Recently, Vitamin D has been hyped in the news and many doctors are now making it a priority to test their patients’ levels. If the test reveals that your level is too low, should you supplement? New research suggest that anyone with a Th1 immune dysfunction shouldn’t.
There are two forms of vitamin D in your body, inactive and active. The inactive is changed into the active D through the kidneys; the body's natural active D regulator. Once converted, normal levels help to balance the immune system but high amounts behave similarly to the steroid prednisone, which reduces inflammation and consequently suppresses the immune system.
One theory is that Th1 diseases such as sarcoidosis, lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis (among others)are initiated in the body by Cell Wall Deficient (CWD) bacteria of various species that invades the white cells of the immune system.
The CWD bacteria short-circuit the body’s natural checks and balances by allowing excessive quantities of active D to be produced within the white blood cells. High levels of active D weaken the immune system thereby permitting the bacteria to multiply and reprogram the genes. Research has found that a cell invaded by CWD bacteria led to 70 new genes and 368 altered genes.
The common test that doctors use for Vitamin D testing is 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (Calcidiol, Calcifidiol) which only measures the inactive D. This test is acceptable for a healthy individual and supplementation may be recommended.
But, if you have an immune disease and test low for inactive D, request that your doctor check your active D through 1,25 dihydroxy-vitamin D (Calcitriol) test, BEFORE you supplement with Vitamin D.
CWD bacteria will generate low inactive D and high active D. If you find yourself in this situation, you may be interested in reading about Professor Trevor Marshall, Ph.D who in 2002 developed the “Marshall Protocol” to treat certain diseases that involve the Th1 immune system dysfunction.
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