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Doctors advise patients to take precautions regarding the amount of vitamin D supplements that they take after a man has developed kidney damage due to excessive doses.
The 54-year-old man had an increase in creatine levels in his blood, suggesting kidney damage and dysfunction. After being referred to a kidney specialist and subjected to further tests, doctors discovered that a naturopathic man had prescribed a high dose of vitamin D to the man.
The naturopath advised the man to take eight drops of vitamin D a day. Over a period of more than two years, humans consumed daily between 8,000 and 12,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D.
The recommended daily amount for an average person is between 400 and 1,000 IU.
Due to the high amount of vitamin D that he took, he had too much calcium in the blood, which resulted in kidney damage.
"It was amazing to see how much kidney function he lost so suddenly that he almost needed dialysis," said Dr. Bourne Auguste, a clinical researcher in home dialysis at Toronto General Hospital and at the University of Ottawa. University of Toronto.
"The toxicity of vitamin D had already been reported in the medical literature, but it was extremely rare," he said. "The main surprise was that this patient was taking as much vitamin D as possible to strengthen the bones, but he was not aware of the risk of toxicity badociated with extremely high doses.
"Kidney failure is not reversible. In this case, 30 to 35% of renal function remains in this patient. Before this exposure to vitamin D, its function was greater than 70%.
"Patients with progressive renal failure and generally having less than 10 to 15% functional functions usually need dialysis to remove toxins from the body. This patient has an extremely high risk of needing dialysis at some point in his life. Her kidney failure was due to high levels of calcium in the blood. Deposits of calcium in various parts of the kidney caused lesions, "Auguste explained.
Vitamin D plays an important role in helping the body develop strong bones.
It allows the body to absorb adequate levels of calcium and phosphate, which ensure bone health.
The average person derives most of their vitamin D from sunlight, although fortified foods, such as milk and cereals, can also provide vitamin D.
According to the Mayo Clinic, most American adults consume enough vitamin D without supplementation. Yet, more and more people are taking supplements.
In the case of the 54-year-old man, the naturopath had prescribed high doses of vitamin D while the man had no prior vitamin D deficiency nor loss bone.
It's a trend that, according to Dr. Sterling Ransone, Jr., director of the American Academy of Family Physicians, is starting to become commonplace.
"Unfortunately, many people badociate vitamins and" natural "products with safety … Unfortunately, this is not the case, and you can easily take too much. In particular fat-soluble vitamins, vitamins A, D, E and K, "Ransone told Healthline.
"If you had asked me eight years ago, I would have told you that they were absolutely necessary," he added. "(But) in the past two years, studies that have been reported have not really shown the benefits of vitamin D supplementation."
Taking too much vitamin D can cause problems such as constipation and nausea and, in more severe cases, kidney stones and kidney damage.
Vitamin D supplementation is a controversial topic. The experts who spoke with Healthline expressed divergent views on the need for supplementation.
Dr. Zhaoping Li, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, is supportive of vitamin D supplementation – provided it is done safely under the guidance of a physician.
"Vitamin D supplementation is important for most of us, provided we take it responsibly. Side effects are very rare. There is a trend, corroborated by evidence, with the recommended vitamin D supplementation, but that does not mean that the more we are crazy, the more we laugh, "she told Healthline.
Many experts who have spoken with Healthline have noted a trend in people who believe that vitamins, supplements or "natural" treatments are safe and can therefore be taken in large doses.
"There seems to be a belief that if a little is good, he has to do more, which can cause problems and side effects, as in this case," said Dr. Stephen Bent, professor of medicine, d & # 39; 39, Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University. from California, San Francisco, told Healthline.
However, according to Bent, recent research has shown that higher levels do not necessarily mean improved health outcomes.
He notes that a randomized controlled trial published this year, called the VITAL study, randomly badigned a large group of adults to a placebo or 2000 IU vitamin D daily.
"The study focused on cardiovascular outcomes like heart attacks, stroke and cancer, and found no benefit of vitamin D over placebo," Bent said.
"So, at least at these doses (more than twice the recommendation of the Institute of Medicine), there does not seem to be any additional benefit to health. Some people still believe that even higher doses, 5,000 or 10,000 IU, may have some benefits, but this has not been scientifically proven, "he added.
The recommendations for safe daily doses of vitamin D range from 400 to 1,000 IU per day to 2,000 IU per day.
According to Auguste, a patient is unlikely to develop toxicity, like that of a 54-year-old man, if he takes less than 4,000 IU per day. But that does not mean that vitamin D has to be taken.
"Everyone does not need to take vitamin D, let alone high doses. The message to remember is that taking high doses of vitamin D does not necessarily equate to more benefits. This can lead to significant harm, and patients and practitioners should be more aware of its risks, "Auguste said.
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