Michael F. Holick Ph.D. M.D. - The Vitamin D Solution: A 3-Step Strategy to Cure Our Most Common Health Problems

Table of Contents

To my best friend and loving wife, Sally Ann, whose dedication to our family and unwavering support of all of my activities have been instrumental in my ability to communicate to the world the insidious health consequences of the vitamin D-deficiency pandemic.

This book has been in its making for nearly thirty years. Without the involvement of my family members, friends, and colleagues, you would not be reading this; it does take a village to put a good book together. I am eternally grateful to my wife, Sally, and our children, Michael Todd and Emily Ann, who not only participated in some of the research that I present in this book, but have also been gracious champions of my career and dedication to vitamin D research.

When Bonnie Solow first called me to ask about doing a book, I knew it was finally time to share the knowledge that I and my colleagues had been collecting through years of steadfast research with the world, much of which was going unnoticed by the general public but could be used to enhance the health of millions. Thank you, Bonnie, for paving the way for this book to finally reach those millions; your leadership, guidance, and enthusiastic support of this project have been invaluable. You are a delight to work with, for your attention to details, good humor, and commitment to overseeing every step in the projects process are a bonus that few authors experience with their agents.

I am most grateful to Kristin Loberg, my ghost writer, who listened to my many scientific presentations as well as stories about my experiences with vitamin D improving the health of Komodo dragons, iguanas, polar bears, and a baby gorilla, just to mention a few. She skillfully helped me weave what I hope is a compelling and convincing message about the vitamin D-deficiency pandemic, its serious health consequences, and how, in three simple steps, you can improve your vitamin D status for good health.

I will forever be indebted to the numerous technicians, students, fellows, and colleagues with whom I have collaborated over the years in the field of vitamin D photobiology, physiology, biochemistry, and clinical application. I am most grateful to my mentor and friend for more than thirty years, Dr. John T. Potts Jr., for his wonderful guidance and counsel. I am appreciative for the support from the UV Foundation in funding some of my research on vitamin D and cancer. A big thanks goes out to Jim and Kathy Shepherd, and John Overstreet for your friendship over the past decade. I am particularly appreciative of the assistance, counsel, and inspiration given to me by Dr. John Adams, Mrs. Mary Aldrich, R.N., Dr. Mary Allen, Dr. Andre Araujo, Ms. Carole Baggerly, Ms. Mara Banks, Dr. Howard Bauchner, Dr. Shally Bhasin, Ms. Rachael Biancuzzo, Dr. Douglass Bibuld, Dr. Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, Dr. George Brainard, Dr. John Cannell, Dr. Laura Carbone, Dr. Tai Chen, Dr. Farhad Chimeh, Dr. Thomas Clemens, Dr. Robert Cousins, Dr. Bess Dawson-Hughes, Mrs. Sheila DeCastro, R.N., Dr. Hector DeLuca, Dr. Emily Demetriou, Dr. Cermina Durakovik, Dr. Christina Economos, Dr. Frank Farraye, Dr. Gary Ferguson, Drs. Cedric and Frank Garland, Dr. William Gehrmann, Dr. Catherine Gordon, Dr. Edward Gorhan, Dr. William Grant, Dr. Susan Greenspan, Dr. Robert Heaney, Dr. Brett Holmquist, Mr. Daniel Jamieson, Dr. David Kenney, Dr. Douglas Kiel, Mrs. Ellen Klein, Dr. Albert Kligman, Dr. Loren Kline, Dr. Polyxeni Koutkia, Dr. Rolfdieter Krause, Dr. Joyce Lee, Dr. Linda Linday, Mr. Zhiren Liu, Dr. Cliford Lo, Dr. Alan Malabanan, Dr. Trond Marksted, Mr. Jeffrey Mathieu, Dr. Lois Matsuoko, Dr. Carlos Mautalen, Ms. Julia McLaughlin, Ms. Janeen McNeil, R.N., Ms. Anne Merewood, Dr. Johan Moan, Dr. Carolyn Moore, Dr. Haraikarn Nimitphong, Dr. James OKeefe, Dr. Jack Omdahl, Dr. John Parrish, Dr. Ralf Paus, Dr. Alberto Perez, Mr. Kelly Persons, Dr. John Pettifor, Dr. Sara Pietras, Dr. Pornpoj Pramyothin, Dr. Kumaravel Rajakumar, Dr. Rahul Ray, Mrs. Swapna Ray, Dr. Jorg Reichrath, Dr. Richard Reitz, Dr. Clifford Rosen, Dr. Irv Rosenberg, Dr. William Rosenberg, Dr. Josh Safer, Dr. Wael Salameh, Dr. Edward Sauter, Dr. Nevin Schrimshaw, Dr. Gary Schwartz, Mr. Jim Shepherd, Dr. Leonid Shinchuk, Dr. Andrzej Slominski, Elizabeth Southworth, Ms. Catherine St. Clair, Dr. Mark St. Lezin, Dr. Tatsuo Suda, Dr. Susan Sullivan, Dr. Vin Tangpricha, Mr. Andrew Tannenbaum, Dr. Xiao Tian, Dr. Duane Ulrey, Mr. Demetrius Vorgias, Dr. Ann Webb, Mr. Lyman Whitlatch, Mr. Frederic Wolff, Mr. Jrg Wolff, Dr Jacobo Wortsman, Dr. Azzie Young, Dr. Vernon Young, Dr. Michael Young, and Dr. Susie Zanello.

Thank you to the members of the Boston University Medical Center community, including its executive administrators, clinical research support staff, the nurses in the general clinical research unit, and my tireless assistant, Lorrie Butler. Thank you, Dr. Weil, for penning my Foreword and being such a passionate advocate of my work through the years.

To the team at Hudson Street Press and Penguin, who endured all of my last-minute requests and changes, and whose insights have helped produce the best book possible for you, the general reader, especially Caroline Sutton, Meghan Stevenson, Elizabeth Keenan, and Alexandra Ramstrum.

And finally, my special thanks go to all the organisms of the world who rely on vitamin D to sustain their life, and whove taught me a great deal about this hormone that humans are now beginning to understand, and appreciate, like never before.

The Vitamin D Solution sets a new standard in health and well-ness that I believe will change the face of medicine as we know it. This indispensable guide helps you understand why vitamin D is so critical to your overall health, and shows how you can harness its rewards through a three-part prescription that anyone can follow. Since identifying the bodys active form of vitamin D some thirty years ago, my friend and colleague Dr. Michael F. Holick has stood at the forefront of vitamin D research, pioneering groundbreaking studies that have linked a wide array of disorders that afflict up to 200 million Americans with a single common risk factorvitamin D deficiency. Its the most common medical condition in the world with sometimes devastating, even fatal, consequences. Whether you live in a northern region like New England, or near me in the sunny southwest where the sun shines most days, you could be suffering from a silent vitamin D deficiency that undermines all of your efforts to achieve optimal health.

Contrary to popular wisdom, vitamin D isnt just about bone health, and it stands uniquely apart from all other vitamins. Vitamin D is actually a hormone that plays a central role in metabolism and also in muscle, cardiac, immune, and neurological functions, as well as in the regulation of inflammation. Increasing the amount of vitamin D in the body can prevent or help treat a remarkable number of ailments, from obesity to arthritis, from high blood pressure to back pain, from diabetes to muscle cramps, from upper respiratory tract infections to infectious diseases, and from fibromyalgia to cancers of the breast, colon, pancreas, prostate, and ovaries. It can safeguard pregnancy, support ideal weight management, reduce abnormal cell growth, and stave off infections and chronic diseases. Who would not want these benefits?

The message of The Vitamin D Solution