Teaching your kids the ABCs – and D’s – of vitamins

When the Northern Lights dance across the Arctic sky in Finland each winter, some say it makes up for the 18 hours of darkness during extra-long nights. But that psychedelic lightshow doesn’t change the fact that kids there often are deprived of exposure to vitamin-D-producing sunlight. So researchers from Turku, Finland, thought they’d see what the health repercussions were for vitamin D-deprived kids, 3-18 years old, by the time they turned 30-45. Turns out, those with the lowest vitamin D levels when they were young had the most plaque-clogged carotid arteries as middle-age adults. That amps up the risk of stroke.

What does this mean for North Americans (same hemisphere), where 75 percent of teens and adults are D-ficient? Well, parents should think about their kids’ vitamin D levels, because how youngsters live today determines the quality and quantity of their lives tomorrow. And when it comes to taking supplements, don’t be wimpy. According to the National Institutes of Health, the safe upper limit for vitamin D is 1,000 to 1,500 IU per day for infants; 2,500 to 3,000 IU per day for children 1-8; and 4,000 IU per day for children 9 and older.

So get a blood test to check if your child is deficient (and to track the effect of taking a supplement): The National Institute of Medicine says infants and children shouldn’t go below 11 ng/mL. We personally aim for levels around 35. Above 35, even up to 50-80, is better than below. Talk to your doc about protecting your kids from the repercussions of D-ficiency.

Chronic fatigue: a new name and diagnostics

Sleeping Beauty slept for 100 years until she was awakened by the kiss of a prince. Although it took a long time for her to find relief, at least her profound tiredness was cured. That’s something up to 2.5 million folks with chronic fatigue syndrome can only hope for.

This mysterious malady only recently has been acknowledged as a legitimate disease. Now researchers are trying to find ways to more accurately name and diagnose it. Just a couple of weeks ago, the Institute of Medicine released a report suggesting that in place of CFS (or its alternative name, myalgic encephalomyelitis), the condition be called Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease, or SEID. And they proposed new criteria for diagnosing the condition:

▪ For at least six months, you haven’t been able to engage in pre-illness levels of activity, and you suffer newly occurring, often severe fatigue that’s not the result of intense exertion.

▪ Your symptoms get worse with physical, mental or emotional exertion.

▪ Sleep or rest does not make you feel refreshed.

▪ You have one of these two symptoms: cognitive impairment or trouble standing up, and you feel better after you lie down.

Now if researchers could discover what triggers SEID, they might find a cure. Until then, your best bet is to combine counseling to help you cope with the condition with stress-reduction techniques such as meditation or massage, and perhaps antidepressants. And stay tuned for continuing news about progress in determining the cause and where that prince is hiding.

Better safe, with no reason to be sorry

In the 2005 movie “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) tries to overcome his loveless isolation with a series of disastrous dalliances. And while it’s hard to understand why this sweet nerd has been such a failure at the dating game, we’re pretty sure Andy wasn’t living in fear of contracting HPV (human papilloma virus).

Fear of disease rarely prevents anyone, young or old, from having sex. If it did, there wouldn’t be 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections reported annually (half being among minors). But opponents of the HPV vaccine have argued that protecting young girls and boys from cervical, throat and anal cancer associated with HPV would open the door to inappropriate sexual behavior. Now research shows that that fear is unfounded.

A study published in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association tracked around 200,000 female adolescents for five years. It found that the relative incidence of STIs, such as chlamydia, herpes, gonorrhea or syphilis, which are good markers for unsafe sexual activity, didn’t increase among vaccinated teens compared with those who were not vaccinated.

So have kids vaccinated before there’s any risk of exposure to HPV: Boys and girls ages 11-12 are candidates for the three-dose series. Women (not previously HPV-vaccinated) up to age 26 and young men up to age 21 also can receive the vaccine; men who are gay, bisexual or HIV-positive are eligible to age 26.

This story was originally published March 10, 2015 at 6:31 AM with the headline "Teaching your kids the ABCs – and D’s – of vitamins."