There is also a condition growing quite common:
children with unrecognized, subclinical rickets. If your child has a sweaty
head when asleep, coupled with sensitive scalp that makes it a struggle to
comb the hair, and when walking, the child keeps calling, “Mommy, pick me
up”, the child needs two teaspoons of cod-liver oil each day to avoid
full-blown rickets. Fish oil and flax oil can inhibit the action of the
staphylococcal, membrane-damaging toxins also. Rickets may also present a
bulging forehead and a sunken chest. Get the kid in sun! He needs the
vitamin D, and the sun will convert trans vitamin A (palmitate) to the cis
form. Vitamin D–deficient, IL-10 KO mice bred to develop irritable bowel
syndrome, rapidly developed diarrhea and a wasting disease, which induced
mortality. In contrast, vitamin D–sufficient, IL-10 KO mice did not develop
diarrhea, waste, or die—
Children with rickets have reduced numbers of circulating CD8 killer T-cells. As these cells are involved in ridding the body of virus-infected cells, this may be a reflection of reduced antiviral immunity. On the other hand, B-cells, which are the cells that make antibodies, are increased in the circulation of these patients. There have been no recent studies, however, to determine whether these B-cells have normal function. Nevertheless, the child is Th2 dominant and needs to rebalance his immune function with an adequate intake of vitamin D.
Gregory A. Plotnikoff, MD, of the University of Minnesota Medical School found a much higher incidence of vitamin D deficiency in patients with unexplained muscle and skeletal pain than expected, regardless of their ages. All African Americans, East Africans, Hispanics, and Native Americans who participated in the study were vitamin D deficient, as were all of the patients under the age of 30. The researcher says it was a big surprise that the worst vitamin D deficiencies ccurred in young people -- especially women of childbearing age (frightening prospects for any children. Almost half of new mothers and one-third of their babies suffer from vitamin D deficiency, according to new Canadian research). “The message here is that unexplained pain may very well be linked to a vitamin D deficiency,” says Plotnikoff. “My hope is that patients with unexplained pain will be tested for vitamin D status, and treated, if necessary.”
My friend, Dr. Daniel Duffy, adds this: “The quadricep muscle is related to the small intestine function and vitamin D, and the relationship can be demonstrated especially in people with knee pain due to quadricep weakness. In the winter, people are sunlight deficient and suffer a lot of knee pain and small intestine connected problems due to the lack of sunlight. One thirty-second dose of ultaviolet from my lamp usually eliminates the knee pain at least momentarily by turning on the quadricep muscle. Administration of vitamin D helps resolve the cases.” Additionally, “Low intakes of vitamin D and certain flavonoids emerged as the sole predictors of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke. In biochemical analyses, on the other hand, these disorders were predicted only by low levels of 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D and iron in the serum.” - Marniemi and colleagues published their study in Nutrition Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases.
Other than the sun, you can find high amounts of vitamin D in these foods: fatty fish (e.g. mackerel, salmon, tuna, halibut and cod), shrimp, liver, eggs, enriched milk & dairy products, fortified breakfast cereal and bread. Nevertheless, it will likely be wise to supplement vitamin D3 as discussed elsewhere herein.