education introduced into middle and high school health classes!  I’m glad to be informed of the progress.
Warmly,
Ellen Derby CD(DONA) CLC LMT
315-462-3394
www.birthandmothersmilk.com

We birth the way we live.  Educating our youth about birth and the role it plays in our lives is a powerful way  of preparing women and men for parenthood and the opportunity and challenges this creates in our lives.  Age appropriate information will help overcome the fear and incorrect information that our culture and the media puts forth.  Our perceptions and beliefs about childbirth that we form at an early age will have an impact on how we approach pregnancy and birth and thus  on the health and well being of the next generation.  I strongly support The Canadian Childbirth Association to provide education to young women and men starting in Grade 4 – 12th.  This is where the seeds of knowledge of the power and possibilities about birth and women’s bodies and abilities should begin.

Debra Pascali-Bonaro, LCCE, CD(DONA), PCD(DONA)
www.motherlovedoulas.com
Chair International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative, www.imbci.org
DONA International Doula/ Doula Trainer
Lamaze International Childbirth Educator
Join the discussion  http://www.facebook.com/obirth
www.organicbirthmovie.com

As a birth doula who serves mostly women of higher socioeconomic backgrounds in the U.S., I find it very frustrating that most women do not give a moment’s thought to giving birth until they become pregnant. By that point, many years of (often inaccurate) portrayals of birth in the media have already shaped a woman’s perception of birth. Sometimes, women come to realize only after their first children are born how their own beliefs and actions can influence the way they give birth. I would love to see birth become an accepted part of a curriculum for both girls AND boys, thus providing both a more realistic picture of birth and also enabling women (and men) to make choices about the births of their children. I hope Gail is successful in Canada and would love to see the cause taken up in the U.S. as well.

Audrey Kalman CD(DONA)
Certified Birth Doula, Educator, and Lactation Counselor
www.peninsulabirthcompanions.com

It’s a “No Brainer” and just simply makes GOOD sense to educate young people about sex, pregnancy, birth, circumcision and parenting before they have to make choices or assumptions about those things in those unplanned situations where they make choices based on external circumstance – which is really no good for our society.

One of my passions, that stem from my passion in midwifery,  is to give talks to junior high and senior high students about such things.  I believe it is very important!

Thanks for asking.
Lonnie Drury HBE

I would love to see and be a part of this! I have been invited to teach on the topic many times for high schools as a special topic.  I spent three years teaching Sex Education before becoming a Doula and CBE. I really miss the teen audiences!

Lisa Wass B.Ed,

Certified Labour Doula Trainer for CAPPA
Student Midwife
Prenatal Educator

Basic childbirth, and best practices parenting and child development information should be a mandatory part of every child’s education.
Judy Arnall, Speaker and Author
Parenting Speaker, Trainer and Bestselling Author
NEW DVD! Plugged-In Parenting: Connecting with the Digital Generation for Health, Safety and Love
Order your copy today!

http://www.professionalparenting.ca

403-714-6766

I would very much like to see this information provided in  schools, starting in grade 4 would be excellent. As a grandmother, I grew up in the age where sex was never discussed. I raised my five children the same way. They had to find out about their bodies the hard way. Today, there is still denial and shame in homes, children are not taught how to respect their own bodies, and how to understand the language of sex. Therefore,sex education in schools at an early age is necessary as most parents are not equipped to handle this subject.

Jollean Sandwell Schantz, Grandmother

Yes, as we can see the children are not getting the info needed as there are so many pregnancies with teenagers. I was very surprised to see daycares in high schools.  Good for the Moms and Babies but hopefully something could be done so that would not be necessary. Also so many STDs and if they have to info they will know how to avoid getting and what to do if it happens.

Thank you,
Kathy Dahl, Mother

So many of our young clients have had no-one in their lives to guide or direct them about sexuality  / childbirth issues. I support the childbirth educators and their team in their endeavors to promote this crucial health information.

Alice Williams, Midwife

RE: THE IMPORTANCE OF CHILDBIRTH AND FAMILY STUDIES EDUCATION INCLUDED FOR K TO GRADE 12 STUDENTS CLASSES

BY HILDA H. DAHL, BHE, MEd, RESEARCHER, AUTHOR, EDUCATOR, CROSS CULTURAL ELDER, GRANDMA (WISDOM WOMAN), RECIPIENT OF AN EAGLE FEATHER (the highest award given to a Non- First Nation’s Canadian in BC) and a Citizen with a polio condition since “birth” in the first 9 days of my life,1944).

Family studies supports childbirth education as one part of the umbrella focus. The homeless women I am meeting in Victoria are now saying at their mid twenties to fifties the following: We wish we would have studied harder in our junior and senior high school classes as they don’t have the family and childbirth skills and information. Their children are put into foster homes soon after birth, they don’t have enough economic wealth to survive as solo parents, after an early divorce with two or three preschooler, the inept under educated family studies fathers may get the two or three children with a second or third marriage and the real mother may not see these children until they have grown into their adult years. It makes me weep in disgust how these children are caught in an unfortunate family situation.

A pilot  women’s studies course also had elements of childbirth education and family studies here in Victoria BC. The homeless women also expressed their loss of not being able to have studied this information in their high school years. Educate a woman, a mother, a daughter, a grandmother and great aunt and we can educate the generations to come in the future, for sure. Women carry and nurture our boys and girl babies to the next generation on and on and on!!

To summarize, we all need to become more involved in our past, present and futures as relates to our population. Children need guidance at all levels of their growing up times so that a balance is maintained that they do not fall into sexual experiences before they can cope with the parental consequences. A lack of feminine input needs to addressed so that the economics fosters opportunities for dual male and female input into how our collective future is played out successfully in every way. I welcome feedback, and opportunities of consultant work. I can be reached at (250) 480-5927 here in Victoria BC. Professionally submitted,

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,300 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 8 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 11 posts. There were 2 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 2mb.

The busiest day of the year was December 22nd with 35 views. The most popular post that day was Pregnancy Book Banned!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were obama-scandal-exposed.co.cc, student-loan-consilidation.com, android-vs-ipad.co.cc, statistics.bestproceed.com, and facebook.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for mother and baby, childbirth, vitamin d3 and pregnancy, baby and mother, and executive woman.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Pregnancy Book Banned! November 2010
1 comment

Secrets- Vitamin K2 and Pregnancy March 2010
1 comment

Secrets – Vitamin D3 and Pregnancy April 2010

Female Sexual Castration – Birth Control Drugs April 2010
2 comments

Drug Free Childbirth April 2008

Higher daily doses of vitamin D lower risk of preterm births: study

Sharon Kirkey, Canwest News Service: Saturday, May 1, 2010

A new study found that women taking 4,000 international units of vitamin D daily — 10 to 20 times the dose the leaders of Canada’s pregnancy specialists currently recommend — had half the risk of premature delivery than women who took just 400 IU of vitamin D daily.
Photo Credit: Ted Rhodes, Canwest News Service
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All pregnant women should take 4,000 international units of vitamin D daily — 10 to 20 times the dose the leaders of Canada’s pregnancy specialists currently recommend — to lower their risk of preterm labour, preterm birth and infections concludes the first study to investigate the safety of high doses of vitamin D during pregnancy.

The study found that women in its 4,000-IU-a-day group had half the risk of premature delivery than women who took just 400 IU of vitamin D daily.

Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn deaths in Canada.

And “not a single adverse event” related to vitamin D dosing was found during the study — as U.S. researchers will report Saturday at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Vancouver.

Read it on Global News: Higher daily doses of vitamin D lower risk of preterm births: study

Vitamin D3 Update:

I am continuing with the daily 50,000 IU’s of Vitamin D3 in addition to my other supplements that include Omega 3/6/9 Oils, Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin K2, and Vitamin CoQ10 that feed the brain and heart. Wow, I had such amazing results for the first thirty days on the Vitamin D3 program, that I have decided to continue for the next thirty days. Certainly I am experiencing greater mental clarity and ability, more energy and stamina, reduction of pain and inflammation and as well the complete elimination of low level depression.

Stayed tuned to the next e-newsletter where I will explain how I lost 14 inches from my body in the past 30 days. Hard to believe? I am totally amazed as well. This is definitely the program for those who hate to diet and dislike exercise even more. This is a fun program that is low cost, easy to start at any level and you will in a short time begin to see daily results as your body fires up its metabolism. Can’t wait to see my results on this after 60 days.   Best wishes, Gail

Gail J. Dahl
Award Winning – National Bestselling Author and Childbirth Researcher
National Bestseller “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets”
National Bestseller “Pregnancy & Childbirth Tips”
Executive Director, Innovative Publishing Inc.
Founder and Director of the Canadian Childbirth Association

http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets

http://www.youtube.com/gaildahl

Gail J. Dahl is a childbirth researcher, award winning and national bestselling author. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Childbirth Association. Dahl has received many awards, including  “The YWCA Woman of Distinction Award”, “The Woman of Vision Award” and “The Great Women of the 21st Century Award” for her contributions toward women’s health and education.

Copyright 2010, Copyright released with references if the article is to be used for the purpose of childbirth education. “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets” by National Bestselling Author Gail J. Dahl. Now available across North America at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Chapters and Indigo Books & Music. For more great secrets see the website at:  http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets. The information contained in or provided through this publication is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be, and is not provided as, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your midwife, physician,  or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment or for answers to any questions you may have regarding any medical condition.

Shortly after our last e-newsletter on the health dangers of the newest birth control pills, I had the opportunity to speak at length with Jody McLaughlin, who has now logged in over thirty years in the birth industry. It was wonderful to hear of her observations of women over the past thirty years. In our conversation, Judy called the birth control pill, “female castration”, and she said it was causing a generation of our young women to be dumbed down intellectually, emotionally and sexually. I agree, this is exactly what is happening to our young women.

Since we began taking the birth control pill, we no longer have young women protesting or advocating for change. University rallies rarely last for more than a few hours. Colleges and universities know that they can easily double tuition fees and have little backlash to deal with. Wars, started and never ended because women have lost their ability to speak up, or so few are willing to. Chemical castration causes one to lose their drive and ambition in life, something that has been known for centuries.

The pill did not provide women with freedom, instead it has muffled us and stripped us of our female sexuality and sensuality. Stealing the best out of us, our drive and ambition. I believe the pill has become a prison for the modern young woman. All doors out of this chemical prison are locked or just lead more deeply within, each room providing different formats of the same female castrating drugs.

Some our young men are complaining that today’s young women have nothing to say past gossip, display little ambition, they are difficult to arouse and quite frankly, boring in bed. That is how a young woman would behave after her sex drive was chemically removed. And because the pill takes away our keen sense of scent, women are choosing the wrong partners when they are on birth control and realize this too late, once they stop the pill and their ability to smell increases. The young women then complain that now their guy smells different. Liking the scent of your partner, sweaty or clean, is what draws us sexually to our partners.  Young women are also losing their drive and ambition just at the moment that they need everything at their command to complete their higher education and begin their new career.

Taking the pill at a too young age, before the age of 25, can leave a legacy of infertility in later years. Undiscovered sexually transmitted diseases along with too early and long term use of chemical birth control is the foundation of the tremendous rise in infertility we are seeing in our North American society today. Young women taking some of the new birth control dugs are finding their period goes away and either doesn’t come back for years or perhaps not at all, stealing their fertility and their future.

Additional physical complaints from chemical birth control include depression, mood swings, frequent headaches, bloating, lack of energy, weight gain, lung clots, pancreatitis, risk of heart attacks, strokes, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, gallbladder complications and other life-threatening health problems. Don’t believe that today’s birth control pills are “safer” than they were when we were growing up, they are much, much more dangerous today. Does a bright young woman you know exhibit feelings of hopeless, lack of energy, depression, lack of desire to get ahead, cloudy thinking and mood swings? Is she mostly “down” instead of “up”? These are the young women also at risk for numerous addictions used in order to attempt to chemically feel better.

Looking back I can see that I started the pill at a too young age. At that time you were on the pill whether you were actually having sex or not. If there was any sexual activity it was certainly sporadic and rarely occurred more than a few times a year. I was continually going on and off the pill and having my prescription changed to another drug due to the multitude of side effects I was experiencing. I finally gave up using all chemical birth control and began to study my personal fertility cycle and and use barrier methods during fertility only. This difference in my ability to move forward in my career and my ability to get things done increased tremendously after I stopped taking the pill. Depression lifted and life just began to look differently allowing me to take great strides forward in my life.

Still chemical birth control free and have been since the birth of my daughter. Now, I can see what was happening to me in my twenties and why. I much prefer my sexuality intact and will not be doing anything to stop my cycles. I am happy to have my cycle to the very, very, last, last day. I recently spoke with a sexual health expert and now I understand the importance of my cycles for maintaining my optimum health as a woman. This expert had forecast long before the tremendous damage that could occur when a woman’s cycle is stopped or altered chemically.

Our daughters should not be graduating school without completing a program in Science or Health on tracking her own personal fertility cycle. The recent book, “Cycle Savvy” and “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” by Toni Weschler are excellent guides for young women for understanding their own personal body cycle and fertility pattern. Every young woman of the age of fourteen was given this book as a gift in Chicago a few years ago, what a wonderful gift to receive, free control of your fertility for the balance of their life.

Whether you are in the public or private school system, take a moment today or tomorrow and ask your school district if they will add a Fertility Planning module to the Sexual Health programing in your area. This only takes a short email to the Superintendent of your local school system. Ask them to add Fertility Awareness Programming to their Grade 9 Science or Health Classes.  Sometimes a suggestion is all that is needed to get the ball rolling. Pick up the telephone or click on the internet and send a quick email to the leader of the school system for your city. Our young women will not have any alternatives unless we teach them. This just takes a few minutes and could have tremendously positive results for the young women in your city or town, wherever you are.  I just wrote in myself to the head of our school system in my city. It took approximately 4 minutes to locate the top boss, write a one paragraph letter and attach the following recent article and email it. If ten women happened to write in at the same time, with the same suggestion, I would imagine the school system would need to pay attention.

The pharmaceutical companies and the physicians are not presenting birth control with the correct statistics and side effects. The statistics for birth control are skewed, only showing the stats from using the product correctly which they state, most don’t. The chemicals are providing no more than a 50/50 proposition of working, the side effects are not clearly noted. No mention is made of the sexual castration leading to a woman’s suppressed sexual desire, decreased drive, decreased ambition, decreased mood and energy, increased weight gain, along with the real and serious life threatening possibilities of physical damage to her body.

I understand that mom’s have enough to worry about today with young daughters, but it is really worth it to take away your daughter’s drive, ambition and ability to choose a partner at the most critical time of her life, for the sake of “peace of mind”?

Many thanks to everyone who sends in their comments and thanks also to those who let me know they passed this important article along to a daughter, granddaughter, friend, family member or physician. We need to think of better alternatives to pass on to our daughters to ensure the generational line continues in our own families and that our daughter’s are in optimal health.  Best wishes, Gail J. Dahl

Your Fertility Awareness and Charting References:

“Cycle Savvy” by Toni Weschler:  http://cyclesavvy.com/

“Taking Charge of Your Fertility” by Toni Weschler : http://www.tcoyf.com/

“The Garden of Fertility” by Katie Singer : http://www.gardenoffertility.com/

“Justisse Fertility Awareness for Women”:  http://www.justisse.com/default.htm

Free Online Guidebook at:  “Justisse Fertility Awareness”  http://www.justisse.com/eBook/

Free Fertility Charts at: http://www.gardenoffertility.com/fertilitycharts.shtml

Each one of these authors has created an excellent website to go along with their books and all have great free information. It only takes a few hours to learn how to work the fertility system and a few minutes daily to track your own personal fertility pattern. Some women track their ovulation and use it to schedule important business meetings and projects.

Ovulation is a high energy and highly creative time for all women. An excellent time to write a song, paint and do some innovative thinking about life. Tracking the ebb and flow of your body’s cycle can also assist you in monitoring your personal health throughout your years of fertility.  A free and drug-free way to have full control of your fertility throughout your life. Best, G

Need More Convincing on the Castration Part?
The birth control drugs being sold to your daughters, relatives and female friends is the same drug used for male sexual castration. This drug creates the same personal devastating effects such as of loss of sexual desire, loss of drive and ambition, deep depression, excessive weight gain, emotional turmoil, sexual confusion, isolating behavior and other serious mental, emotional and physical side effects. These drugs are usually reserved for sexual deviants and transexuals.  I was unaware of the depth of damage chemical birth control can do to women. I had an idea from watching what the drugs did to my own body, I am amazed now at how the effects are so all encompassing with the potential for devastating results. The type of drug mentioned in the article below is the foundation for the new types of birth control sold under the names of Yaz, Yazmin and the birth control shot Depo-Provera, any chemical that attempts to stop, re-program or delay a woman’s cycle. All chemical birth control has the potential to have the same castrating effect on a woman as it does on men. Take a look at this article below:

Drugs Used for Temporary Chemical Castration
By Joseph Nicholson,

The U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, which is what actual castration would almost certainly be considered. But temporary chemical castration is used in a relatively small number of states as a way of preventing child molestation and other crimes of sexual deviance and violence. Most of the drugs used are female hormones used for birth control or regulation of the menstrual cycle. In men, they have the effect of curbing testosterone production. The same drugs are used by men getting a sex change operation to make sure they want to go through with actual castration. The effects of the drugs wear off in a few weeks if use is discontinued.

Identification

Chemical castration is not actually castration, so is sometimes considered to be misnamed. Unlike actual castration, the surgical removal of the testicles, chemical castration is temporary and fully reversible. It also does not result in sterility. Chemical castration is the use of hormones to lower the sex drive in men who have either been convicted of violent sexual offenses or who are thinking about a gender reassignment surgery.
History

The first published experiment on chemical castration appeared in 1981. The American Psychiatric Association subjected 48 men with established histories of sexually deviance behavior to regular doses of medroxyprogesterone acetate. Usually this drug is used to treat abnormally heavy menstrual bleeding in women. After being administered to the male subjects for a year, most reported less sex drive, less urge for deviant behavior and greater control of their sexuality. This groundbreaking study was the starting point for chemical castration as a treatment for sexual deviance.
Depo-Provera

In 1996, California became the first state to make chemical castration a mandatory sentence for the crime of child molestation. The drug used there was Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, also called DMPA or Depo-Provera. Like the drug used in the APA tests, Depo-Provera is a female hormone. Its typical use is as long-acting birth control. In men it inhibits production of the chemical that triggers testosterone production in the testicles. A first time offender in California can be sentenced to chemical castration for a particularly heinous crime, otherwise it is optional. On the second offense, chemical castration becomes mandatory.
Cyproterone

Another drug used for temporary chemical castration is cyproterone acetate, an antiandrogen drug that trades under various brand names. Like the drugs previously mentioned, it has some use as a female birth control hormone, but in much more limited cases. Like Depo-Provera, cyproterone inhibits the production of luteinizing hormone by the pituitary gland. This is the hormone that stimulates testosterone production. These antiandrogen effects make cyproterone an effective treatment for any condition where androgens like testosterone prolong the disease. It’s also used in the treatment of early onset puberty in boys and of excessive hairiness in girls.
Other States

As of 2009, seven states use some form of chemical castration, with weekly injections of Depo-Provera the most commonly used method. In 2008, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal signed a bill into law allowed judges to sentence convicted rapists to chemical castration with medroxyprogesterone acetate, the same drug used in the original 1981 study. In Iowa, chemical castration is available as a sentence for all sex offenses. Florida, Georgia, Texas and Montana also allow chemical castration as criminal punishment.
References

Treatment of sex offenders with medroxyprogesterone acetate
California Child Molesters Face ‘Chemical Castration’
Chemical Castration

Calgarians join class action $15M lawsuit against birth control makers

By Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald
April 9, 2010 6:23 AM

Story
Photos ( 1 )

Despina Papparis, left, says it was “sheer luck” that brain blood clots didn’t kill her daughter Chloe, now 18.

Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald

Eight months after Chloe Papparis began taking a birth control pill for acne, she almost died from severe side-effects, she says.

The teen started suffering from a bad migraine headache and frequent bouts of vomiting last August. Her family doctor thought it might be swine flu.

Six days later, however, Papparis was rushed to Foothills Hospital. Doctors told her she was 24 hours from dying.

“When I was in ER, the doctor by fluke said to give me a CT scan. They found five blood clots on my brain,” Papparis, now 18, said Thursday.

“I was told I had had a stroke and I wasn’t supposed to be living. If we had waited . . . I would have died.”

Papparis is among 800 Canadians taking part in class-action lawsuits against the manufacturer of two birth control drugs, Yaz and Yasmin, which they allege have caused severe reactions, including seven deaths.

All of the claims have been filed by Tony Merchant of the Merchant Law Group.

Fifty-four of the 90 Alberta plaintiffs in the $15-million lawsuit are from this city. That suit was filed at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary.

None of their allegations have been proven in court, and the defendants, all subsidiaries of manufacturer Bayer Inc., have yet to file statements of defence.

Merchant said Thursday his firm has filed or is about to file similar multimillion-dollar claims in all provinces except Prince Edward Island.

“The seven deaths are all similar in that they were all young women who were healthy,” Merchant said.

“One woman who died was 28, the rest were 14 to 19 years.”

“Of the 400 who do have problems, many have lost their gall bladder. All of them have continual blood pressure problems or blood clots related to blood pressure effects,” said Merchant.

In the claim, it is alleged the Bayer companies “participated in the common purpose of concealing the adverse effects of Yasmin and Yaz from regulatory authorities, the medical community, the public and class (action) members.”

It also alleges the FDA in the U.S. received more than 50 reports of deaths among users of the two drugs between 2004 and 2008.

“These reports include deaths associated with cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, intracardiac thrombus, pulmonary embolism, and stroke in women in their child-bearing years,” says the statement of claim.

It alleges the defendants knew or should have known that use of Yaz and Yasmin created an increased risk to consumers of personal serious injury, including but not limited to gallbladder disease, blood clots and strokes.

Papparis, meanwhile, spent six days in hospital and was placed on the anti-coagulant Heparin for six months to prevent clotting.

She is now off the drug but can never take birth control pills again. Doctors will have to be careful with her if she ever goes through surgery, for fear of more blood clotting.

Despina Papparis says her daughter was the first person to be admitted to the stroke clinic at Foothills Hospital because of reactions to Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella — all birth control pills with synthetic estrogen — but there have been several more since then.

“It was scary, it was horrifying, we’ve had nightmares,” she said.

“She started in December (2008), because she was graduating in May. She was taking it to clear up her acne for grad and her grad photos. The doctor handed it over and we didn’t think anything of it.

“We were lucky the doctor ordered the CT scan. He said had I not brought her in, she wouldn’t have survived Saturday. It was sheer luck. Why would I expect blood clots?”

Chloe said she doesn’t want anyone else to suffer.

“What happened to me is the worst thing of my life,” she said. “I don’t want other girls to go through it, too.”

dslade@theherald.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Calgarians+join+class+action+lawsuit+against+birth+control+makers/2781264/story.html#ixzz0kcR8q4PT

Yasmin, Yaz Class Action Lawsuit Filed for Women in Canada

Published: March 12th, 2010 • Comments: 8

A class action lawsuit over Yaz and Yasmin birth control has been filed in Canada against Bayer Pharmaceuticals on behalf of women who were prescribed the birth control pill, alleging that the drug maker hid the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening side effects of Yaz and Yasmin. The Yasmin and Yaz class action lawsuit was filed earlier this week in the St. Catharines, Ontario, by Christine Lovelace and Jennifer Demunnik. Both women say that Yaz and Yasmin cause health problems above and beyond those caused by other typical oral contraceptives. In the United States, about 1,100 Yaz lawsuits and Yasmin lawsuits have been filed on behalf of individual women who allege that they suffered injuries that were caused by the birth control pills, such as a stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, gallbladder disease and other injuries.

Lovelace alleges that she suffered a transient ischemic attack, also known as a “mini-stroke,” last fall after taking Yaz for several months. She was temporarily paralyzed on her left side and could not communicate. She has mostly recovered, but still suffers hand and foot nerve damage. Demunnik alleges that she developed gallstones after a year and a half on the birth control pill and had to have her  gallbladder removed from Yaz. Yaz and Yasmin are similar pills that are both manufactured by Bayer, containing a combination of ethinyl estradiol and drospirenone, a new type of progestin. Drospirenone, or drsp, impacts the body’s normal mechanism of regulating a balance between salt and water, which could result in elevated potassium levels. This can cause a condition known as hyperkalemia, which is linked to potentially life-threatening heart problems and other health issues. The lawsuits over Yaz and Yasmin have suggested that the oral contraceptives have been responsible for at least 50 deaths in the U.S. alone.

The Canadian Yaz class action lawsuit claims that Bayer knew, or should have known, that the birth control pills carry a higher risk of side effects than other birth control pills. The lawsuit is seeking $487,000 for each Canadian woman prescribed Yaz or Yasmin, and an additional $20 million in punitive damages against Bayer. There have been at least four Canadian Yaz and Yasmin class action lawsuits filed against Bayer in Canada. In the United States, all federal Yaz litigation has been consolidated for pretrial proceedings in a multidistrict litigation (MDL), under Chief Judge David Herndon in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

There Are 8 Comments So Far • (Add Your Comments)

Comment by Robin on 14 March 2010:

I was on Yaz for 5+ years just last year had to have my gallbladder removed because I was having a lot of problems breathing and not feeling right took doctor a while to figure out that my gallbladder had stopped working correctly actually wasn’t working at all. Not sure if Yaz caused it or not but after hearing all the size effects I think there is a good reason to think maybe my birth control might have had something to do with all of it. I was unaware of all this.

Comment by Jennelle on 16 March 2010:

I am 20 years old and I have been taking Yasmin for about 3 years. Last November I started having random chest pain. In January I also discovered that I was having very low blood sugar, and my pulse and blood pressure were higher then normal, on average about 135/85. I went to the doctor in February and I got him to change the birth control I was on to another one. I had one episode of chest pain and I decided to stop that one as well. If there is anything I should be doing about this please inform me.

Comment by Melissa on 18 March 2010:

I’m 20, I was on Yaz for about a year when I started getting severe heart pains, dizzy spells that would last more than 12 hours, and I would have a stomach ache everyday. I heard about the class action and stopped immediately and started a new pill. I am yet to have those symptoms again.

Comment by Brenda on 19 March 2010:

I’m 37-years old. I was having abnormally long periods (10 days long every 26 days) and my Dr. perscribed Yaz to shorten my period. The greatest side effects that I have noticed are: 1) a complete loss of libido; my libido was fine before taking the pill and 2) a great deal of hair loss. I had beautiful thick hair prior to taking Yaz. It has thinned so much that now it just looks long and stringy so I am having it cut shorter this weekend in an attempt to make it look fuller. If it would have known about these possible side effects ahead of time I would not have opted NOT to take this pill. I’ve noticed occasional sharp chest pains too but I’ve always just dismissed it. I will start paying more attention now and talk to my doctor about a better option than Yaz.

Comment by ERIN on 22 March 2010:

I was put on Yasmin after I had my baby to regulate my periods. It worked for a while but my doctore decided to change my perscription to YAZ. I was on these pills for a total of 2 1/2years. During this time I suffered from major chest pain that I went to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack. I had all the tests done.. which included a lung scan, stress test, echo cardiogram etc. The doctors kept telling me I was fine. I was suffering huge headaches and began to suffer from severe dizziness to the point I thought I was passing out and having to hold onto something to stop me from falling. I had major heart palpitations and shortness of breath several times a day. I kept going back to my doctor weekly and she tried to tell me I was suffering from anxiety attacks and these were causing all these symptoms. I would wake up in the middle of the night feeling like I was going to die from the pain in my chest. My heart would be racing and pounding out of my chest. I would take my pill faithfully every night at 11pm. I would wake up faithfully everynight at 2am-3am.
I was taken to the hospital one day by ambulance because I had no energy to even get up. My husband called the ambulance and they took me to the hospital where I was suffering from such low blood pressure.
my doctor insisted that the pill had nothing to do with my symptoms so i kept taking them….I finally stopped taking them myself and feel better…

Comment by Summer on 23 March 2010:

I am 27 years old, and have been on Yasmin for two years. One year ago, I was suffering from periodic chest pains that resulted in a shortness of breath. After a few visits to the ER, I eventually had my gallbladder removed. Again, not sure if Yasmin caused this, but after hearing the side effects, I am forced to wonder.

Comment by Candace on 23 March 2010:

I am 28 years old and have been on Yaz for aprox 8 months. I have never had any serious health issues and have never been hospitalized for any serious illnesses. Quite healthy over all in fact. In December I had my first gall bladder attack and have proceeded to have them since. I have been in Emergency 3 times in the last 3 months due to gall bladder attacks, and otherwise usually try to ride them out at home. Just over two weeks ago, when I was in emergency for my last attack, I started to experience shortness of breath and a few days later side pain. After seeing my doctor I was sent to emergency and found out I had a pulmonary embolism in both my lungs. Now I go to an IV clinic twice a day to get heparin shots (my evening visit is my kids field trip before bed), and get my blood work done once a day. I am on warfarin as well to prevent clotting. After being released from the hospital I was told about the links with my medical conditions and Yaz from a friend. Now I am left with the question “Could my birth control be the culprit??” The doctors have identified my birth control to be my only risk factor at this point. So when I die due to a Pulmonary Embolism from my birth control are they going to sooth my two children I leave behind?? This needs to come off the market, so many people have had issues with this how can we turn our heads. I am lucky to have been diagnosed before it got too complicated. This may have not taken my life this time but it had drastically changed my life, and my families.

Comment by Rose on 23 March 2010:

I was put on yasmin to decrease the flow of my period. Within the first month I had to go to the emergency room with severe adoninmal pains. The doctor didn’t know what cause these pains and I was told to continue to take yasmin. However over the next few months I develop severe depression to the point where I was becoming suicidal and it was only at this point that the doctor told me to stop taking yasmin. Since then I am experiencing wide mood swings; one moment I am estactic without a cause and the next moment I am deepen sadden and get upset with people around me. I now wondering if the pill has caused this to happen to me.

Yaz Lawsuit: Birth Control Injury Evaluations – USA
Yaz, which is nearly identical to Yasmin birth control, is a newer type of oral contraceptive sold by Bayer. It has been aggressively marketed without adequate warnings about serious and potentially life-threatening side effects.

Women may be entitled to financial compensation through a Yaz lawsuit if they have suffered from a:

Heart Attack or Stroke
Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
Pulmonary Embolism (PE)
Gallbladder Disease
Sudden Death on Yaz
>>MORE INFORMATION: Yaz Side Effects

Throughout the United States, a number of Yaz birth control lawsuits have been filed against Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which was formerly known as Berlex, Inc. and Berlex Laboratories, Inc., alleging that the drug makers:

Failed to adequately warn consumers and the medical community about the potential risk of Yaz side effects.
Failed to adequately test and research Yaz birth control before placing it on the market, which could have shown that users will face an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, gallbladder complications and other life-threatening health problems.
Failed to issue a Yaz recall or remove the birth control pill from the market after it became apparent that it is an unreasonably dangerous drug, for which the harmful side effects outweigh any potential benefits provided over other available birth control pills.
Aggressively marketed Yaz and encouraged misuse and overuse despite the known Yaz dangers to maximize profits at the expense of users’ health.
The drug makers had sole access to facts concerning the potential Yaz problems, and ignored the correlation between their drug and potentially life-threatening side effects.  Yaz safety concerns were concealed and misrepresentations were made to to convince potential users and the medical community to use the birth control pill instead of other available products.  This increased the drug makers’ profits at the expense of women throughout the United States.

Yasmin Lawsuits – Yasmin Claim Center – USA

Yasmin Side Effects

The oral contraceptive Yasmin has been on the market since 2001, marketed by Bayer. The drug has been subject to some degree of medical questioning because of the higher incidence of side effects than is shown by other oral contraceptives. There have been persistent complaints of depression either caused or exacerbated by Yasmin, along with mood swings and general emotional turmoil that seems to halt when the drug is discontinued. There have also been a disturbing number of strokes incurred by women who were using Yasmin. Blood clots cause strokes; because of the chemical makeup of oral contraceptives in general there is warning language on virtually all of them about the possibility of an embolism resulting in a stroke. In the case of Yasmin, there have been so many complaints about this type of severe side effects that several lawsuits have been filed against Bayer by women who have either been affected by a stroke or by severe and debilitating emotional swings.

Bayer has kept the product on the market and maintains that its impact is no more severe than any of the similar contraceptives on the market. In December of 2008, the FDA stepped into the Yasmin debate with a public health advisory that cautioned of possible bouts of pancreatitis associated with Yasmin. Normally associated with alcohol abuse or gall bladder dysfunction, pancreatitis is an extremely painful condition that involves inflammation of the pancreas.The complaints about Yasmin continue to pile up. They are more numerous and far more severe than complaints about other oral contraceptives. The reason that Yasmin stands out may be the fact that the drug takes a slightly different approach to preventing pregnancy than most oral contraceptives. In the eyes of many product liability lawyers, this biochemical variation may be the weakness in Yasmin that is resulting in such serious problems for so many women.  More at the following:  http://www.yasminclaimcenter.org/

Class action lawsuits launched for Yaz/Yasmin patients – Canada
TORONTO, March 11 /CNW/ – Regarding a widely prescribed birth control drug, Tony Merchant, Q.C., and his law firm is today launching a class action lawsuit in British Columbia on behalf of women who have used Yaz/Yasmin. “The B.C. lawsuit is similar to the Yaz/Yasmin national class action lawsuits our law firm launched with the Courts last year in Ontario and Saskatchewan.”

“Our firm has received complaints from dozens of women across Canada who have suffered blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, gall bladder removals, and other serious medical emergencies, which our class action lawsuits allege were caused by Yaz/Yasmin. Our national class action litigation is intended to ensure that these individuals receive significant financial compensation for the harm they have suffered, and in our view, any individuals in Canada who have used Yaz or Yasmin should receive compensation from the manufacturer of these drugs (Bayer).”

Yasmin/Yaz contain a “Fourth Generation” Progestin. It is asserted in the lawsuits that Yasmin and Yaz are different from other combined hormonal birth control pills in that they contain drospirenone, a progestin that is unlike other progestins available in Canada, which was never before marketed in Canada (or the United States) prior to its use in Yasmin and Yaz. The allegations have not yet been proven in court. Copies of the lawsuits are available to the media on request by contacting merchant@merchantlaw.com

Individuals interested in joining the Yaz/Yasmin class action lawsuits may contact one of our firm’s 10 law offices across Canada by telephone at 866-982-7777 or at http://www.merchantlaw.com/classactions/yasmin.php

More Interesting Vitamin D3 Information:

For those of us in the northern climates who are attempting to get enough Vitamin D3 from the sun, you are probably a bit chilled by now, brrr….. I know I am.
Still receiving great responses from those who are on the Vitamin D3 and K2 program. 1,000 IU’s of Vitamin D3 are exactly enough for some people to receive relief, some are taking 5,000 IU’s daily, some 10,000 IU’s daily, and others, like myself, seem to require more to see a good and positive response.  I am continuing to take 50,000 IU’s a day along with daily small amounts of Vitamin K2. I did stop my own program for three days and sure enough the severe pain and accompanying depression returned just as quickly. I am very grateful to be feeling so much better in mind and body.  I am so very pleased to hear that others are also receiving pain relief and an increased sense of well being from this program. Looking forward to seeing more positive results in myself and hearing more positive stories from you all.

Here is a copy of the Vitamin D3 Council and their additional information on receiving enough Vitamin D3 from the sun:
Hello Gail,  Newsletter looks great! I see you like my vitamin D quotes page that I created. There are some rather good quotes on there…I’m glad you included them. One thing you should know. Only 15 minutes a day and only exposing small areas of skin may not be sufficient for many people, especially at your latitude (Canada, right?).

Here are factors to take into account when obtaining vitamin D from sun exposure:
age — those who are elderly will not produce as much vitamin D in response to UVB
latitude of residence — those further from the equator will have a longer “vitamin D winter” (this includes Canada)
time of day — needs to be between appx. 10am-2pm for UVB
amount of time spent in the sun/skin melanin content — fair skinned around 20-30 min, blacks may need 5-10 times longer
overall health (eg: obesity) — obesity may impair the skin’s ability to produce vitamin D to some degree
amount of skin exposed — need to expose as much skin as possible
amount of smog/air pollution — smog can have some effect on the amount of UVB that reaches the ground
sunscreen use — SPF 8 can block as much as 95% vitamin D production
I’m not sure if the time of day advice for 10am-2pm applies to your latitude, this window may be shorter like you have stated from 11am-12pm. A good way to tell (and a good rule of thumb) is: If your shadow is longer than you are tall, you are not making any vitamin D. This rule will naturally apply to season of the year, and time of day.  Dana Clark, Vitamin D Council

Best wishes,
Gail
Gail J. Dahl
Award Winning – National Bestselling Author and Childbirth Researcher
National Bestselling “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets”
National Bestselling “Pregnancy & Childbirth Tips”
Executive Director, Innovative Publishing Inc.
Founder and Director of the Canadian Childbirth Association

http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets

http://www.youtube.com/gaildahl

Gail J. Dahl is a childbirth researcher, award winning and national bestselling author. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Childbirth Association. Dahl has received many awards, including  “The YWCA Woman of Distinction Award”, “The Woman of Vision Award” and “The Great Women of the 21st Century Award” for her contributions toward women’s health and education.

Copyright 2010, Copyright released with references if the article is to be used for the purpose of childbirth education. “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets” by National Bestselling Author Gail J. Dahl. Now available across North America at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Chapters and Indigo Books & Music. For more great secrets see the website at:  http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets. The information contained in or provided through this publication is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be, and is not provided as, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your midwife, physician,  or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment or for answers to any questions you may have regarding any medical condition.

Here is a recent article on the Birth Control $15 Million Dollar Class Action Lawsuit being brought against the makers of Yasmin, Yaz and Ocella birth control pills.

Your other options, instead of using birth control pills for acne in young women, often include eliminating dairy from the diet and by adding a Vitamin D3 supplement for the best way to naturally clear up facial acne in our youth. For extreme cramping, having two asprin-like products at the moment your cycle begins and making sure you have a Vitamin D3 supplement in the diet, is one of the best ways to reduce cycle cramping. This may also reduce your monthly cycle flow by half.  Learning your personal window of fertility is the best way to understand your body and take control of your fertility for a lifetime. Allowing you, rather than a pill, that often fails and now most seriously fails to protect your health, to control your personal fertility destiny.

Here are my feeling and thoughts about birth control pills for young women:

1. Birth control pills may cause stroke and/or death as stated below.
2. Birth control pills may cause infertility in later years.
3. Birth control pills give a young couple a false sense of security. If a pill is missed or taken at a wrong time, pregnancy can result. If the young woman is on antibiotics or has been drinking heavily, pregnancy can result.
4. Birth control pills can cause a young woman to forgo a condom, leaving her open to many sexual diseases. The male may convince her it is ok because she is on the pill thus removing his responsibility.
5. Birth control pills give you no more than a 50/50 proposition and must be used in combination with one or two other methods of birth control in order to work all of the time.
6. Birth control pills cause women to be in a continual state of being unable to speak their minds or advocate for themselves and others while they are on these strong hormones. You may have noticed that pregnant women don’t march or speak up. Many young women feel they are also on an emotional roller coaster emotional due to the onslaught of daily hormones that are meant to be cyclical not daily. Youth provides more than enough hormones for the body naturally at these ages. Depression may follow those young women who start birth control pills at a young age. All of this is happening at a time when they need to speak up, they need to have lots of energy and a positive frame of mind as our young women complete their studies and begin their life careers.

If you know of a young woman who is taking birth control pills for acne or cramping, please forward this e-newsletter and article to her. If you know of a young woman who is taking birth control for sporadic or occasional sexual activity, please forward this to her. The education of a young woman’s personal cycle and fertility window, condoms freely available at schools and at home, increased practical sexual health education are greatly needed right now. If a woman chooses to have sexual activity during her fertility window, she would then know to use two or three barrier methods to prevent pregnancy during that fertile time, protecting herself and her partner from sexual disease at the same time.

The best birth control is where a woman is aware of her own fertility cycle and everything is second to this basic womens’ health information. We have to give our young women more choices and more control of their fertility for the health and safety of our society.

Excellent information on becoming aware of our personal fertility cycle and follow-up information you can use to prevent or choose fertility at: http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets/Site/_Fertility.html

Best wishes, Gail

Calgarians join class action $15M lawsuit against birth control makers

By Daryl Slade, Calgary Herald
April 9, 2010 6:23 AM

Story
Photos ( 1 )

Despina Papparis, left, says it was “sheer luck” that brain blood clots didn’t kill her daughter Chloe, now 18.

Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald

Eight months after Chloe Papparis began taking a birth control pill for acne, she almost died from severe side-effects, she says.

The teen started suffering from a bad migraine headache and frequent bouts of vomiting last August. Her family doctor thought it might be swine flu.

Six days later, however, Papparis was rushed to Foothills Hospital. Doctors told her she was 24 hours from dying.

“When I was in ER, the doctor by fluke said to give me a CT scan. They found five blood clots on my brain,” Papparis, now 18, said Thursday.

“I was told I had had a stroke and I wasn’t supposed to be living. If we had waited . . . I would have died.”

Papparis is among 800 Canadians taking part in class-action lawsuits against the manufacturer of two birth control drugs, Yaz and Yasmin, which they allege have caused severe reactions, including seven deaths.

All of the claims have been filed by Tony Merchant of the Merchant Law Group.

Fifty-four of the 90 Alberta plaintiffs in the $15-million lawsuit are from this city. That suit was filed at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary.

None of their allegations have been proven in court, and the defendants, all subsidiaries of manufacturer Bayer Inc., have yet to file statements of defence.

Merchant said Thursday his firm has filed or is about to file similar multimillion-dollar claims in all provinces except Prince Edward Island.

“The seven deaths are all similar in that they were all young women who were healthy,” Merchant said.

“One woman who died was 28, the rest were 14 to 19 years.”

“Of the 400 who do have problems, many have lost their gall bladder. All of them have continual blood pressure problems or blood clots related to blood pressure effects,” said Merchant.

In the claim, it is alleged the Bayer companies “participated in the common purpose of concealing the adverse effects of Yasmin and Yaz from regulatory authorities, the medical community, the public and class (action) members.”

It also alleges the FDA in the U.S. received more than 50 reports of deaths among users of the two drugs between 2004 and 2008.

“These reports include deaths associated with cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, intracardiac thrombus, pulmonary embolism, and stroke in women in their child-bearing years,” says the statement of claim.

It alleges the defendants knew or should have known that use of Yaz and Yasmin created an increased risk to consumers of personal serious injury, including but not limited to gallbladder disease, blood clots and strokes.

Papparis, meanwhile, spent six days in hospital and was placed on the anti-coagulant Heparin for six months to prevent clotting.

She is now off the drug but can never take birth control pills again. Doctors will have to be careful with her if she ever goes through surgery, for fear of more blood clotting.

Despina Papparis says her daughter was the first person to be admitted to the stroke clinic at Foothills Hospital because of reactions to Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella — all birth control pills with synthetic estrogen — but there have been several more since then.

“It was scary, it was horrifying, we’ve had nightmares,” she said.

“She started in December (2008), because she was graduating in May. She was taking it to clear up her acne for grad and her grad photos. The doctor handed it over and we didn’t think anything of it.

“We were lucky the doctor ordered the CT scan. He said had I not brought her in, she wouldn’t have survived Saturday. It was sheer luck. Why would I expect blood clots?”

Chloe said she doesn’t want anyone else to suffer.

“What happened to me is the worst thing of my life,” she said. “I don’t want other girls to go through it, too.”

dslade@theherald.canwest.com

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Calgarians+join+class+action+lawsuit+against+birth+control+makers/2781264/story.html#ixzz0kcR8q4PT

Gail J. Dahl
Award Winning – National Bestselling Author and Childbirth Researcher
National Bestselling “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets”
National Bestselling “Pregnancy & Childbirth Tips”
Executive Director, Innovative Publishing Inc.
Founder and Director of the Canadian Childbirth Association

http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets

http://www.youtube.com/gaildahl

Gail J. Dahl is a childbirth researcher, award winning and national bestselling author. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Childbirth Association. Dahl has received many awards, including  “The YWCA Woman of Distinction Award”, “The Woman of Vision Award” and “The Great Women of the 21st Century Award” for her contributions toward women’s health and education.

Copyright 2010, Copyright released with references if the article is to be used for the purpose of childbirth education. “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets” by National Bestselling Author Gail J. Dahl. Now available across North America at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Chapters and Indigo Books & Music. For more great secrets see the website at:  http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets. The information contained in or provided through this publication is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be, and is not provided as, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your midwife, physician,  or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment or for answers to any questions you may have regarding any medical condition.

For those of you who wish to obtain Vitamin D from a natural source, fifteen minutes a day in the sun, exposing the areas you are able to, between the hours of 11:00 and Noon, is an ideal time for Vitamin D generation.

I hope that everyone that is on the program continues to see amazing results. Many seem to start off with experiencing a return to very deep sleep patterns and then the gradual healing of aches and pains and a steady improvement of mood and energy levels. Let me know what you experience. Best wishes, Gail

The information contained in or provided through this publication is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be, and is not provided as, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your midwife, physician, or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment or for answers to any questions you may have regarding any medical condition. The reply to your email questions is not a substitute for health care from your licensed health care provider. The answers to your questions do not constitute a patient-physician relationship. The answers to questions are meant to provide you with additional information to help you make health care decisions. You should always consult your health care provider before proceeding with any of the recommendations. The information contained within this correspondence is not intended to treat, diagnose, or claim to cure any medical condition or disease.

Pregnancy and Gestational Vitamin D Deficiency

By Dr. John Jacob Cannell and the Vitamin D Council of America at:  http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/pregnancy-and-gestational-vitamin-d-deficiency.shtml

“In the last 3 years, an increasing amount of research suggests that some of the damage done by Vitamin D deficiency is done in-utero, while the fetus is developing. Much of that damage may be permanent, that is, it can not be fully reversed by taking Vitamin D after birth. This research indicates Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy endangers the mother’s life and health, and is the origin for a host of future perils for the child, especially for the child’s brain and immune system. Some of the damage done by maternal Vitamin D deficiency may not show up for 30 years. Let’s start with the mother.
Incidence of Gestational Vitamin D Deficiency

Dr. Joyce Lee and her colleagues at the University of Michigan studied 40 pregnant women, the majority taking prenatal vitamins. Only two had blood levels >50 ng/mL and only three had levels >40 ng/mL. That is, 37 of 40 pregnant women had levels below 40 ng/mL, and the majority had levels below 20 ng/mL. More than 25% had levels below 10 ng/mL. Lee JM, Smith JR, Philipp BL, Chen TC, Mathieu J, Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency in a healthy group of mothers and newborn infants. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2007 Jan;46(1):42–4.

Dr. Lisa Bodnar, a prolific Vitamin D researcher, and her colleagues at the University of Pittsburg studied 400 pregnant Pennsylvania women; 63% had levels below 30 ng/mL and 44% of the black women in the study had levels below 15 ng/mL. Prenatal vitamins had little effect on the incidence of deficiency. Bodnar LM, Simhan HN, Powers RW, Frank MP, Cooperstein E, Roberts JM. High prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in black and white pregnant women residing in the northern United States and their neonates. J Nutr. 2007 Feb;137(2):447–52.

Dr. Dijkstra and colleagues studied 70 pregnant women in the Netherlands, none had levels above 40 ng/mL and 50% had levels below 10 ng/mL. Again, prenatal vitamins appeared to have little effect on 25(OH)D levels, as you might expect since prenatal vitamins only contain 400 IU of Vitamin D. Dijkstra SH, van Beek A, Janssen JW, de Vleeschouwer LH, Huysman WA, van den Akker EL. High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in newborns of high-risk mothers. Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2007 Apr 25.

Thus, more than 95% of pregnant women have 25(OH)D levels below 50 ng/mL, the level that may indicate chronic substrate starvation. That is, they are using up any Vitamin D they have very quickly and do not have enough to store for future use. Pretty scary.

Effects on the Mother

Caesarean section

The rate of Caesarean section in American women has increased from 5% in 1970 to 30% today. Dr. Anne Merewood and her colleagues at Boston University School of Medicine found women with levels below 15 ng/mL were four times more likely to have a Cesarean section than were women with higher levels. Among the few women with levels above 50 ng/mL, the Caesarean section rate was the same as it was in 1970, about 5%. Merewood A, Mehta SD, Chen TC, Bauchner H, Holick MF. Association between vitamin D deficiency and primary cesarean section. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Mar;94(3):940–5.

Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a common obstetrical condition in which hypertension is combined with excess protein in the urine. It greatly increases the risk of the mother developing eclampsia and then dying from a stroke. Dr. Lisa Bodnar and her colleagues found women with 25(OH)D levels less than 15 ng/mL had a five-fold (5 fold) increase in the risk of preeclampsia. Bodnar LM, Catov JM, Simhan HN, Holick MF, Powers RW, Roberts JM. Maternal vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of preeclampsia. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Sep;92(9):3517–22.

Gestational Diabetes

Diabetes during pregnancy affects about 5% of all pregnant women, is increasing in incidence, and may have deleterious effects on the fetus. Dr. Cuilin Zhang and colleagues at the NIH found women with low 25(OH)D levels were almost 3 times more likely to develop diabetes during pregnancy. Zhang C, Qiu C, Hu FB, David RM, van Dam RM, Bralley A, Williams MA. Maternal plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and the risk for gestational diabetes mellitus. PLoS ONE. 2008;3(11):e3753.

Bacterial Vaginitis

Dr. Lisa Bodnar and her colleagues found pregnant women with the lowest 25(OH)D level are almost twice as likely to get a bacterial vaginal infection during their pregnancy. Bodnar LM, Krohn MA, Simhan HN. Maternal Vitamin D Deficiency Is Associated with Bacterial Vaginosis in the First Trimester of Pregnancy. J Nutr. 2009 Apr 8.

Effects on the child

Seventeen experts—many of them world-class experts—recently recommended:

“Until we have better information on doses of vitamin D that will reliably provide adequate blood levels of 25(OH)D without toxicity, treatment of vitamin D deficiency in otherwise healthy children should be individualized according to the numerous factors that affect 25(OH)D levels, such as body weight, percent body fat, skin melanin, latitude, season of the year, and sun exposure. The doses of sunshine or oral vitamin D3 used in healthy children should be designed to maintain 25(OH)D levels above 50 ng/mL. As a rule, in the absence of significant sun exposure, we believe that most healthy children need about 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily per 11 kg (25 lb) of body weight to obtain levels greater than 50 ng/mL. Some will need more, and others less. In our opinion, children with chronic illnesses such as autism, diabetes, and/or frequent infections should be supplemented with higher doses of sunshine or vitamin D3, doses adequate to maintain their 25(OH)D levels in the mid-normal of the reference range (65 ng/mL) — and should be so supplemented year-round (p. 868).” Cannell JJ, Vieth R, Willett W, Zasloff M, Hathcock JN, White JH, Tanumihardjo SA, Larson-Meyer DE, Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Lamberg-Allardt CJ, Lappe JM, Norman AW, Zittermann A, Whiting SJ, Grant WB, Hollis BW, Giovannucci E. Cod liver oil, vitamin A toxicity, frequent respiratory infections, and the vitamin D deficiency epidemic. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2008 Nov;117(11):864–70.

That’s right. Healthy children need about 1,000 IU per 25 pounds of body weight and their 25(OH)D levels should be >50 ng/mL, year-round.

Eight years before the above recommendations, Professor John McGrath of the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research theorized that maternal Vitamin D deficiency adversely “imprinted” the fetus, making infants more liable for a host of adult disorders. Research since that time has supported McGrath’s theory. Consider, for a minute, what it must be like for John McGrath, to know that maternal Vitamin D deficiency is causing such widespread devastation, to know it could be so easily treated, but to also know he must wait the decades that will be required to deal with the problem.McGrath J. Does ‘imprinting’ with low prenatal vitamin D contribute to the risk of various adult disorders? Med Hypotheses. 2001 Mar;56(3):367–71.

Schizophrenia

Dr. Dennis Kinney and his colleagues at Harvard published a fascinating paper last month on the role of maternal Vitamin D deficiency in the development of schizophrenia, in support of Dr. McGrath’s theory. As they point out, the role of inadequate Vitamin D during brain development appears to “overwhelm” other effects, explaining why schizophrenia has so many of the footprints of a maternal Vitamin D deficiency disorder, such as strong latitudinal variation, excess winter births, and skin color. Kinney DK, Teixeira P, Hsu D, Napoleon SC, Crowley DJ, Miller A, Hyman W, Huang E. Relation of schizophrenia prevalence to latitude, climate, fish consumption, infant mortality, and skin color: a role for prenatal vitamin d deficiency and infections? Schizophr Bull. 2009 May;35(3):582–95.

Autism

I will say not more, other than to point out that Scientific American ran a lengthy article last month on my autism theory but the editors insisted that the author not cite me, nor my paper, because I am “not a scientist.” Gabrielle Glaser. What If Vitamin D Deficiency Is a Cause of Autism? 2009 April 24. Scientific American.

Mental Retardation

The only evidence that Vitamin D deficiency is a common cause of mental retardation is from researchers at the CDC who found mild mental retardation is twice as common among African Americans as whites, and that the politically correct explanation—socioeconomic factors—cannot explain it. If latitudinal studies of mild mental retardation exist, I am unable to locate them. Yeargin-Allsopp M, Drews CD, Decoufle P, Murphy CC. Mild mental retardation in black and white children in metropolitan Atlanta: a case-control study. Am J Public Health 1995;85(3):324–8. Drews CD, Yeargin-Allsopp M, Decoufle P, Murphy CC. Variation in the influence of selected sociodemographic risk factors for mental retardation. Am J Public Health 1995;85(3):329–34.

Of course, it is claimed you are a racist if you believe these studies. In fact, a number of writers have told me their editors will not allow writers to discuss these studies in their stories. I am glad these studies were conducted by researchers at the CDC. Although, I worry about their political longevity at the CDC after reporting such findings.

I will mention one other fact (at my peril) and that is the fact that a very smart man, President Barack Obama, was born in the late summer (August) and has a brain that developed in a womb covered in white skin, during the spring and summer, in the subtropics (Latitude 21 degrees North), during an age before sun-avoidance was the mantra (1961). Make what you want to of that fact. My point is that whites living at temperate latitudes may have a huge developmental advantage over blacks, an advantage that begins immediately after conception, an advantage that has nothing to do with innate genetic ability and everything to do with environment.

Newborn Lower Respiratory Tract Infection

Newborn babies are vulnerable to infections in their lungs and women with the lowest 25(OH)D level during pregnancy were much more likely to have their newborn in the ICU being treated for lower respiratory tract infections. Drs. Walker and Modlin at UCLA recently presented reasons why viral pneumonia is probably only one of many pediatric Vitamin D deficient infections. Karatekin G, Kaya A, Salihoğlu O, Balci H, Nuhoğlu A. Association of subclinical vitamin D deficiency in newborns with acute lower respiratory infection and their mothers. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009 Apr;63(4):473–7.Walker VP, Modlin RL. The Vitamin D Connection to Pediatric Infections and Immune Function. Pediatr Res. 2009 Jan 28.

Birth weight

While conflicting results exist on the effects of maternal Vitamin D deficiency and birth weight, the majority of the studies find an effect. Furthermore, the studies are comparing women who have virtually no intake to women who have minuscule intakes. For example, women who ingested around 600 IU per day were more likely to have normal weight babies compared to women whose intake was less than 300 IU per day. One can only wonder what would happen if pregnant women had adequate intakes? Drs. Scholl and Chen, at the Department of Obstetrics at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, concluded pregnant women need 6,000 IU per day, not the 400 IU/day contained in prenatal vitamins. Scholl TO, Chen X. Vitamin D intake during pregnancy: association with maternal characteristics and infant birth weight. Early Hum Dev. 2009 Apr;85(4):231–4.

Diabetes

My old nemesis, cod liver oil, when given during pregnancy resulted in children who were three times less likely to develop juvenile diabetes before the age of 15. Of course, this was back when cod liver oil had meaningful amounts of Vitamin D (these Norwegian mothers were taking cod liver oil in the 1980s). Stene LC, Ulriksen J, Magnus P, Joner G. Use of cod liver oil during pregnancy associated with lower risk of Type I diabetes in the offspring. Diabetologia. 2000 Sep;43(9):1093–8.

Seizures

Newborns frequently have seizures and those seizures are almost always due to low blood calcium. This problem is so common that many newborns are given a prophylactic injection of calcium. In 1978,  researchers found such hypocalcemia can easily be prevented by giving Vitamin D. Sadly, standard treatment remains—not Vitamin D, but calcium and an analogue of activated Vitamin D. Such analogues do not correct Vitamin D deficiency. The fact that this was known in 1978 and has been routinely ignored by obstetricians since then should give you pause. Do not think science will solve the Vitamin D problem. Science simply points the way, activists must change the practice. Fleischman AR, Rosen JF, Nathenson G. 25-Hydroxycholecalciferol for early neonatal hypocalcemia. Occurrence in premature newborns. Am J Dis Child. 1978 Oct;132(10):973–7.

Heart Failure

Idiopathic infant heart failure is often fatal. Of course, idiopathic to whom? The uninformed cardiologists who do not recognize severe infantile Vitamin D deficiency? Luckily, for 16 infants, Dr. Maiya, Dr. Burch, and colleagues at the Great Ormand Street Hospital for Children are not among them. Maiya S, Sullivan I, Allgrove J, Yates R, Malone M, Brain C, Archer N, Mok Q, Daubeney P, Tulloh R, Burch M. Hypocalcaemia and vitamin D deficiency: an important, but preventable, cause of life-threatening infant heart failure. Heart. 2008 May;94(5):581–4.

Weak bones

Dr. Muhammad Javaid and colleagues at the University of Southampton found that children of Vitamin D deficient mothers were much more likely to have weak bones 9 years later. Dr. Adrian Sayers and Jonathan Tobias of the University of Bristol recently found the same thing when they looked at maternal sun-exposure. Javaid MK, Crozier SR, Harvey NC, Gale CR, Dennison EM, Boucher BJ, Arden NK, Godfrey KM, Cooper C; Princess Anne Hospital Study Group. Maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and childhood bone mass at age 9 years: a longitudinal study. Lancet. 2006 Jan 7;367(9504):36–43. Sayers A, Tobias JH. Estimated maternal ultraviolet B exposure levels in pregnancy influence skeletal development of the child. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Mar;94(3):765–71.

Brain Tumors

John McGrath’s group discovered that children with astrocytomas and ependymomas (brain tumors you do not want your child to have) were more likely to be born in the winter. Ko P, Eyles D, Burne T, Mackay-Sim A, McGrath JJ. Season of birth and risk of brain tumors in adults. Neurology. 2005 Apr 12;64(7):1317.

Epilepsy

Three studies have found that epileptic patients are much more likely to be born in the winter. Dr. Marco Procopio of the Priory Hospital Hove in Sussex has written all three. Procopio M, Marriott PK, Davies RJ. Seasonality of birth in epilepsy: a Southern Hemisphere study. Seizure. 2006 Jan;15(1):17–21.

Craniotabes

Craniotabes is softening of the skull bones that occurs in 1/3 of “normal” newborns. Recent evidence indicates it is yet another sign and sequela of maternal vitamin D deficiency. Yorifuji J, Yorifuji T, Tachibana K, Nagai S, Kawai M, Momoi T, Nagasaka H, Hatayama H, Nakahata T. Craniotabes in normal newborns: the earliest sign of subclinical vitamin D deficiency. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 May;93(5):1784–8.

Cavities

Dr. Robert Schroth from the University of Manitoba reported that mothers of children who developed cavities at an early age had significantly lower vitamin D levels during pregnancy than those whose children were cavity-free. Megan Rauscher. Prenatal vitamin D linked to kids’ dental health. 2009. Reuters.

Asthma

The extant data here is conflicting. Two studies have found higher Vitamin D intakes during pregnancy decrease the risk of asthma in later childhood and one has found the opposite. The best review of the issue is by Drs. Augusto Litonjua and Scott Weiss, at Harvard, who conclude that the current epidemic of asthma among our children is related to both gestational and ongoing childhood vitamin D deficiency. Litonjua AA, Weiss ST. Is vitamin D deficiency to blame for the asthma epidemic? J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2007 Nov;120(5):1031–5.

Furthermore, a very recent study by Dr. John Brehm and the same Harvard group found low Vitamin D levels in asthmatic children were associated with hospitalization, medication use, and disease severity. Brehm JM, Celedón JC, Soto-Quiros ME, Avila L, Hunninghake GM, Forno E, Laskey D, Sylvia JS, Hollis BW, Weiss ST, Litonjua AA. Serum vitamin D levels and markers of severity of childhood asthma in Costa Rica. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2009 May 1;179(9):765–71.

In case you are wondering, black children are four times more likely than white children to be hospitalized or die from asthma. Akinbami LJ, Schoendorf KC. Trends in childhood asthma: prevalence, health care utilization, and mortality. Pediatrics. 2002 Aug;110(2 Pt 1):315–22.

My experience, both at the hospital and via my readers, is that asthma improves—albeit sometimes slowly—when adequate doses of Vitamin D are taken. However, Vitamin D does not appear to be a cure, like it is in some other conditions. I suspect children with asthma have suffered both gestational and ongoing childhood Vitamin D deficiency that probably altered, perhaps permanently, their immune system.

The Vitamin D Council’s Effort

We recently ran a ¼ page announcement in OB/GYN News and the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AJOG). Unfortunately, the editor of AJOG censored our announcement after its first month, but we were able to get the full, three-month run in OB/GYN News. We also sent a very similar email to 18,000 obstetricians in the United States. The total cost to the Vitamin D Council for this campaign was about $12,000.00.

The announcement simply pointed out that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently recommended that all pregnant women have a 25(OH)D blood test because Vitamin D is important for normal fetal development (p. 1145):

“Given the growing evidence that adequate maternal vitamin D status is essential during pregnancy, not only for maternal well-being but also for fetal development, health care professionals who provide obstetric care should consider assessing maternal vitamin D status by measuring the 25-OH-D concentrations of pregnant women. On an individual basis, a mother should be supplemented with adequate amounts of vitamin D3 to ensure that her 25-OH-D levels are in a sufficient range (>32 ng/mL). The knowledge that prenatal vitamins containing 400 IU of vitamin D3 have little effect on circulating maternal 25-OH-D concentrations, especially during the winter months, should be imparted to all health care professionals.” Wagner CL, Greer FR; American Academy of Pediatrics Section on breastfeeding; American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition. Prevention of rickets and vitamin D deficiency in infants, children, and adolescents. Pediatrics. 2008 Nov;122(5):1142–52.

As the AAP recommendation came from an official medical body, to medical malpractice attorneys it represents evidence of a “standard of care” for future lawsuits. We also reminded obstetricians that the statute of limitations on malpractice suits does not toll (begin) until the injured party recognizes the injury. That is, the parents of a 5-year-old child diagnosed with autism five years in the future may bring suit against that obstetrician for how the child was treated during his time in the uterus, citing the 2008 AAP’s recommendation as a standard of care. Obstetricians are already burdened with lawsuits, but they could decrease the number of suits significantly if they would just take the time to learn about Vitamin D.

Finally, we used our last $12,000 to produce and run a television announcement in the Washington, D.C. TV market, entitled Pregnancy and Vitamin D.

What can you do?

Most people want to do good—at least some good—in their lives. The endless pursuit of the God-almighty dollar, better clothes, better houses and better vacations than your neighbors eventually leaves a hole in your soul. Here is an opportunity to fill it.

If you don’t feel that soul hole, try a meditation I learned at Esalen Institute in the 1980s and have practiced ever since. Lie on the floor and pretend you are dead in your grave. Feel the worms, smell the rot, sense the finality. Then, when you really feel dead, visualize your gravestone above. What does it say? “Here lies Robert; he had a big fancy house.” “Here lies Vanessa; she wore beautiful clothes and had four face lifts.” Here lies Michael; he made a billion dollars.” Through this meditation, I realized I want my gravestone to say, “Here lies John, he did something good.”

One good thing you can do is simply tell every pregnant woman and women thinking of getting pregnant that she needs to take more Vitamin D, a lot more. Pregnant women need a minimum of 5,000 IU per day and even that dose will not achieve 25(OH)D levels of >50 ng/mL in all women. Why not buy a few bottles of 5,000 IU capsules and hand out the bottles to your pregnant friends? You can get 250 vitamin D capsules for 15 bucks. Or, forward this email to them. Show them our Pregnancy and Vitamin D public service announcement.

If you want to do more, why not get a copy of our Pregnancy and Vitamin D public service announcement by emailing our webmaster at http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/releases.shtml.”(the ad is not copyrighted) and then pay to run it on a TV station in your hometown? You can easily add a caption at the bottom saying this public service announcement is being sponsored by your company, combining a good deed with good business.

Alas, no glory will be yours, at least in this life. No woman will ever thank you for the schizophrenic child she never had, for the trips to the emergency room with a breathless child that she never made, for  the repetitive moaning of the autistic child she never endured. Although, she may wonder why her pregnancy was so easy and why her infant is so healthy, alert, active, and smart.”

John Jacob Cannell MD Executive Director.  More on this article at:  http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/pregnancy-and-gestational-vitamin-d-deficiency.shtml

Vitamin D Quotes

Humans make thousands of units of vitamin D within minutes of whole body exposure to sunlight. From what we know of nature, it is unlikely such a system evolved by chance.~ Dr. John Cannell, Executive Director, Vitamin D Council.

If you think of it evolutionarily, it’s the oldest hormone on this Earth. I don’t think that this is going to be a flash in the pan. ~ Dr. Michael F. Holick, Vitamin D expert.

Because vitamin D is so cheap and so clearly reduces all-cause mortality, I can say this with great certainty: Vitamin D represents the single most cost-effective medical intervention in the United States. ~ Dr. Greg Plotnikoff, Medical Director, Penny George Institute for Health and Healing, Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.

I believe [vitamin D] is the number one public health advance in medicine in the last twenty years. ~ Dr. John Whitcomb, Aurora Sinai Medical Center.

Light is the basic component from which all life originates, evolves, and is energized. Light and health are inseparable. ~ Ken Ceder, former co-director Hippocrates Health Institute, Boston, Massachusetts.

Sunlight is more powerful than any drug; it is safe, effective, and available free of charge. If it could be patented, it would be hyped as the greatest medical breakthrough in history. It’s that good. ~ Mike Adams, natural health researcher and author.

Natural sunlight’s benefits are not limited to vitamin D production. As light enters the eyes, photoreceptors convert the light into nerve impulses that travel along the optic nerve to the brain. These impulses trigger the hypothalamus gland to send neurotransmitters to regulate the automatic functions of the body, such as blood pressure, body temperature, respiration, digestion, sexual function, moods, immune and hormonal modulation, and circadian rhythm. ~ John Maher, DC, DCCN, FAAIM.

This is like the Holy Grail of cancer medicine; vitamin D produced a drop in cancer rates greater than that for quitting smoking, or indeed any other countermeasure in existence. ~ Dennis Mangan, clinical laboratory scientist.

No other method to prevent cancer has been identified that has such a powerful impact. ~ Dr. Cedric Garland, Vitamin D expert.

Vitamin D is, without question, the miracle nutrient of the century. ~ Mike Adams, natural health researcher and author.

Vitamin D is a hormone… powerful, potent, and paleo-to-the-core. Since pre-paleolithic times, Vitamin D has been produced in our skin from the UVB radiation of sunlight. The sun indeed powers nearly all life on earth. It is essential and signals reproduction, energy and longevity for not just humans but all land and marine plants, prokaryotes, and animals. ~ Dr. BG, pharmacologist
.
I would challenge anyone to find an area or nutrient or any factor that has such consistent anti-cancer benefits as vitamin D. The data are really quite remarkable. ~ Dr. Edward Giovannucci, Vitamin D expert.

In all my many years of practice of medicine, I’ve never seen one vitamin, even vitamin C, have such profound effects on human health. ~ Dr. Soram Khalsa, board-certified internist and medical director for the East-West Medical Research Institute.

We estimate that vitamin D deficiency is the most common medical condition in the world. ~ Dr. Michael F. Holick, Vitamin D expert.

Our most important hormones depend upon adequate reserves of cholesterol for their production and nowhere is this more important than as the precursor substance for the synthesis of Vitamin D, known also as calcitriol. Researchers in this field are sufficiently concerned from the results of their studies to pronounce that we are in the midst of an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency of immense proportion. ~ Duane Graveline MD
MPH, former NASA Astronaut, former USAF flight surgeon, and retired family doctor.

The problem is that vitamin D is not really a vitamin, it’s a hormone. If your thyroid hormone level was low, you’d gain 20, 30, or more pounds in weight, your blood pressure would skyrocket, you’d lose your hair, become constipated, develop blood clots, be terribly fatigued. In other words, you’d suffer profound changes. Likewise, if thyroid hormone levels are corrected by giving you thyroid hormone, you’d experience profound correction of these phenomena. That’s what I’m seeing with vitamin D: restoration of this hormone to normal blood levels (25-OH-vitamin D3 50 ng/mL) yields profound changes in the body. ~ Dr. William Davis, cardiologist.

Vitamin D is perhaps the single most powerful nutrient in the known universe for preventing influenza. ~ Mike Adams, natural health researcher and author.

The Sun is the cosmological phenomenon which is mainly responsible for what the world has become and it would be impossible to remove from the skies without ending the existences of most of all living beings in the same process. ~ Unknown.

No life at all would be possible on this planet without the sun…To teach people to be afraid of the sun is harmful health advice that will ultimately kill more people than it saves. Most people have too little sunlight, not too much. ~ Mike Adams, natural health researcher and author.

Vitamin D is cholecalciferol, a hormone. Deficiencies of hormones can have catastrophic consequences. ~ Dr. William Davis, cardiologist.

Vitamin D deficiency is an unrecognized, emerging cardiovascular risk factor, which should be screened for and treated. Vitamin D is easy to assess, and supplementation is simple, safe, and inexpensive. ~ James H. O’Keefe MD, cardiologist and Director of Preventive Cardiology, Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas City, Missouri.

It has been clearly established that the only way for your body to synthesize vitamin D is in your skin once it’s exposed to ultraviolet rays from the sun. Hence, the current guidelines to avoid sun exposure, and the fervent pushing of sunscreen, are perhaps some of the most misguided and dangerous health recommendations out there. ~ Leif Grunseth, certified neuromuscular therapist.

The sun is the orchestra leader for the dance of life. Every living thing on earth vibrates to the energy of the sun, including people. For a long time people have been victims of a huge scam that made them think they were supposed to hide indoors or under a blanket of sunscreen while the rest of life basked in the glory of the sun. Now they are catching on that they too need the sun’s life-giving force. ~ Barbara Minton, natural health editor.

Whoever wishes to investigate medicine properly should proceed thus: in the first place to consider the seasons of the year. ~ Hippocrates, the father of medicine (circa 400 B.C.).

Sunlight is life. ~ Dr. William Meller, board-certified internist.

Best wishes,
Gail
Gail J. Dahl
Award Winning – National Bestselling Author and Childbirth Researcher
National Bestselling “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets”
National Bestselling “Pregnancy & Childbirth Tips”
Executive Director, Innovative Publishing Inc.
Founder and Director of the Canadian Childbirth Association

http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets

http://www.youtube.com/gaildahl

Gail J. Dahl is a childbirth researcher, award winning and national bestselling author. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Childbirth Association. Dahl has received many awards, including  “The YWCA Woman of Distinction Award”, “The Woman of Vision Award” and “The Great Women of the 21st Century Award” for her contributions toward women’s health and education.

Copyright 2010, Copyright released with references if the article is to be used for the purpose of childbirth education. “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets” by National Bestselling Author Gail J. Dahl. Now available across North America at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Chapters and Indigo Books & Music. For more great secrets see the website at:  http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets. The information contained in or provided through this publication is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be, and is not provided as, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your midwife, physician,  or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment or for answers to any questions you may have regarding any medical condition.

“For pregnant women, extra Vitamin K2 supplementation prevents possible cranial defects in the baby that in turn can create narrow dental arches, crooked teeth, underdevelopment of the face and jaw, underdevelopment of the sinuses with mouth breathing in some cases, and poor tooth development resulting in a high susceptibility to dental cavities.”

(Vitamin K2 – Safety: “If you take Coumadin, Heparin, or another anti-coagulant you should consult your physician before taking vitamin K2 supplements. Vitamin K2 helps normal coagulation of blood. High levels of K2 do not cause abnormal blood clotting. You should not be concerned about taking levels of 45 mg/day or less, as numerous Japanese studies have shown even this high level is safe for adults. Most vitamin K2 supplements offer 45 – 150 micrograms per day.”)

Interesting how a few cents of Vitamin K2 before and during pregnancy can save thousands of dollars in future dental work for the family, prevent birth defects and vastly increase the health of the mother by helping to regulate blood sugar levels during pregnancy. G

For those caregivers starting the Vitamin D3 program, you would now be adding Vitamin K2 in the amount of 1,000 micrograms weekly (this is a very small amount) to create a synergetic result with the Vitamin D3 as suggested by the research by Dr. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D. http://www.selfhealthsystems.com/archiveletter.php?id=292

It is not recommended to take extra calcium supplementation with this particular Vitamin D3 program. The purpose of the Vitamin K2 is to work with the Vitamin D3, as a co-factor, to clean the calcium deposits from your arteries and deposit them into your bone structure. Vitamin K2 will also provide you major protection from osteoporosis, cardiovascular blockages and pathological calcification.

“It has been 10 days since I personally began the enhanced Vitamin D3 program. Today is the first day at 50,000 IU’s of Vitamin D3. (I worked my way up to that dosage as I began to see the daily positive physical effects) My arthritis pain is down 95%. First relief of chronic pain at daily 10,000 IU’s of Vitamin D3 after forty eight hours. Sleeping very deeply and easily now. My muscular strength is increasing. Physical endurance is enhanced. Mood nicely elevated. Chronic low level depression lifting. I can feel the digestive and intestinal tract healing. Food intolerances and sensitivities are being eliminated. Can’t wait to get up every morning to see what else new and positive happens to my body. Wow, this D3 program is totally amazing!  Thank you again for your feedback on the Vitamin D3 program. So exciting to hear the positive results to far that people are experiencing! Looking forward to hearing more excellent reports. ” Best wishes, Gail J. Dahl

An important follow up question from SF:
SF: One question…. why can’t we take calcium supplements with this high of Vit. D…..I hear my osteoporosis settling in.

Hello SF,
My body seems to love the Vitamin D3 program as well. Most amazing results! Every day something different happens. With the proper amount of Vitamin D3 and Vitamin K2, the body will quickly begin to scavenge the calcium being stored throughout your system, especially joints and arteries, remove it from there, thus reducing pain and inflammation in that area, and then make the proper deposit of this calcium into your bones where you need it. I will send you a sneak preview on the next newsletter on  Vitamin K2. I think you will be interested in the vital part this relatively unknown vitamin does not only for our pregnant moms, for ourselves as well. People who work long term evening shift work or have indoor work only, or sensitivities to the sun, can have tremendous challenges with brittle bones. No Vit D3, no sun, no absorption of the calcium, thus brittle bones.

So the short answer, is you won’t need extra calcium supplements on this program. Your body will make excellent use of what is already in your system and from the food you are eating. Without Vitamin D3 or being in the sun,  your system was most likely not absorbing the extra calcium supplements anyway, most likely just storing it in places like joints or arteries, where you don’t want it. The most amazing part of the Vitamin D3 and Vitamin K2 program is that the D3 has the ability to go in and start healing internal organs. X might be interested in experiencing this program for 30 days as it has an ability to heal and soothe the digestive and eliminative systems and can reduce or eliminate food intolerances, allergies and sensitivities. An amazing health supplement for such an amazingly low price. So exciting to hear of everyone’s excellent progress. Let me know the very next thing you notice being changed within your system. I am very curious!  Best, G

The information contained in or provided through this publication is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be, and is not provided as, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your midwife, physician, or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment or for answers to any questions you may have regarding any medical condition.

Secrets – The Critical Importance of Vitamin K2  Before and During Pregnancy

Vitamin K2 and Cranial Development During Pregnancy

“……Here are a few quotes from a review paper by Dr. Webster’s group. I have to post the whole abstract because it’s a gem:
“The normal vitamin K status of the human embryo appears to be close to deficiency [I would argue in most cases the embryo is actually deficient, as are most adults in industrial societies]. Maternal dietary deficiency or use of a number of therapeutic drugs during pregnancy, may result in frank vitamin K deficiency in the embryo. First trimester deficiency results in maxillonasal hypoplasia in the neonate with subsequent facial and orthodontic implications. A rat model of the vitamin K deficiency embryopathy shows that the facial dysmorphology is preceded by uncontrolled calcification in the normally uncalcified nasal septal cartilage, and decreased longitudinal growth of the cartilage, resulting in maxillonasal hypoplasia. The developing septal cartilage is normally rich in the vitamin K-dependent protein matrix gla protein (MGP). It is proposed that functional MGP is necessary to maintain growing cartilage in a non-calcified state. Developing teeth contain both MGP and a second vitamin K-dependent protein, bone gla protein (BGP). It has been postulated that these proteins have a functional role in tooth mineralization. As yet this function has not been established and abnormalities in tooth formation have not been observed under conditions where BGP and MGP should be formed in a non-functional form.”
I think there’s a good case to be made that most people in modern societies exhibit some degree of “Binder’s syndrome” due to subclinical vitamin K2 deficiency during growth. I believe the evidence suggests that prenatal vitamin K2 MK-4 deficiency is behind narrow dental arches, crooked teeth, underdevelopment of the face and jaw, underdevelopment of the sinuses with mouth breathing in some cases, and poor tooth development resulting in a high susceptibility to dental cavities.

These symptoms are so common they are viewed as normal in industrial societies. There is no other single factor that so elegantly explains these characteristic changes in cranial form. Rickets (vitamin D  deficiency during growth) also causes cranial malformations, but they are distinct from those caused by K2 deficiency.

Humans do not efficiently convert K1 into K2 MK-4 (unlike rats), so we require a ready source of K2 in the diet. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors had a relatively high intake of K2 MK-4 from the organs of wild animals (particularly brain, pancreas, and marrow), insects and seafood. Our food supply today is depleted of K2, due to our avoidance of organ meats and poor animal husbandry practices. K2 MK-4 is found only in animal products. Pastured dairy is the most convenient source of K2 MK-4 in the modern diet, just as it was for the villagers of the Loetschental valley when Dr. Price visited them. Dairy from grain-fed cows contains much less K2.

Price felt that to ensure the proper development of their children, mothers should eat a diet rich in fat-soluble vitamins both before and during pregnancy. This makes sense in light of what we now know. There is a pool of vitamin K2 MK-4 in the organs that turns over very slowly, in addition to a pool in the blood that turns over rapidly. Entering pregnancy with a full store means a greater chance of having enough of the vitamin for the growing fetus. Healthy traditional cultures often fed special foods rich in fat-soluble vitamins to women of childbearing age and expectant mothers, thus ensuring beautiful and robust progeny…..”

“My name is Stephan Guyenet. I received a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Virginia in 2002, and a Ph.D. in neurobiology from the University of Washington in 2009. Professionally, I conduct bench research on body fat regulation. In my spare time, I study and convey time-tested strategies for achieving and maintaining health and well-being. This blog is a free service to whoever wants to read it. It’s supported by generous reader donations. I have no ties to any company or special interest group.”

More on this Vitamin K2 article on the following link…. http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/01/vitamin-k2-and-cranial-development.html

Vitamin K2 – Vitamin K2 Supplements & Pregnancy

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Why the Public May Never Find Out About Vitamin K2!

Vitamin K2 cleans calcium deposits from your arteries and deposits it in your bones, and you have most likely never heard of it?  It’s almost like the old good news/bad news jokes. The good news is Vitamin K2 has been clinically proven to provide extraordinary benefits for bone health and cardiovascular health, plus it is a powerful anti-oxidant and some emerging science indicates it might help your joints and intestinal health. Now for the bad news. It costs $1.5 million per kilogram so most supplement companies find it is not cost effective to include in their formulas. As long as we can buy a house and a Ferrari for the price of a kilo of K2, it may remain a secret that is relegated to research papers! A few companies like AlgaeCal International are dedicated to making vitamin K2 available in significant dosages in spite of the cost, so read on and see why we think it is worth the price.

Forms of Vitamin K

Vitamin K is the name of a group of compounds that are all related to one another. The first one discovered was Phylloquinone or K1. In the last decade most of the research has turned to the more effective Menaquinones, or vitamin K2. The vitamin K2′s are further divided into MK-4, MK-7 and several other forms. Recent studies have shown vitamin MK-7 to be more complete and have additional heart condition benefits.

You Need Vitamin K But in Most Cases Your Body Does Not Manufacture Enough of it

A healthy intestinal tract can produce Vitamin K but in many cases it is not produced efficiently so it must be supplied by your food. Vitamin K is different from other fat soluble vitamins because it cannot be stored in the body either. It will almost always be necessary to get Vitamin K from your diet.

When you eat vitamin K1 in your food, only 5-10% of ingested K1 is absorbed and reaches your blood, but almost 100% of K2 is absorbed into your blood stream where it can be distributed for beneficial use in tissues including bones and arteries. Vitamin K2 also lasts for several days in your bloodstream compared to K1 which mostly disappears in a few hours.

Foods that include reasonable amounts of vitamin K1 include leafy vegetables, olive oil, cheese, liver, soy beans, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, coffee, and green tea. More than 80% of the Vitamin K in western diets consists of vitamin K1. The more beneficial form, K2, is difficult to find in your diet with the exception of the Japanese traditional food, Natto1

Vitamin K2 and Your Heart

K2 has been reported to decrease serum cholesterol and cholesterol deposits in the aorta, contributing to the suppression of atherosclerosis.16-17 Vitamin K2 has been linked to a reduction in coronary heart disease. In fact one very large and significant study conducted in the Netherlands in 2004 followed 4800 healthy men and women for ten years. It found vitamin K2 reduced the risk of coronary heart disease mortality by 50%!19 Aortic calcification was also reduced by 30-40% in this famous Rotterdam study.

Vitamin K2 Safety

If you take Coumadin, Heparin, or another anti-coagulant you should consult your physician before taking vitamin K2 supplements. Vitamin K2 helps normal coagulation of blood. High levels of K2 do not cause abnormal blood clotting. You should not be concerned about taking levels of 45 mg/day or less, as numerous Japanese studies have shown even this high level is safe for adults. Most vitamin K2 supplements offer 45 – 150 micrograms per day.

Is Vitamin K2 safe for Pregnant Women?

Pregnant women should be especially conscious of their vitamin K intake because the following birth defects have been linked to vitamin K deficiency:

Cardiac dysfunction
Craniofacial abnormalities
Flat nasal bridge
Growth disorders
Learning disorders
Microcephaly
Neural tube defects
For further information on this article see:  http://www.algaecal.com/vitamin-k2.html

Vitamin K2 – Putting Calcium Where It Belongs

Vitamin K2: Putting Calcium Where It Belongs

Vitamin K’s job is to put calcium in the right places and keep it from being deposited in the wrong places. The right places are bones and blood, and the wrong places include calcification of the vessels, bone spurs and calcification of soft tissues.

Vitamin K Supplementation Retards Postmenopausal Bone Loss

Low Vitamin K Intake as a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease

Vitamin K Supplementation Prevents Age Related Vascular Stiffening

Other Benefits of Vitamin K

Anti-Inflammatory

Further research has demonstrated vitamin K’s anti-inflammatory action. As the body ages, levels of the inflammation-promoting cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) increase. Once IL-6 becomes out of balance with the other cytokines, inflammation accelerates. It has been observed that people with arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, and atherosclerosis have higher levels of IL-6. In a study done by the National Research Institute in Italy, it was shown that subjects with the highest levels of IL-6 were almost twice as likely to develop mobility-related disabilities.

Diabetes

The second highest concentration of vitamin K in the body is in the pancreas, which plays a major role in blood sugar and insulin regulation. In animal studies, Japanese researchers found that when they induced vitamin K deficiency, the test animals developed Type II diabetes. 31

Antioxidant

Research has indicated that vitamin K has antioxidant activity comparable to vitamin E and CoQ10. 32,33 Animal studies have demonstrated complete hepatic (liver) protection from induced oxidative stress using vitamin K, and was found to be 80% as effective as vitamin E in preventing oxidation.

Alzheimer’s

About 25% of the population have a genetic predisposition for developing Alzheimer’s disease – they carry the E4 form of the lipoprotein apoE. Interestingly, people who carry this gene have been found to have low levels of vitamin K. Calcification and the development of lesions in blood vessels that feed the brain tissues are believed to be a component of Alzheimer’s development. Further research may reveal high-dose vitamin K therapy to be preventive.

Japanese Study on Vitamin K2 & Viral Cirrhosis-Related Liver Cancer

Vitamin K2 References:

1. Schurgers LJ, Vermeer C. Differential lipoprotein transport pathways of K-vitamins in healthy subjects. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2002 Feb 15;1570(1):27-32.

2. Kelleys Textbook of Internal Medicine, Fourth Edition, 2000, Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA.

3. Knapen MH, Jie KS, Hamulyak K, Vermeer C. Vitamin K-induced changes in markers for osteoblast activity and urinary calcium loss. Calcif Tissue Int. 1993 Aug;53(2):81-5.

4. Booth SL, Sokoll LJ, O’Brien ME, Tucker K, Dawson-Hughes B, Sadowski JA. Assessment of dietary phylloquinone intake and vitamin K status in postmenopausal women. Eur J Clin Nutr. 1995 Nov;49(11):832-41.

5. Vermeer C, Braam L, Schurgers L, Brouns F. Agro-Food Industry Hi-Tech 2002, 13:11-15.

6. Hart JP, Catterall A, Dodds RA, Klenerman L, Shearer MJ, Bitensky L, Chayen J. Lancet ii 283 (1984).

7. Hart JP, Shearer MJ, Klenerman L, Catterall A, Reeve J, Sambrook PN, Dodds RA, Bitensky L, Chayen J. Electrochemical detection of depressed circulating levels of vitamin K1 in osteoporosis. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1985 Jun;60(6):1268-9.

8. Hodges SJ, Pilkington MJ, Stamp TC, Catterall A, Shearer MJ, Bitensky L, Chayen J. Depressed levels of circulating menaquinones in patients with osteoporotic fractures of the spine and femoral neck. Bone. 1991;12(6):387-9.

9. Hodges SJ, Akesson K, Vergnaud P, Obrant K, Delmas PD. Circulating levels of vitamins K1 and K2 decreased in elderly women with hip fracture. J Bone Miner Res. 1993 Oct;8(10):1241-5.

10. Booth SL, Pennington JA, Sadowski JA. Food sources and dietary intakes of vitamin K-1 (phylloquinone) in the American diet: data from the FDA Total Diet Study. J Am Diet Assoc. 1996 Feb;96(2):149-54.

11. Booth SL, Suttie JW. Dietary intake and adequacy of vitamin K. J Nutr. 1998 May;128(5):785-8.

12. Thane CW, Paul AA, Bates CJ, Bolton-Smith C, Prentice A, Shearer MJ. Intake and sources of phylloquinone (vitamin K1): variation with socio-demographic and lifestyle factors in a national sample of British elderly people. Br J Nutr. 2002 Jun;87(6):605-13.

13. Feskanich D, Weber P, Willett WC, Rockett H, Booth SL, Colditz GA. Vitamin K intake and hip fractures in women: a prospective study. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 Jan;69(1):74-9.

14. Booth SL, Broe KE, Gagnon DR, Tucker KL, Hannan MT, McLean RR, Dawson-Hughes B, Wilson PW, Cupples LA, Kiel DP. Vitamin K intake and bone mineral density in women and men. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Feb;77(2):512-6.

15. Booth SL, Tucker KL, Chen H, Hannan MT, Gagnon DR, Cupples LA, Wilson PW, Ordovas J, Schaefer EJ, Dawson-Hughes B, Kiel DP. Dietary vitamin K intakes are associated with hip fracture but not with bone mineral density in elderly men and women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000 May;71(5):1201-8.

16. Braam LAJLM, Knapen MHJ, Geusens P, Brouns F, Hamulyak K, Gerichhausen MJW, Vermeer C. Vitamin K1 supplementation retards bone loss in postmenopausal women between 50 and 60 years of age. Calcif. Tissue Int. 72, epub (2003).

17. Bolton-Smith C, Mole PA, McMurdo MET, Paterson CR, Shearer MJ. Ann. Nutr. Metab. 45 Suppl. 1 246 (2001).

18. Orimo H, Shiraki M, Tomita A, Morii H, Fujita T, Ohata M. J. Bone Miner. Metab. 16:106-112, 1998.

19. Shiraki M, Shiraki Y, Aoki C, Miura M. Vitamin K2 (menatetrenone) effectively prevents fractures and sustains lumbar bone mineral density in osteoporosis. J Bone Miner Res. 2000 Mar;15(3):515-21.

20. Iwamoto J, Takeda T, Ichimura S. Effect of menatetrenone on bone mineral density and incidence of vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis: a comparison with the effect of etidronate. J Orthop Sci. 2001;6(6):487-92.

21. Jie KS, Bots ML, Vermeer C, Witteman JC, Grobbee DE. Vitamin K intake and osteocalcin levels in women with and without aortic atherosclerosis: a population-based study. Atherosclerosis. 1995 Jul;116(1):117-23.

22. Geleijnse JM, Vermeer C, Schurgers LJ, Grobbee DE, Pols HAP, Witteman JCM. Thromb. Haemostas. (Suppl July) P473, 2001.

23. Kawashima H, Nakajima Y, Matubara Y, Nakanowatari J, Fukuta T, Mizuno S, Takahashi S, Tajima T, Nakamura T. Effects of vitamin K2 (menatetrenone) on atherosclerosis and blood coagulation in hypercholesterolemic rabbits. Jpn J Pharmacol. 1997 Oct;75(2):135-43.

24. Spronk HM, Soute BA, Schurgers LJ, Thijssen HH, De Mey JG, Vermeer C. Tissue-specific utilization of menaquinone-4 results in the prevention of arterial calcification in warfarin-treated rats. J Vasc Res. 2003 Nov-Dec;40(6):531-7. Epub 2003 Dec 3.

25. Braam LAJLM. Thesis, Maastricht ISBN 90-5681-145-2, 2002.

26. Schurgers LJ, Vermeer C. Determination of phylloquinone and menaquinones in food. Effect of food matrix on circulating vitamin K concentrations. Haemostasis. 2000 Nov-Dec;30(6):298-307.

27. Ronden JE, Drittij-Reijnders MJ, Vermeer C, Thijssen HH. Intestinal flora is not an intermediate in the phylloquinone-menaquinone-4 conversion in the rat. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1998 Jan 8;1379(1):69-75.

28. Vermeer C, Braam L, Knapen M and Schurgers L; Vitamin K supplementation: a simple way to improve vascular health. Agr Food Industry hi Tech Nov 2003.

29. Vermeer C, Shearer MJ, Zittermann A, Bolton-Smith C, Szulc P, Hodges S, Walter P, Rambeck W, Stocklin E, Weber P. Beyond deficiency: potential benefits of increased intakes of vitamin K for bone and vascular health. Eur J Nutr. 2004 Dec;43(6):325-35. Epub 2004 Feb 5.

30. Schurgers LJ. Thesis, Maastricht ISBN 90-5681-138-X, 2002.

31. Sakamoto N, Wakabayashi I, Sakamoto K. Low vitamin K intake effects on glucose tolerance in rats. Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 1999 Jan;69(1):27-31.

32. Mukai K, Itoh S, Morimoto H. Stopped-flow kinetic study of vitamin E regeneration reaction with biological hydroquinones (reduced forms of ubiquinone, vitamin K, and tocopherolquinone) in solution. J Biol Chem. 1992 Nov 5;267(31):22277-81.

33. Mukai K, Morimoto H, Kikuchi S, Nagaoka S. Kinetic study of free-radical-scavenging action of biological hydroquinones (reduced forms of ubiquinone, vitamin K and tocopherol quinone) in solution. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1993 Jul 11;1157(3):313-7.

34. Habu D, Shiomi S, Tamori A, Takeda T, Tanaka T, Kubo S, Nishiguchi S. Role of vitamin K2 in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in women with viral cirrhosis of the liver. JAMA, 2004 Jul 21;292(3):358-61.

Entire Article at:  http://www.springboard4health.com/notebook/v_k2.html

Osteoporosis and Vitamin K2 Intervention—the Evidence

Since it was first discovered in 1929, vitamin K has been best been known for its crucial role in the blood-clotting process. Since that time, scientists have uncovered compelling evidence that vitamin K plays an equally important role in bone health.

The majority of vitamin K research to date has focused on vitamin K1, the dominant dietary form of vitamin K that occurs in green, leafy vegetables. Yet it appears that vitamin K2, which occurs in organ meats, egg yolks, and dairy products, is a more important inducer of bone mineralization in human osteoblasts (bone-building cells) than vitamin K1.4

The Japanese long ago recognized the power of vitamin K2 to maintain or restore bone health. In certain regions of Japan, a staple dish called natto or fermented soybean, frequently eaten several times a week, is uniquely rich in vitamin K2. Recent scientific examination has pinpointed vitamin K2, and in particular vitamin K2 as menaquinone-7 (MK-7), as the active ingredient in this popular eastern Japanese dish, as having a supportive effect on bone quality during osteoporosis treatment.5

People living in the Japanese regions where this dish is eaten have several-fold greater blood levels of vitamin K2 (MK-7), accompanied by less osteoporosis and bone fractures.6

These findings are supported by clinical trials, in which vitamin K2 has been shown to successfully reduce the incidence of bone fractures. A two-year Japanese study found that vitamin K2 (MK-4) reduced the incidence of vertebral (spine) fractures by 52% in 120 patients with osteoporosis, compared with patients who did not receive this nutrient.7 The high dose used in this trial—as with most studies examining vitamin K2’s effect on bone density—was 45 mg/day, a prescription dose used in Japan to treat osteo-porosis that is unavailable in the US. As you will read later, lower doses of K2 found in dietary supplements appear to also provide significant benefits.

CASE HISTORY: HEART DISEASE LINKED WITH OSTEOPOROSIS

Fit and trim at age 67, Walter had no reason to believe that he had any hidden health conditions.

He’d had annual physicals for the past seven years, passing them all. According to his doctor, his cholesterol numbers had been fine for years. But Walter’s brother-in-law, a physician whose own brush with heart disease prompted him to warn everyone else in the family about the possibility, suggested that he undergo a computed tomography heart scan. Walter’s heart scan score was 3,367, a high score that signaled a dangerous content of calcified atherosclerotic plaque in his coronary arteries linked to a high risk for heart attack. In fact, Walter’s score put him in the 99th percentile, meaning that his calcium score was in the worst 1% of all men in his age group (and carried an annual risk for heart attack of 25% without preventive efforts).

At about the same time, Walter enrolled for a screening service that came to his church offering ultrasound screening for abdominal aneurysm, carotid disease, and osteoporosis. While Walter proved to have no aneurysm or carotid issues, he did show the bone density of someone 20 years older, revealing an advanced state of osteoporosis.

While seemingly unrelated, Walter’s arterial calci-fication and osteoporosis were likely connected through the common mechanism of inadequate levels of vitamin K.

Vitamin K2 has also proven to be as effective as prescription drugs in reducing the incidence of bone fractures. In one Japanese study in post-menopausal women that compared the effect of K2 (MK-4) with the drug etidronate (Didronel®) on the incidence of vertebral (spine) fracture, women taking K2 at a dose of 45 mg per day experienced a fracture rate of 8.0% compared with 8.7% for those taking the drug therapy. Furthermore, women taking both MK-4 and the drug experienced a 3.8% fracture rate—a dramatic combined effect. In comparison, in a placebo group who received neither K2 nor drug therapy, nearly 21% of women experienced bone fractures.8

Experimental animal models of osteoporosis have also revealed that MK-4 improves bone architecture, increases bone mass and mechanical strength, stimulates mineralization (deposition of calcium), and enhances collagen architecture—a cross-linking of fibrous tissue that yields tough but supple bone that is more resistant to fracture.9

On the other hand, osteoporosis—the excessive loss of bone mineral density—results in fractures and leads to devastating events common in those over 65 years, even with minor injuries like a fall. Unfortunately, the drug industry focuses on prescribing drugs late in life when the risk for fracture is high. Strategies that involve nutritional supplements are different. Firstly, they lack the high cost and side effects of prescription drugs. Secondly, they can potentially be started at an earlier age and taken over 20, 30, or more years in order to yield possibly greater benefit than drug therapy started at the  age of 60 to bail out a process that has developed over decades. Although there are no clinical trials for such an extended period, this is an area worthy of future investigation.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: VITAMIN K2

While calcium is essential for good health, aberrant calcium metabolism can lead to disorders such as osteoporosis and cardio-vascular disease. Vitamin K2 is emerging as a key factor in regulating calcium in the body.

Insufficient vitamin K2 leads to decreased bone mineral density, a key factor in osteoporosis, and an excess of calcium in the arterial wall, which increases the risk of heart disease.

In Japan, vitamin K2 has been shown to substantially improve osteoporosis when given either as a high-dose prescription agent or in the staple Japanese dish called natto, which is particularly rich in K2.

Studies have also shown that even modest amounts of vitamin K2 fight heart disease by controlling calcium-regulating proteins in vascular tissue, which keeps calcium out of the arteries and prevents the formation of dangerous calcified plaques.

Vitamin K2 occurs in much smaller quantities in the diet than vitamin K1. Most of us, therefore, get little of these K2-rich foods.

Current dietary guidelines for vitamin K focus on how much is needed to regulate blood clotting and have largely ignored the much higher amount needed to maintain healthy bones and arteries.

For further information on this article go to:  http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2008/mar2008_Protecting-Bone-And-Arterial-Health-With-Vitamin-K2_01.htm

I am currently using IHerb.com for the purchase of larger quantities of Vitamin D3:

http://www.iherb.com/Vitamin-D

Best wishes,

Gail J. Dahl
Award Winning – National Bestselling Author and Childbirth Researcher
National Bestselling “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets”
National Bestselling “Pregnancy & Childbirth Tips”
Executive Director, Innovative Publishing Inc.
Executive Director, Canadian Childbirth Association

http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets

http://www.youtube.com/gaildahl

Gail J. Dahl is a childbirth researcher, award winning and national bestselling author. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Childbirth Association. Dahl has received many awards, including  “The YWCA Woman of Distinction Award”, “The Woman of Vision Award” and “The Great Women of the 21st Century Award” for her contributions toward women’s health and education.

Copyright 2010, Copyright released with references if the article is to be used for the purpose of childbirth education. “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets” by National Bestselling Author Gail J. Dahl. Now available across North America at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Chapters and Indigo Books & Music. For more great secrets see the website at:  http://web.mac.com/pregnancysecrets. The information contained in or provided through this publication is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be, and is not provided as, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your midwife, physician,  or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment or for answers to any questions you may have regarding any medical condition.

I am including some additional information and research on Vitamin D3 to respond to the many that requested more after the last e-newsletter. Thank you to everyone for telling me about your unique experiences with increased Vitamin D3 and your moms and babies!

I am excited to report that the large amounts of Vitamin D3 I have been taking over the past ten days have decreased my pain levels from 100% down to 10%. My Mood and energy levels are vastly improved. Sleeping improved. Every day I am seeing other old conditions begin to clear up. All traces of depression have been eliminated. Every day I am waking up curious to see if anything else will change or improve. If you know of anyone experiencing chronic pain and/or depression or a serious health condition, please pass this article on to them, I am sure they will appreciate the opportunity to view this critically important health information.

Today I am taking up to 30,000 IU’s of Vitamin D3 daily and plan to work up to taking 50,000 IU’s daily. I am also including 100 Micrograms of Vitamin K2 on a weekly basis and have removed all calcium supplements from my program. Write in and tell me your story if you are also on the D3 program and are seeing some amazing results too, of course this should be in consultation with your personal physician. I love to hear of everyone’s stories! Based on the results so far, this is one health product I know I will keep up with for the rest of my life!!  Best wishes, Gail

The information contained in or provided through this publication is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be, and is not provided as, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your midwife, physician, or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment or for answers to any questions you may have regarding any medical condition.

Wellbeing & Healing

Vitamin D Boosts Immunity © by C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D.
By C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D.

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Norm Shealy, a neurosurgeon at Duke and the founder of both the American Holistic Medical Association and the Pain Rehabilitation Center at the Shealy Institute in Missouri; and his partner Caroline Myss, Ph.D., also an Intuitive Medical Diagnostic and author of numerous books, is one of the world’s leading experts in pain management. He was among the first physicians ever to specialize in the resolution of chronic pain.
Nov 8, 2009

Vitamin D has long been known to enhance immune function, even curing tuberculosis of the skin. In the past few years it has been shown to increase naturally body-produced antibiotics! It has now been repeatedly reported that taking 2000 units of D 3 per kg of body weight daily for 3 days, at the first sign of influenza, markedly reduces symptoms and speeds recovery. In Europe and in Australia there are reports of using a single dose of 600,000 units of D3 once a year to prevent flu—far more effective and safer than flu vaccines!

In the kidneys Vitamin D 3, the only physiologically useful form of D, is converted to Calcitriol, a significant anti-cancer hormone. This conversion may be responsible for the significant benefit of D 3 in preventing cancer of many organs. Vitamin D also is a potent inhibitor of vascular calcification—that is it can significantly reduce the potential for atherosclerosis. As with D’s major effect upon bone metabolism, Vitamin K 2 is an essential co-factor.

According to the Vitamin D Council “Current research has implicated vitaminD deficiency as a major factor in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more.”

The January 2, 2009 issue of SCIENCE has an interesting article confirming to me what I have long believed about glioblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor—highly associated with cytomegalovirus. Since a majority of people are deficient in vitamin D, that may be a major precipitating reason for development of this malignancy!

One of the myths rampant in the medical profession is vitamin D toxicity. There are numerous papers demonstrating the safety of at least 10,000 units of D 3 daily and one published paper states that 50,000 unit daily is a safe level. One clinical report of D toxicity occurred in a man who had taken 156,000 to 2, 604,000 units of D for two years! He recovered uneventfully. In general the risk of large dosages of D is that of excess calcium, so that those taking more than 10,000 units of calcium daily should never take calcium supplements. Individuals with hyperparathyroidism or some granuolomatous diseases, which leads to excess calcium in the blood, should not take large dosages of D-for them probably 2,000 units of D 3 daily is the maximum to be used. Incidentally, vitamin A (as in cod liver oil) -NOT beta carotene-blocks vitamin D. On the other hand, I take 200,000 units of beta carotene and my vitamin D level (on 50,000 units daily) is quite high, but my calcium level is normal.

The bottom line is:
All individuals over the age of 12 should take a barebones minimum of 50,000 units of D 3 and 100 micrograms of K 2 once a month
Individuals who do not have elevated blood levels of calcium should consider taking 50,000 units of D 3 and 100 Micrograms of K 2 once a week

I will soon be reporting on a study of 50,000 units of D 3 and 100 micrograms of K 2 daily over a 6 month period
Meanwhile, if you have a feeling of “getting” the flu, take 2000 units of D 3 PER KG OF BODY WEIGHT, daily for 3 days.

Many recommend regular testing of your blood levels of D. The following is from the newsletter of Dr. Joe Prendergast who awakened me to the broader field of vitamin D a year ago:

D*action Vitamin D Testing
D*action: A Consortium of Scientists, Institutions and Individuals
Committed to Solving the Worldwide Vitamin D Deficiency Epidemic.
Scientists are calling for a standard vitamin D intake of 2000 IU/day and the achievement of a serum level of 40-60 ng/ml. Scientists’ Call to Action.

GrassrootsHealth has launched a worldwide public health campaign to solve the vitamin D deficiency epidemic in a year through a focus on testing and education with all individuals spreading the word.

Everyone is invited to join in this campaign! Join D*action and test two times per year during a 5 year program to demonstrate the public health impact of this nutrient.

$30 and a quick health survey allows everyone to get a vitamin D blood spot test kit to be used at home (except in the state of New York) have the results sent directly to them take action to adjust their own levels to get to the desired ranges with whatever help is needed from their healthcare practitioners.

With only 100 people joining up today, and getting 2 friends to join in 2 weeks (and those 2 friends getting 2 more), by week 42, there could be 400,000,000 people who are vitamin D ‘replete’! (more than the United States population).

Click www.grassrootshealth.net/questionnaire-welcome

If you have not yet checked BOUNCE, do it now! And share with all your contacts! www.MedicalRenaissanceSeries.com/Bounce

For the original article by Dr. Norm Shealy, please click here.

For more information, please visit www.selfhealthsystems.com

Other Links for Dr. Norman Shealy:

http://enews.endocrinemetabolic.com/2008/05/vitamin-dthe-cure-for-many-diseases.html

http://radioforyourhealth.com/?cat=232

http://sciencestage.com/v/13841/biochemical-foundations-for-longevity-c.-norman-shealy,-md,-phd.html

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A Big Fundraising Thank You!
A Huge thank you for all who came out and assisted at the Canadian Childbirth Association March 2010 fundraiser! Because of you, our event was a success!! We look forward to helping to restore our native birth culture with the funds raised. I thank you and our native young mothers thank you!

Attention:  Breastmilk Needed for Baby Anaya

Hi Gail,
I have a big favor to ask of you now.  I just received this email from the Kootenay Doula Group. There is a very sick little baby girl in Nelson. She is in need of breastmilk.  What I would like to do is contact breastfeeding moms here and get a collection of breastmilk and bring it out.  I was also hoping to get a collection going to buy a cooler, pay for the gas to get there and back and to help out the family. I know this family personally and I have just   found out how much this is needed.  I would very much appreciate it if you could pass this along to anyone who might be able to help out… Jacqueline

Healing Anaya at:  www.healinganaya.blogspot.com.

Contact Jacqueline: noellebyrne@hotmail.com

Take a look at this new research on the importance of Vitamin D for increasing breastmilk production and improving general health. I have just started increasing my Vitamin D in order to increase my own health.  I have heard of some fabulous results from other people and am looking forward to some fabulous results for myself. You may consider asking your moms to look at increasing their Vitamin D levels when breastfeeding after you look at this important article. Best, Gail

“Dr. Joe Prendergast has managed over 1500 diabetic patients and, in the last decade, not one of his patients has had a stroke or heart attack. Only one has even been hospitalized. His secret – 50,000 units of Vitamin D3 daily.
He further reports on the:

Reversal of advanced coronary disease
Reversal of advanced lung disease, avoiding a lung transplant!
Cure of multiple sclerosis
Cure of amotophic lateral sclerosis
Regression of rheumatoid arthritis
Improvement in allergies
Control of many cancers including prostrate, breast, colon, brain tumors, leukemia, myeloma, etc
Reversal of osteoporosis
Prevention of influenza
Cure of depression and many other mental disorders
Hyperthyroidism

Upon my return home, I searched the literature and found thousands of articles supporting in general every possibility Dr. Prendergast mentioned. Interestingly, I did not find a single article integrating all this remarkable potential benefit in virtually every disease. Indeed, I know of no supplement or treatment that is so successful in such a broad variety of diseases. One of Vitamin D’s greatest effects appears to be immune modulation. Indeed, even tuberculosis is strongly correlated with a deficiency of Vitamin D.

Vitamin D enhances calcium absorption, which enhances milk production in pregnant women. Suckling of the breast induces prolactin and oxytocin production (even in non-pregnant women) the nurturing and trust hormones. Everything is related to everything!

The recommended daily intake of Vitamin D is only 400 units. When I was in medical school dosages above 1000 units were thought to be toxic-perhaps because most of the D then came fom cod liver oil and were associated with significant amounts of Vitamin A. Vitamin A is toxic at long term dosages above 10,000 Units, although beta carotene is safe at dosages up to hundreds of thousands of units. There are several articles which emphasize the safety of Vitamin D up to 10,000 units. And a single article suggests that 50,000 units will not induce toxicity. Among the most interesting articles are many that emphasize the remarkable decrease in Type 1 diabetes in children given 2000 units of Vitamin D throughout early childhood-up to a 80% decreased incidence. Dr. Prendergast recommends increasing to 50,000 units at puberty. There are also suggestions that gluten sensitivity may be increased because of inadequate Vitamin D. Since one-third of Americans have gluten sensitivity, a Vitamin D deficiency may be a contributor.

One article has stated that 15 minutes of exposure to sunlight on face and hands leads to the production of 400 units of Vitamin D. Total body exposure might then be approximately 8,000 units per hour. One could argue that our forebears living in the tropics, might have produced well over 50,000 units of Vitamin D daily!!

Dr. Prendergast warns that patients taking 50,000 units of Vitamin D3 should not take any calcium supplements! It is fine to have some milk products and the small dose of calcium in most multivitamins will not be a problem. Since most adults seem to have deposits of calcium outside bones, in arteries, around joints, etc, perhaps the Vitamin D assists in retrieving calcium from these undesirable deposits. The other exception to the 50,000 units of Vitamin D would be individuals with kidney failure, those on dialysis. Although there is great evidence that Vitamin D is needed and that a Vitamin D deficiency is related to kidney failure, the dose in these individuals should be monitored by blood levels.

In summary, the evidence for safety and remarkable efficacy of Vitamin D3 suggests that virtually all adults should probably take 50,000 units of Vitamin D3 daily. This is certainly true for those with virtually any illness. If you are concerned about that dosage, then take six 50,000 unit capsules each month. Children, pre-puberty should take 2,000 units of Vitamin D3.”

Upcoming Event:
THE SECOND ANNUAL
MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT WEEKEND

Join us for learning and rejuvenation
Saturday, March 6th  on the 2nd Floor of the Central Library (616 Macleod Trail SE) in the John Dutton Theatre.
This is a free event for the public

11:00 – 12:00 p.m.
The Art and Science of Birth Learn how to prepare for a positive birth experience with national bestselling author
Gail J. Dahl,  Author of “Pregnancy & Childbirth Secrets”, Executive Director and Founder of The Canadian Childbirth Association. Uncovering the art and science of birth.
Also available for information before and after presentation:
The Canadian Childbirth Association
The Calgary Doula Association
The Shen Center
Hypnobirthing

For further information on this upcoming event go to: http://blog.calgarypubliclibrary.com/blogs/cplnews/archive/2010/01/12/mind-body-spirit.aspx

We still need a few more wonderful volunteers for our upcoming fundraiser for March 16th and 17th, 2010. If you have a few hours for a terrific cause, please come out and give us a hand. Call Gail at 403-454-0888 if you can assist the Canadian Childbirth Association at this important event.

Attend Midwifery Today Conferences!

Meet Midwives from around the World!
Everyone Is Welcome!

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA — “Trends and Traditions in Midwifery and Birth” — April 14–18, 2010

Moscow, Russia — “Birthing in Love: Everyone”s Right” — 9–13 June 2010

Strasbourg, France — “Birth Is a Human Rights Issue” — 29 September – 3 October, 2010