[p2p-research] Vitamin D and health (skin color issues)

[Paul D. Fernhout]

A study from 2004 -- apparently it has long been known Afro-Caribbeans in 
the UK were severely Vitamin D deficient:
   "Severe vitamin D deficient rickets in black Afro-Caribbean children "
   http://adc.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/89/1/91
"Concern has been raised over the past few years, at the prevalence of 
rickets in British Asian children and recent immigrants to the UK. Here we 
describe five cases of severe rickets in children of second generation 
Black-African or Caribbean parents who presented to paediatric outpatients 
in a socially deprived area of inner London. Weaning had been unsuccessful 
in all of the cases. The affected children all had biochemical (table 1Go) 
and radiological evidence of severe rickets."

Of course, the publicly supported research is not publicly available.

Ryan pointed out to me the University of Wisconsin has patents related to 
Vitamin D. So, were people perhaps denied Vitamin D as an example of a 
public institution being funded by public dollars privatizing research 
results? Same as I can't easily see that study above on the webL

From:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Alumni_Research_Foundation
"""
In 1923, Harry Steenbock and James Cockwell discovered exposure to 
ultraviolet light increased the Vitamin D concentration in food. After 
discovering that irradiated rat food cured the rats of rickets, Steenbock 
sought a patent. Steenbock then assigned the patent to the newly established 
Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. WARF then licensed the technology to 
Quaker Oats for use in their breakfast cereals. In addition, WARF licensed 
the technology for use as a pharmaceutical, Viosterol. WARF's 
commercialization of Vitamin D culminated in its enrichment of milk.
   "Enriching milk with vitamin D posed a significant challenge to WARF and 
its industry partners. Cereals and pharmaceuticals could be easily fortified 
by adding irradiated yeast or activated lipids (ergosterol) to them as 
sources of vitamin D. But strict pure foods laws at the time prohibited the 
addition of anything to milk, even chocolate. In order to produce vitamin D 
in milk, the milk itself would have to be irradiated. " (quote from site)
   By the time the patent expired in 1945, rickets was all but nonexistent.
   Through innovations from Hector DeLuca, Vitamin D continues to be a large 
percentage of WARF's income, around 70%.
"""

Vitamin D related patents by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation:
  http://www.warf.org/technologies.jsp?techfield=Pharmaceuticals&msnum=890

An example of a patent from 2002, on treating Mustirpe Sclerosis with Vitamin D:
"Dietary Calcium As A Supplement To Vitamin D Compound Treatment Of Multiple 
Sclerosis"
http://www.warf.org/technologies.jsp?techfield=Pharmaceuticals&msnum=890&casecode=P99225US
"The active form of vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol) is a potent 
regulator of the immune system and has shown promise in the treatment of 
multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disease. This invention provides a 
method for more effectively diminishing the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. 
  It involves treating MS patients by administering a calcium supplement in 
addition to a vitamin D compound. The inventors have found that treating 
B10.PL mice with 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol and simultaneously feeding 
them diets high in calcium can completely suppress the induction of 
experimental autoimmune diseases. Because B10.PL mice are an accepted 
experimental model for MS, combining a vitamin D compound with a calcium 
supplement could provide a more effective treatment for MS than vitamin D 
therapy alone."

I don't know for sure, but I'd suspect most of this research is funded at 
least in part by public dollars.

I'm assuming, because the University of Wisconsin says they make a lot of 
money still from Vitamin D, that lawsuits might start flying if someone else 
starts using Vitamin D therapies without a license for various illnesses?

Is it possible this is a case of the patent system linked to profit-oriented 
non-profits damaging the health of billions of people globally? Related:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayh-Dole_Act
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/03/press.htm
http://www.pdfernhout.net/open-letter-to-grantmakers-and-donors-on-copyright-policy.html

If the global health care costs of treating all the diseases that have been 
suggested related to Vitamin D deficiency each year in whole or in part were 
totaled up, from flu through cancer to schizophrenia, it might total in the 
trillions of dollars per year in costs.

If people were somehow getting less Vitamin D because of the societal 
consequences of patents (including competitivenesses among researchers, but 
also making techniques to costly to use or delaying their widespread 
adoption), it is possible the the consequences of proprietary knowledge from 
just this one issue might have cost our global society many trillions of 
dollars and untold personal suffering. Enough money to fund endless 
researchers making more free knowledge. Meanwhile, the University of 
Wisconsin got a little bit bigger.

Obviously, I'm all for the Vitamin D researchers at the University Wisconsin 
as well as other universities getting all the resources they need to do good 
work. But, there may be a huge problem here with public funding strategies 
or research. The proprietary approach to research knowledge may literally 
have been costing trillions of dollars a year (in current dollars) for 
decades taken across the globe. For the past fifty years, at two trillion a 
year in excess medical costs, this might add up to US$100 trillion in excess 
medical costs due to such medical knowledge being proprietary and 
researchers not cooperating more.

Of course, then the huge public health bills are used to justify 
*increasing* the proprietary aspects of medical knowledge to create more 
artificial scarcity -- which is a tremendous and sad irony.

--Paul Fernhout
http://www.pdfernhout.net/


Paul D. Fernhout wrote:
> A newspaper article on the rate, again, not mentioning vitamin D:
>   http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/807945.stm
> """
> African-Caribbean people are six times more likely than whites to be 
> diagnosed as schizophrenic, but research shows this is nothing to do 
> with biology. ... Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry 
> investigated whether black people were somehow genetically more prone to 
> schizophrenia.
>   The answer was no - they found rates among black people in the 
> Caribbean were identical to the white population to the UK. ...
> Professor Robin Murray, from the Institute of Psychiatry, said: "It 
> seems to be something in the social environment, something about being 
> black in Britain.
>   "The experience of black people in the UK almost drives them mad."
> """
> 
> I'm not saying the social environment in Britain can not be toxic as 
> suggested, or the other alternative suggestions (like cultural 
> differences in behavior -- certain types of creativity can border on 
> schizophrenia, for example).
> 
> Although social problems in the UK may also apply to lots of people of 
> any color (even if there was systematic differences related to skin 
> color which made it all worse):
>   "Generation F*cked: How Britain is Eating Its Young"
> http://web.archive.org/web/20080119001830/http://www.adbusters.org/the_magazine/71/Generation_Fcked_How_Britain_is_Eating_Its_Young.html 
> 
> """
> “The reason our children’s lives are the worst among economically 
> advanced countries is because we are a poor version of the USA,” he 
> said. “So the USA comes second from bottom and we follow behind. The age 
> of neo-liberalism, even with the human face that New Labour has given 
> it, cannot stem the tide of the social recession capitalism creates.
> """
> 
> But, what if there was this other simple issue of Vitamin D that 
> accounted for a lot of medical issues in the UK?
> 
> Note that *indirectly* this Vitamin D issue may be an example of the 
> failure of the social safety net in the UK (and USA) for minorities, in 
> that there was perhaps little funding to research these issues from a 
> variety of perspectives? Instead money is spent on other social areas or 
> other drug-based interventions rather than look at nutritional issues.
> 
> (Thanks for your other comments, Ryan.)
> 
> --Paul Fernhout
> http://www.pdfernhout.net/
> 
> 
> Paul D. Fernhout wrote:
>> Another example of a "clueless" puzzle about skin color and health, 
>> from 2007:
>>   "Schizophrenia in black Caribbeans living in the UK: an exploration 
>> of underlying causes of the high incidence rate"
>>   http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2418996
>> """
>> The incidence of schizophrenia in black Caribbeans living in the UK is 
>> substantially higher than in the white British population. When first 
>> reported, these findings were assumed to be a first-generation migrant 
>> effect or merely the result of methodological artefacts associated 
>> with inconsistencies in the diagnosis of schizophrenia in black 
>> Caribbeans and doubts about population denominators. More recently, it 
>> has become clear that the incidence of schizophrenia, based on 
>> standardised diagnosis and sophisticated census methods, is higher 
>> still in second-generation black Caribbeans. The largest study to date 
>> has demonstrated a ninefold higher risk of schizophrenia in 
>> UK-resident black Caribbeans: findings that are of concern to black 
>> Caribbean communities, to their GPs, and to health service managers 
>> responsible for resource allocation. A literature search was carried 
>> in order to explore possible reasons for the reported excess incidence 
>> of schizophrenia in UK-resident black Caribbeans. Competing hypotheses 
>> are reviewed and the paper concludes with a summary of specific social 
>> and psychological risk factors of significance within the black 
>> Caribbean community. Awareness of the factors associated with the 
>> onset and presentation of schizophrenia in black Caribbeans may help 
>> early diagnosis and rapid access to appropriate treatment which, in 
>> turn, appear to be related to improved long-term outcomes. ....
>>   CONCLUSION
>>   The high level of schizophrenia in black Caribbeans living in the UK 
>> probably reflects the interaction of multiple risk factors, many of 
>> which cluster in the black Caribbean community in the UK. Particularly 
>> significant factors appear to be the combination of isolation and 
>> exclusion, both within society (living in areas of low ethnic density 
>> and reduced participation in society) and within the family (family 
>> break-up and paternal separation). These factors seem to be more 
>> powerful than socioeconomic disadvantage, which is more likely to be a 
>> consequence than causal. Racism itself may contribute to social 
>> exclusion, increasing the vulnerability to schizophrenia. Biological 
>> or genetic susceptibility do not appear to explain high rates of 
>> schizophrenia in black Caribbeans. More research is needed about the 
>> role of cannabis, particularly in its more potent forms, and whether 
>> this contributes to the excess of schizophrenia in black Caribbeans.
>>   Understanding of high rates of schizophrenia in some ethnic groups 
>> may be enhanced by an exploration of protective factors. South Asians 
>> have experienced migration, problems with cultural assimilation, and 
>> sociodemographic disadvantage, and yet they experience only marginally 
>> higher rates of schizophrenia than those of the white British 
>> population. Further study is needed on whether social cohesion and 
>> strong family support or other factors within the South Asian 
>> community confer a protective effect.
>> """
>>
>> No mention there of Vitamin D.
>>
>> To repeat: "The largest study to date has demonstrated a ninefold 
>> higher risk of schizophrenia in UK-resident black Caribbeans: findings 
>> that are of concern to black Caribbean communities, to their GPs, and 
>> to health service managers responsible for resource allocation."
>>
>> Such needless suffering. I'm not saying Vitamin D is the only issue -- 
>> but what if it is even just 10% of the issue?
>>
>> There are more than half a million British African-Caribbean in the UK:
>>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_African-Caribbean_community
>>
>> Consider:
>>   http://www.schizophrenia.com/szfacts.htm
>> """
>> Schizophrenia is a devastating disorder for most people who are 
>> afflicted, and very costly for families and society. The overall U.S. 
>> 2002 cost of schizophrenia was estimated to be $62.7 billion, with 
>> $22.7 billion excess direct health care cost ($7.0 billion outpatient, 
>> $5.0 billion drugs, $2.8 billion inpatient, $8.0 billion long-term 
>> care). (source: Analysis Group, Inc.) ... Rates of schizophrenia are 
>> generally similar from country to country—about .5% to 1 percent of 
>> the population (there are variations - but the variance is difficult 
>> to track due to differing measuring standards in many countries, etc.).
>> """
>>
>> So, in the USA, with a three hundred million population, at 1% 
>> incidence, that's about three million cases, or about US$20,000 per 
>> year per person cost for management.
>>
>> Let's assume (I don't know the exact figure for the UK) the lower 
>> bound there of 0.5% rate for UK for schizophrenia. That would mean 
>> 4.5% rate for schizophrenia for Afro-Carribeans in the UK. If all the 
>> excess was all due to Vitamin D deficiency (maybe not), that is an 
>> extra 4% of the population above a baseline 0.5%, or about 30,000 
>> individuals in the UK Afro-Carribean community suffering from this 
>> issue, along with their families and communities. Given the high cost 
>> to deal with schizophrenia on families and communities, that helps 
>> explain some poverty. By the US costs, that would be about US$600 
>> million in costs per year, for something than could perhaps be mostly 
>> prevented by US$20 in Vitamin D pills times about half a million 
>> people, or US$10 million a year. Not to mention the enormous personal 
>> suffering and family suffering.
>>
>> But, the article just says we need more other drugs etc. to deal with 
>> this.
>>
>> --Paul Fernhout
>> http://www.pdfernhout.net/
>>
>> Paul D. Fernhout wrote:
>>> Just sent a note on this to the White House, via their public email 
>>> form.
>>>
>>> Not saying it won't be ignored, but sometimes the easiest things are 
>>> worth trying first. :-)
>>>
>>> Text below:
>>>
>>> ===
>>>
>>> Policy Comment on Health Care
>>>
>>> There is a growing awareness that Vitamin D deficiency may have 
>>> serious health impacts, especially among African Americans. 
>>> Increasing the amount of Vitamin D a person gets through more 
>>> sunlight exposure or supplements may reduce a variety of illnesses 
>>> including the flu. This may be an important signature issue that 
>>> Michelle Obama could help with.
>>>
>>> Related links:
>>> http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/
>>> http://curtisduncan.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-michelle-obama-is-more-likely-to.html 
>>>
>>> http://listcultures.org/pipermail/p2presearch_listcultures.org/2009-October/005047.html 
>>>
>>>
>>> Anyway, this is a note from a Princeton classmate of Michelle (we're 
>>> both class of 1985). I hope it can help prevent illness among many 
>>> people and allow many more people to live a long life of abundance 
>>> and joy.
>>>
>>> All the best in continuing to work towards world peace and prosperity.
>>>
>>> From:
>>> http://djterasaki.wordpress.com/2007/12/19/lila-watsons-quote-well-sort-of/ 
>>>
>>> "If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you 
>>> have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us 
>>> work together."
>>>
>>> --Paul Fernhout
>>> http://www.pdfernhout.net/
>>>
>>> Paul D. Fernhout wrote:
>>>> Another related item on this issue:
>>>> "Why Michelle Obama is More Likely to Die From Breast Cancer than 
>>>> Hilary Clinton" by Curtis Duncan
>>>> http://curtisduncan.blogspot.com/2009/10/why-michelle-obama-is-more-likely-to.html 
>>>>
>>>> """
>>>> Race is always a hot topic here but people always seem to neglect 
>>>> discussing the topic of race and health. If it is discussed, it is 
>>>> always a matter of stating that Blacks or other minorities are not 
>>>> getting enough treatment and early detection particularly in the 
>>>> realm of cancer. It is true though, that Blacks do have higher rates 
>>>> of every other disease you can think of. And money does not fix this 
>>>> health epidemic amongst Blacks as we have seen rich Black 
>>>> celebrities such as Bernie Mac and Issac Hayes die from degenerative 
>>>> and preventable diseases. However Blacks and Whites do have 
>>>> different health concerns and challenges. It is not because Blacks 
>>>> are inferior or have bad genes. Blacks have different diets and a 
>>>> large percentage of Blacks are on the low end of the economic 
>>>> bracket and do not have access to healthy foods (That is not to 
>>>> excuse bad dietary habits by Blacks). Historically, Blacks have also 
>>>> been unable to receive treatments from the medical establishment and 
>>>> have even been subject to crimes like the Tuskegee Experiment. So as 
>>>> a health researcher while researching general topics on health and 
>>>> wellness, I definitely sought to know why Blacks have a myriad of 
>>>> health problems. One of the main reasons for poor Black health is a 
>>>> Vitamin D deficiency. One of the main reasons a Vitamin D deficiency 
>>>> is so common in Blacks is because Black skin absorbs more sunlight 
>>>> making more it more difficult to produce Vitamin D. Blacks have to 
>>>> spend more time in the sun in order to produce Vitamin D. The 
>>>> implication of Blacks, like Michelle Obama, not having adequate 
>>>> amounts of Vitamin D are severe. My video below explains those 
>>>> consequences as it pertain to Black women ...
>>>>   I believe in keeping it real when it comes to health and we cannot 
>>>> act like race does not play when it comes to health. Blacks must 
>>>> also realize that the sick care system does not give a hoot about 
>>>> Black Americans and has traditionally been anti-Black. The existence 
>>>> of Black doctors means nothing. Black doctors operate in the same 
>>>> fraudulent system which has done nothing for Blacks and other ethnic 
>>>> groups for that matter. I say everyone avoid the sick care system 
>>>> (doctors, hospitals, etc) unless you have been shot, been stabbed or 
>>>> suffered some really severe incident or accident.
>>>> """
>>>>
>>>> Curtis Duncan talks in the video about why Vitamin D is not a 
>>>> profitable solution for the health care industry.
>>>>
>>>> Reminds me a little of Jacques Fresco's point that scientists and 
>>>> engineers often do more for society than politicians and political 
>>>> systems. Not to say a good politician can't make a difference 
>>>> sometimes. :-)
>>>>
>>>> Anyway, Vitamin D promotion seems to be a mostly p2p-driven meme at 
>>>> this point.
>>>>
>>>> Maybe Vitamin D might be an good signature issue for Michelle Obama 
>>>> related to wellness and health care reform?
>>>>
>>>> This Vitamin D issue affects everybody's health and happiness, 
>>>> whatever the color of your skin. From:
>>>> http://djterasaki.wordpress.com/2007/12/19/lila-watsons-quote-well-sort-of/ 
>>>>
>>>> "If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you 
>>>> have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us 
>>>> work together."
>>>>
>>>> Again, a good science based source of information:
>>>>   http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/
>>>>
>>>> As with all health issues, no doubt there are some few people in 
>>>> some few situations where more Vitamin D is a bad idea. But for most 
>>>> people in our indoors-oriented society, it would seem to be 
>>>> generally important to get a lot more Vitamin D.
>>>>
>>>> --Paul Fernhout
>>>> http://www.pdfernhout.net/
>>>>
>>>> Paul D. Fernhout wrote:
>>>>> Ryan Lanham wrote:
>>>>>> On Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 11:35 AM, Paul D. Fernhout wrote:
>>>>>>> Glad we've found something we can agree on in this area. :-)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> You've probably seen this site that I stumbled across yesterday? 
>>>>>>> http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/ 
>>>>>>> http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/vitamin-d-and-h1n1-swine-flu.shtml 
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/h1n1-flu-and-vitamin-d.shtml 
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> No one yet has a theory as to why Vit D works on flu. Of course it 
>>>>>> most likely is something to do with calcium channels in cells, but 
>>>>>> we don't know how or why yet. It is widely understood it has major 
>>>>>> influence on heart disease, breast cancer, bowel cancer, bone 
>>>>>> density, and several other cancers. It has emerged as sort of the 
>>>>>> "real" vitamin C...which was
>>>>>>  hyped for a decade based on Linus Pauling's early understanding 
>>>>>> of anti-oxidants and their implications. C is good too, but has 
>>>>>> nowhere near
>>>>>>  the health benefits of Vitamin D3 which if regularly supplemented 
>>>>>> would probably cut national health costs by 20% (and that number 
>>>>>> is widely circulated and discussed--some say as high as 25%). D3 
>>>>>> is not an anti-oxidant, but rather is really best described as a 
>>>>>> hormone.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Indeed I would go so far as to say that if an adult did no other 
>>>>>> thing to
>>>>>>  aid their health, the science suggests that taking 4000-8000 IU 
>>>>>> of gelcap (not solid) Vitamin D3 ...not D2, is about the best 
>>>>>> thing you can do for yourself and it will cost less than 1/4 of a 
>>>>>> US dollar a day.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The blogs I read on this include Animal Pharma, hyperlipid and few 
>>>>>> others
>>>>>>  if you have any interest. Anyone interested in diabetes, Omega 
>>>>>> 3s, low carb, high saturated fat diets (especially plant 
>>>>>> based)...I'm the guy. Email me on the side. I am very current with 
>>>>>> what multiple sides are saying on these topics and there are some 
>>>>>> wonderful wonderful blogs.
>>>>>
>>>>> === on skin color issues as they relate to Vitamin D
>>>>>
>>>>> I hope this doesn't come across as racist, but in the USA, I've 
>>>>> seen references to the fact that people of darker skins living in 
>>>>> the north of the USA have more problems with some specific health 
>>>>> issues (including higher rates of some mental illness etc.) perhaps 
>>>>> because of this Vitamin D issue.
>>>>>
>>>>> Basically, skin color is adapted to latitude (distance from the 
>>>>> equator). The farther north or south you are of the equator, the 
>>>>> lighter you skin should be to get more Vitamin D (as a tradeoff 
>>>>> against increased skin cancer risk and sunburn risk if you lived 
>>>>> nearer the equator with lighter skin). Of course, Vitamin D 
>>>>> supplements and sunscreen mean anyone of any skin darkness can 
>>>>> healthily live anywhere they want to (and I think they should. :-)
>>>>>
>>>>> But if this Vitamin D issue is not understood, with pregnant 
>>>>> mothers *not* getting enough Vitamin D (and babies after birth, and 
>>>>> the couple before they conceive), it may mean lots of needless 
>>>>> suffering for dark skinned families living in more northern 
>>>>> climates. And the problem is getting worse, since everyone spends 
>>>>> more time indoors now, so presumably the Vitamin D deficiency issue 
>>>>> is made even worse for people with darker skins with continued 
>>>>> cultural changes to spend more time indoors and who may have had 
>>>>> low levels of Vitamin D to begin with.
>>>>>
>>>>> Clearly, something is known about this scientifically; something 
>>>>> from 2006:
>>>>>   http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/136/4/1126
>>>>> """
>>>>> Vitamin D insufficiency is more prevalent among African Americans 
>>>>> (blacks) than other Americans and, in North America, most young, 
>>>>> healthy blacks do not achieve optimal 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] 
>>>>> concentrations at any time of year. This is primarily due to the 
>>>>> fact that pigmentation reduces vitamin D production in the skin. 
>>>>> Also, from about puberty and onward, median vitamin D intakes of 
>>>>> American blacks are below recommended intakes in every age group, 
>>>>> with or without the inclusion of vitamin D from supplements. 
>>>>> Despite their low 25(OH)D levels, blacks have lower rates of 
>>>>> osteoporotic fractures. This may result in part from 
>>>>> bone-protective adaptations that include an intestinal resistance 
>>>>> to the actions of 1,25(OH)2D and a skeletal resistance to the 
>>>>> actions of parathyroid hormone (PTH). However, these mechanisms may 
>>>>> not fully mitigate the harmful skeletal effects of low 25(OH)D and 
>>>>> elevated PTH in blacks, at least among older individuals. 
>>>>> Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly apparent that vitamin D 
>>>>> protects against other chronic conditions, including cardiovascular 
>>>>> disease, diabetes, and some cancers, all of which are as prevalent 
>>>>> or more prevalent among blacks than whites. Clinicians and 
>>>>> educators should be encouraged to promote improved vitamin D status 
>>>>> among blacks (and others) because of the low risk and low cost of 
>>>>> vitamin D supplementation and its potentially broad health benefits."
>>>>> """
>>>>>
>>>>> The place where I saw that first was in reference to minority 
>>>>> families in the North being blamed for abuse because of broken 
>>>>> bones in their children, when the problem may really just be 
>>>>> rickets (Vitamin D deficiency).
>>>>> "The debate: Rickets or child abuse?"
>>>>> http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/panorama/johnsweeney/2009/07/the_debate_rickets_or_child_ab.html 
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Also, is there a possibility of increased H1N1 flu severity related 
>>>>> to skin color and Vitamin D? See:
>>>>> "Cases of swine flu higher among city blacks, Hispanics"
>>>>> http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2009/08/18/cases_of_swine_flu_higher_among_bostons_blacks_hispanics/ 
>>>>>
>>>>> """
>>>>> The new report about swine flu’s variable racial and ethnic impact 
>>>>> opens yet another window into a novel virus that has killed at 
>>>>> least 447 across the country. But disease specialists cautioned 
>>>>> that the preliminary data from Boston provide clues but no 
>>>>> definitive answer.
>>>>>   “It’s definitely a very important observation that we need to 
>>>>> track,’’ said Dr. Alfred DeMaria, top disease tracker at the state 
>>>>> Department of Public Health. “But we don’t want to overinterpret it 
>>>>> until we have more and better information.’’ ...
>>>>>   The Boston disease specialists found that of the 71 city 
>>>>> residents hospitalized with swine flu, 49 percent were 
>>>>> African-American, and 28 percent were Hispanic. In both cases, the 
>>>>> hospitalization rates were double each group’s overall presence in 
>>>>> Boston’s population. ...
>>>>>   The city investigators said the higher rates may also be a legacy 
>>>>> of poverty and the demands of low-wage work. Parents in such jobs, 
>>>>> Barry said, find themselves unable to stay home to care for ailing 
>>>>> children because a day away from work means a day without pay. As a 
>>>>> result, ill children are sometimes sent to school.
>>>>> """
>>>>>
>>>>> But isn't this fascinating? The public health people say they do 
>>>>> not have a clue about why there would be any difference, and here 
>>>>> we are with one possible obvious answer. So, a simple thing like 
>>>>> Vitamin D deficiency might be leading to all sorts of racially 
>>>>> related issues which are otherwise linked to other explanations.
>>>>>
>>>>> So, how does this move from the blogosphere to public health people 
>>>>> considering it? How can people in public health be missing stuff 
>>>>> like this? Maybe the focus on vaccination instead of nutrition or 
>>>>> other wellness aspects (like sunlight exposure) has clouded and 
>>>>> narrowed their perceptions?
>>>>>
>>>>> Although, now that I look, I see this:
>>>>> "Despite Anti-Vitamin D Bias, CDC Stumbles on Deficiency Link to 
>>>>> H1N1 Deaths"
>>>>> http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/09/22/Low-Vitamin-D-Increases-Flu-Death-Risk-in-Kids.aspx 
>>>>>
>>>>> """
>>>>> So far, Swine flu, H1N1, has killed thirty-six children in U.S. and 
>>>>> analysis of CDC data indicates Vitamin D deficient children at 
>>>>> higher risk of death. The CDC did not realize they discovered this. 
>>>>> However, anyone familiar with the Vitamin D literature will 
>>>>> recognize it. Almost two-thirds of the dead children had epilepsy, 
>>>>> cerebral palsy, or other neurodevelopmental conditions like mental 
>>>>> retardation. All of these neurological conditions are associated 
>>>>> with childhood Vitamin D deficiency. Exacerbating the problem 
>>>>> further, many of these kids take anticonvulsant drugs, which lower 
>>>>> Vitamin D levels. 58 million American children are Vitamin D 
>>>>> deficient; 7.6 million are severely deficient. When researchers 
>>>>> looked at more than 6,000 American kids (age one to 21) who were 
>>>>> carefully selected to be representative of the average American 
>>>>> child. 9 percent of the kids had 25(OH)D levels less than 15 ng/mL 
>>>>> and 70 percent had levels less than 30 ng/mL.
>>>>> """
>>>>>
>>>>> Maybe this skin color issue is another too big kettle of worms, 
>>>>> like arguing over the science and cost-effectiveness and risk of 
>>>>> vaccines? :-)
>>>>>
>>>>> But clearly, the skin color issue just makes this more extreme. 
>>>>> Everyone is effected. And pediatricians can be clueless. When our 
>>>>> child was an infant, I asked my pediatrician if we should give 
>>>>> extra Vitamin D because it was winter and we live in the North, and 
>>>>> she said not to. How much was my child limited by that "advice" by 
>>>>> a health care professional?
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyway, here is a historic related example of possible political 
>>>>> correctness perhaps preventing the understanding of Vitamin D 
>>>>> issues (assuming this is true):
>>>>> http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/vitamin-d-and-schizophrenia.shtml 
>>>>>
>>>>> """
>>>>> Schizophrenia more common in those with dark skin
>>>>>   Before I describe the remarkable paper from Harvard, I want to 
>>>>> compliment researchers at the Saint Barthomew's Hospital in England 
>>>>> for almost saying what most psychiatrists already know; the 
>>>>> incidence of schizophrenia is much higher in people with dark skin. 
>>>>> In the 1970s and 80s, that was an accepted fact, until charges of 
>>>>> racism were leveled against the American Psychiatric Association 
>>>>> (APA). The spineless APA promptly did retrospective chart analyses 
>>>>> and announced the incidence of schizophrenia is exactly — precisely 
>>>>> — the same for Blacks as it is for Whites. The ethnicity question 
>>>>> is important as the Vitamin D theory is not tenable unless darker 
>>>>> skin means a higher incidence.
>>>>>   Actually, in 2007, a group at Columbia University appears to be 
>>>>> the first to break with the APA's political correctness. Dr. 
>>>>> Michaeline Bresnahan and her colleagues followed 12,000 children 
>>>>> for up to 28 years after birth. African Americans were 3 (three) 
>>>>> times more likely to develop schizophrenia than whites and 
>>>>> socioeconomic factors could not explain away their findings.
>>>>> """
>>>>>
>>>>> Also mentioned here:
>>>>>  http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/005560.html
>>>>> "The International Journal of Epidemiology states in the study 
>>>>> published in a recent issue, that: "The data indicate substantially 
>>>>> elevated rates of schizophrenia among African Americans in 
>>>>> comparison with whites in this birth cohort"."
>>>>>
>>>>> From:
>>>>>   http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cre/fact1.asp
>>>>> "African Americans are over-represented in high-need populations 
>>>>> that are particularly at risk for mental illnesses: ..."
>>>>>
>>>>> Now, granted, as with any study, there can be reasons of bias in 
>>>>> the results. But, let's assume there is not for the moment, and 
>>>>> there is a genuine difference for some reason.
>>>>>
>>>>> In the more distant past, genetic reasons were blamed for racial 
>>>>> differences, which was claimed to justify eugenics and racism. Thus 
>>>>> the emphasis to show no disparities in something like 
>>>>> schizophrenia, even to the point of redoing data or analysis, as 
>>>>> suggested above. Still, this is an odd conclusion because if you 
>>>>> look around, there are plenty of countries run for a long time by 
>>>>> people with darker skins than most US Americans, and often doing a 
>>>>> better job of it. :-)
>>>>>
>>>>> Now people see the issues as more social related to ongoing 
>>>>> discrimination, and as a legacy of slavery and poverty. For 
>>>>> example, who would not get depressed more often if you had to deal 
>>>>> with driving-while-black?
>>>>>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_While_Black
>>>>>
>>>>> It will be controversial to suggest Vitamin D is a big factor in 
>>>>> any differences, because, first it means admitting differences 
>>>>> (which has become politically incorrect), and then suggesting some 
>>>>> of the differences are related to a physical cause will mean other 
>>>>> arguments over other social spending being curtailed as if 
>>>>> everything was solved with some vitamins. There will also be 
>>>>> arguments over whether, due to a Vitamin D deficiency, people of 
>>>>> darker skins in the USA may be more at risk of mental issues 
>>>>> leading to anti-social behavior, and whether that would justify 
>>>>> racial profiling. That would be potentially an explosive issue. 
>>>>> That's an issue which would be a very hard to discuss socially for 
>>>>> all sorts of reasons (including whether political correctness 
>>>>> stopped an examination of this issue that might have decades 
>>>>> earlier led to improvements in the health of people with dark 
>>>>> skins). There are all sorts of ironic twists there, and all sorts 
>>>>> of potential for racism and so on.
>>>>>
>>>>> For the record, I advocate a basic income for everyone of any age 
>>>>> and any color, as an economic equalizer: :-)
>>>>>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_income
>>>>> And I think the US prison system has at least ten times too many 
>>>>> prisoners than should be in there, of whatever colors:
>>>>>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States
>>>>> "The United States has the highest documented incarceration 
>>>>> rate,[3][4] and total documented prison population in the 
>>>>> world.[3][5][6] As of year-end 2007, a record 7.2 million people 
>>>>> were behind bars, on probation or on parole. Of the total, 2.3 
>>>>> million were incarcerated.[7] More than 1 in 100 American adults 
>>>>> were incarcerated at the start of 2008. The People's Republic of 
>>>>> China ranks second with 1.5 million, while having four times the 
>>>>> population, thus having only about 18% of the US incarceration rate"
>>>>>
>>>>> Still, what if not *all* the reasons for these health disparities 
>>>>> or crime disparities were socially caused by discrimination?  What 
>>>>> if a significant part of it were just such a simple thing as people 
>>>>> with darker skins living in the USA needing more Vitamin D than 
>>>>> they get? If that were true, this would be a tremendous ongoing 
>>>>> tragedy of miscommunication from political correctness and 
>>>>> embarrassment and so on. It might even involve a tremendously 
>>>>> complex discussion of political correctness sometimes harming 
>>>>> people it was trying to help, by, as above, forcing scientists to 
>>>>> ignore obvious issues, while at the same time not trying to let 
>>>>> them off the hook when they justify racism:
>>>>>   http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=science+and+racism
>>>>>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_racism
>>>>>
>>>>> Still, even differences related to Vitamin D may well be considered 
>>>>> yet another continuation of the brutal legacy of slavery, from 
>>>>> ripping people from their homes and dumping them in another climate 
>>>>> they were unfamiliar with in order to exploit them. So, even if 
>>>>> there were differences in mental and physical health, including 
>>>>> ones not fixable by getting more Vitamin D now, the question of how 
>>>>> any differences should be handled is a complex one.
>>>>>
>>>>> And maybe something too awkward for most to discuss face-to-face? :-)
>>>>> (I've been editing and re-editing this, and it still no doubt has 
>>>>> problems.)
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyway, I don't want to suggest the USA does not have many social 
>>>>> issues that need to be resolved; it does, big ones. Though often 
>>>>> these days they are more problems of class than of race, based on 
>>>>> this analysis by a black woman:
>>>>>   "Why Anti-Racism Will Fail, by Thandeka"
>>>>>   http://archive.uua.org/ga/ga99/238thandeka.html
>>>>>
>>>>> But, what if Vitamin D were an aspect of all this, anyway?
>>>>>
>>>>> It's controversial to suggest people with darker skins in the USA 
>>>>> are statistically suffering more physical and mental issues of 
>>>>> specific types from birth, because that in turn might become fuel 
>>>>> for discrimination, including claims of bad genes or bad culture or 
>>>>> bad attitude and so on. That is of course not my intent, even as I 
>>>>> raise the issue of differences. So, it's a difficult issue to 
>>>>> address, to even admit to any disparities related to skin color.
>>>>>
>>>>> Still, I bring it up anyway despite that risk because I don't want 
>>>>> to see anyone of any color denied their potential because of such a 
>>>>> simple and cheap thing like Vitamin D pills if that should prove 
>>>>> important (and, if this research on Vitamin D is to be believed, it 
>>>>> is, very important).
>>>>>
>>>>> Related:
>>>>>   http://www.dignitarians.org/
>>>>> """
>>>>> The Dignitarian Foundation is an organization dedicated to 
>>>>> promoting and protecting the intrinsic right to human dignity - the 
>>>>> belief that as a person, one is automatically worthy, honorable, 
>>>>> and deserving of respect, regardless of status, station or stage of 
>>>>> life. We believe we can and must find alternatives to practices 
>>>>> that harm individual dignity, instead of continuing to convey the 
>>>>> toxic residue of these indignities down the line, from those with 
>>>>> the most power to those with the least. Our mission is to overturn 
>>>>> the consensus view that says it is acceptable to treat certain 
>>>>> people and groups badly because other people are doing it or 
>>>>> because you can get away with it. We invite you to join us in 
>>>>> raising awareness within families, schools, workplaces and 
>>>>> governments of the enormous personal and public costs arising from 
>>>>> everyday insults to dignity. Collectively, we can dissolve 
>>>>> unhealthy power imbalances and begin to create societies that not 
>>>>> only acknowledge, but also actively celebrate, the inherent dignity 
>>>>> in everyone.
>>>>> """
>>>>>
>>>>> Also related:
>>>>>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankism
>>>>>
>>>>> Is this maybe Vitamin D deficiency some well known thing in, say, 
>>>>> by most African Americans in the USA already?
>>>>>   http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q="african+american"+vitamin+d
>>>>>
>>>>> Example from this year, showing how this issue is heating up:
>>>>> "Your Health: Skin color matters in the vitamin D debate"
>>>>> http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/painter/2009-04-19-your-health_N.htm 
>>>>>
>>>>> """
>>>>>   Can dark skin be a health hazard? It might be — if you are a 
>>>>> dark-skinned person who lives far from the equator, gets little sun 
>>>>> exposure and consumes little vitamin D.
>>>>>   Just how much vitamin D Americans need and how they should get it 
>>>>> is under debate. Scientists also are debating evidence that vitamin 
>>>>> D, best known for building bones, can lower the risk of cancer, 
>>>>> diabetes, heart disease and other ailments.
>>>>>   And they are asking this intriguing question: Could varying 
>>>>> vitamin D levels contribute to the health gap between black and 
>>>>> white Americans?
>>>>>   ...
>>>>>   John Flack, principal investigator at the Center for Urban and 
>>>>> African American Health at Wayne State University, Detroit, says: 
>>>>> "I think it's potentially a very important explanation for some of 
>>>>> the differences, from hypertension to cancer to heart failure. The 
>>>>> actual proof is not there, but it's plausible."
>>>>>   But Flack adds that many factors contribute to African Americans' 
>>>>> poorer health. Studies suggest those factors include reduced access 
>>>>> to health care, pervasive barriers to healthful living (for 
>>>>> example, neighborhoods that lack fresh groceries), differences in 
>>>>> income and education and the stress of racial inequality itself.
>>>>>   Solving those problems will be difficult, he says. Closing the 
>>>>> vitamin D gap could be easier.
>>>>>   It won't be as easy as recommending more sun exposure, however. 
>>>>> Though someone in Boston with pale skin can get adequate vitamin D 
>>>>> by exposing their arms and legs to the sun for 10 to 15 minutes 
>>>>> twice a week in the summer, someone with the darkest skin might 
>>>>> need two hours of exposure each time, Holick says. "It's 
>>>>> impractical," he says, and it also darkens skin, which many people 
>>>>> find cosmetically unacceptable.
>>>>>   Dermatologists also warn that sun exposure increases the risk of 
>>>>> skin cancer and wrinkling, even in dark-skinned people. ...
>>>>> """
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyway, lots of cans of worms here.
>>>>>
>>>>> And obviously, there are nutritional issues that have nothing to do 
>>>>> with race but may have everything to do with poverty or culture, 
>>>>> like getting enough Omega-3 fatty acids or various other nutrients. 
>>>>> So, there are all sorts of interactions in the USA between race, 
>>>>> class, poverty, discrimination, and health. So, there is unlikely 
>>>>> to be just one issue that explains everything, even if this Vitamin 
>>>>> D issues may be important.
>>>>>
>>>>> If there is any truth to too little Vitamin D leading to more 
>>>>> physical and mental problems, and that this may have affected the 
>>>>> African American experience in the USA negatively, then African 
>>>>> Americans have been the "canary in the coal mine" of vitamin D 
>>>>> deficiency in the USA? And, maybe there will eventually need to be 
>>>>> a deep rethinking of many aspects of US history? And even, one can 
>>>>> wonder what to make of the fact that President Obama (who just won 
>>>>> a Nobel Peace Prize today) was conceived and raised as a young boy 
>>>>> in sunny Hawaii? What would the USA have been like if more people 
>>>>> with dark skins could have reached their potential? How many more 
>>>>> "peace prizes" would the USA have won?
>>>>>
>>>>> From:
>>>>>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Negro_College_Fund
>>>>> """
>>>>> In 1972, the UNCF adopted, as its motto, the maxim, "A mind is a 
>>>>> terrible thing to waste." This maxim has become one of the most 
>>>>> widely recognized slogans in advertising history.
>>>>> """
>>>>>
>>>>> Could a few hundred dollars worth of Vitamin D during pregnancy and 
>>>>> in childhood per dark skinned mother and baby made a bigger 
>>>>> difference than many thousands of dollars spent later on college? 
>>>>> Difficult questions to explore? And was political correctness the 
>>>>> reason this was not understood decades ago?
>>>>>
>>>>> Still, the first three years (four including pregnancy) are very 
>>>>> important for any child of any skin color:
>>>>>   http://www.zerotothree.org/
>>>>> "We welcome you to ZERO TO THREE’s website. ZERO TO THREE is a 
>>>>> national nonprofit organization that informs, trains and supports 
>>>>> professionals, policymakers and parents in their efforts to improve 
>>>>> the lives of infants and toddlers."
>>>>>
>>>>> And, it's hard to know if Vitamin D really would make such a big 
>>>>> difference compared to other things? No doubt, this will be a 
>>>>> contentious issue for years to come.
>>>>>   http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyway, it seems like almost everyone needs more Vitamin D. As we 
>>>>> all spend more time indoors in front of screens, it would seem that 
>>>>> skin color won't matter much, and we will all need to take the same 
>>>>> amount of Vitamin D supplements, whatever our skin color. :-)
>>>>>
>>>>> Perhaps this need for Vitamin D supplements will more and more even 
>>>>> include people with dark skins living near the equator and spending 
>>>>> more and more time indoors?
>>>>>
>>>>> Anyway, a big, big can of worms for all sorts of reasons.
>>>>>
>>>>> --Paul Fernhout
>>>>> http://www.pdfernhout.net/
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