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  • Writer's pictureDavid S Klein, MD
    • Sep 2, 2023
    • 3 min read

Reducing Cancer Risk with Vitamin D-3, Cholecalciferol

Updated: Sep 24, 2023





Why Vitamin D??? Well, for starters, Vitamin D-3 is not a vitamin at all.  Vitamin D is a family of steroidal hormones that the body needs to maintain an ever increasingly appreciated number of bodily functions. Vitamin D occurs in 3 morphologies- Vitamin D1, Vitamin D2 and Vitamin D3. 


Vitamin D-2 is made in the gut from the precursor, Vitamin D-1 (which is essentially inactive.) Vitamin D-3 is the active hormone, and requires sunlight to convert from Vitamin D-2.


As a moiety derived from cholesterol, low levels may be related to the use of cholesterol lowering medications, such as the statin family, and Vitamin D-3 is structurally similar to estrogen, testosterone and other adrenal hormones. 

 

Vitamin D-3, in doses of at least 2,000 IU/day will decrease the risk of breast cancer by 50%; reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 50%.  Getting therapeutic levels, as demonstrated by quantitative blood work, the typical dosage for adults is closer to 5000 IU per day.


  1. Pharmaceutical-grade Vitamin D-3 costs about $6 per month.

  2. It should be taken in the morning with a fish-oil capsule, to enhance absorption.

  3. It is absorbed best if pre-suspended or dissolved in olive oil.

  4. Higher doses are indicated in the presence of rheumatoid arthritis, M.S., and other auto-immune disease processes.

 

Vitamin D-3 (cholecalciferol) is being shown to help prevent multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis and even prostate cancer. (See Daily Health News, March 29, 2004 and July 26, 2005.) Now it turns out that it may do even more — vitamin D and calcium may help prevent premenstrual syndrome (PMS). In the Nurses’ Health Study II (a large study of nurses that has been ongoing since 1989), women who consumed higher levels of these two nutrients faced a lower risk of premenstrual symptoms such as fatigue, irritability, mood swings and stomach cramps.


Doses of Vitamin D-3 (2,000 IU) have been shown to reduce the risk of breast, prostate, colon and pancreatic cancer by as much as 50%.

 

Recent studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency is very, very common, indeed.  It may be a co-morbid factor in the development of chronic pain as well as contributory to the development of a host of auto-immune disease.

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Who needs additional amounts of vitamin D?

  • Anyone with inadequate caloric or nutritional dietary intake or  increased nutritional requirements.

  • Older people (over 55 years), especially women after menopause. Pregnant or breast feeding women.

  • Those who abuse alcohol or drugs.

  • People who have recently undergone surgery.

  • People with recent severe burns or injuries.

The single best way to find out if you need supplemental Vitamin D-3 is to get a blood test through your doctor.

D (cholecalciferol/ergocalciferol)


Vitamin D-3 is the principal regulator of calcium homeostasis in the body.

  • Vitamin D-1 and Vitamin D-2 are the inactive precursors to the active Vitamin D-3.

  • It is essential for skeletal development and bone mineralization.

  • Vitamin D-3 is a selective estrogen blocker, which may be the action that results in protection from certain cancers.

  • Vitamin D is a pro-hormone with no hormone activity. It is converted to Vitamin D-3, if you have adequate Vitamin D-2 in your blood stream, and then you lay out in the sun. Vitamin D-3 is the form that has biological activity.

  • The active form of the vitamin is 1-25-dihydroxyvitamin D, usually referred to vitamin D-3. It is synthesized in the skin from 7-dehydrocholesterol via phytochemical reactions requiring UV light (sunlight).

  • Inadequate exposure to sunlight contributes to vitamin D deficiency. Adequate sun exposure, however, results in increase skin wrinkling and skin cancer.

  • Increasing evidence suggests that vitamin D may also contribute to antioxidant function by inhibiting lipid peroxidation.

  • The mechanism of the antioxidant effect is unknown.

Vitamin D-3 deficiency in adults can lead to osteoporosis, which results from an imbalance between bone resorption and bone formation. Decreased vitamin D levels result in decreased production of the active vitamin form, vitamin D3. Vitamin D enhances the efficiency of calcium absorption. Chronic vitamin D deficiency results in a decreased calcium absorption and secondary hyper-parathyriodism.

Vitamin D-3 has also been found to have anti-carcinogenic activity, including apoptosis in many types of cancer cells. It has also been useful in the treatment of psoriasis when applied topically. Vitamin D appears to demonstrate both immune-enhancing and immunosuppressive effects.

Supplemental vitamin D-3 is available, inexpensive, and avoids the ill-effects of daily sun exposure. For more information, click on the image, below:







David S. Klein, MD, FACA, FACPM

Stages of Life Medical Institute



  • Writer's pictureDavid S Klein, MD
    • Sep 2, 2023
    • 4 min read

Chronic Urinary Tract Infections: What I've learned as a physician

Nothing makes for better education than experience, and my family has had some interesting insights that I'd like to share.


  1. The typical dip and read urinalysis, performed for many decades is outrageously inaccurate. It relies on 50 year old technology. Performed in an enormous number of physician's offices, emergency rooms, and there are home kits for the 'do it yourself' customer, the test is a quick way to get affirmation of an infection. That is, if it is positive, you probably have an infection.

  2. The problem is that the test is inaccurate and will detect a UTI between 50-60% of the time, that is, it is wrong nearly as often as it is correct.

  3. Manufactured in China, these strips will miss urinary tract infections, perhaps as frequently as 50% of the time.

  4. Urinary tract infection leads to urinary sepsis (blood poisoning, to some) and is a leading cause of death. Do you really want to rely on a $15 dip stick if your life or kidney function depended on it?

  5. A problem in the senior population, it is also a real problem with children. Missing almost 50% of UTI's in young children with fevers.

  6. Missing Chronic Urinary Tract Infection can result in preventable death and kidney damage.


 

Natural, non prescription treatments will follow in the next UTI Blog Post


 


Note Well: If someone close to you starts feeling oddly, for no other apparent reason such as stroke or heart attack, consider urinary tract infection as a possible cause. Ignoring this, it nearly cost my wife her life in July of 2023.


IT WENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS: My wife and I were enjoying our 5th wedding anniversary by taking a trip to Portugal. A marvelous vacation it was, right up until the day before we were to return home. She had an unfortunate fall, fractured her right ankle, and became somewhat immobile. The following day, she started having 'morning chills,' thinking that it might have been a reaction to the previous nights' dinner. Resolving quickly, we thought nothing of it.


The next day, we flew home, believing all was well. The next day she felt normal at 8:00 a.m. but became febrile with a temperature of 102 deg. blood pressure dropped to 80/palpable and she was in and out of consciousness. Oxygen saturation was down to 82%.


When we arrived in the emergency room 30 minutes later, she was in shock. Treated with fluids, quickly, and given intravenous hydrocortisone to treat her adrenal failure (Addison's Disease) she 'bounced back,' delirious, but communicative. I had mentioned to the ER internist that my wife had darker urine than baseline, fever, chills, and a change in consciousness. I insisted that they treat her for urinary tract infection.


Evaluation was rapid, including chest CT and abdominal CT, but her blood work was pending and her 'urinalysis' was negative. Informed by the ER physician that UTI was effectively ruled out, I insisted that they look a little closer at UTI as her problem. When her White Blood Cell count (WBC) returned at 33,000 with a decrease in kidney function to an eGFR of 27, they took a closer look at the abdominal CAT scan and found that she had pyelonephritis on the right kidney (infection of a highly significant nature) and started her on intravenous antibiotics. Five days in the hospital, she recovered. Her infection, however, was not gone........


The Monday following her hospitalization for a 'cryptogenic' bacterial UTI, I took her to my medical office, did a repeat urinalysis with a much higher quality screen, and it was NEGATIVE! On suspicion that the technology was flawed, I sent the urine to be analyzed by PCR, and we found that she had large amounts of a bacterium called 'enterococcus.' I had already started her on doxycycline, and she seemed to improve even more.


We repeated her urinalysis weekly, it was negative for 3 weeks in a row, with positive PCR each time. She had a mixed infection with E. Coli and E. Faecalis, and I added amoxicillin to her mixture.


Referred to a urologist, she is scheduled for cystoscopy with ureteroscopy to see if there is an anatomic issue with the right kidney and/or ureter.


 

This little recent bit of personal history has changed my medical practice significantly. Urinary Tract Infection is not easily ruled out with a simple $15 dip stick test. In the past month, I have sent samples for PCR if the patient had even trace WBC in the urine, and 50% of the time, the PCR was positive for E. Coli or one of the less frequently encountered pathogens. I am now performing PCR on negative dip stick evaluations, if the patient is showing mild to moderate mental status changes, and if the symptoms are severe, they go straight to the emergency room.


The number of patients found to be walking around with mildly symptomatic urinary tract infections was astounding. What was eye-opening was the fact that when we found infection, the patients all reported confusingly mild symptoms that in retrospect, were suggestive of UTI.


I have picked up almost a dozen 'occult' urinary tract infections in the past 3 weeks. One very fortunate patient had become wheel chair bound, and it was blamed on her Parkinson's Disease. I sent her to the ER with the diagnosis of urinary sepsis, and following IV antibiotics (started before the PCR results returned as positive) she is now walking again and in physical rehabilitation to regain strength.


The commercial insurance companies do not routinely cover urine PCR unless it is done to rule out sexually transmitted diseases. For the practitioner, if you include an STD panel with the urine PCR, it has a high likelihood of being covered, if not, the test can cost $600 or more. In the future, it is my hope that the insurance carriers will follow the lead of Medicare, and cover this service.


I am fortunate in that I own a laboratory that has the capability of performing the testing, but for my patients that do not, the laboratory owners have agreed to reduce the price to a more affordable level of $240. The commercial diagnostic laboratory can be reached at:


I will update this blog post, as more information becomes available. I will add published references and such, for validation of the data mentioned above.




  • Writer's pictureDavid S Klein, MD
    • Aug 24, 2023
    • 2 min read

Foot Pain Relief: Topical Pain Cream- Kink Ease

Updated: Sep 2, 2023


Foot pain is an extremely common complaint. Often the result of 'shoe trauma,' attractive yet uncomfortable high heels, tight shoes and daily wear and tear, the result can be an annoying interference with your daily activities. Get relief of inflammatory foot pain using an inexpensive, rapid acting cream.


The most common joint affected by arthritis is the MP joint of the great toe.  If left untreated, it can result in the deformity known as a bunion. As with most minor annoyances, if left alone and ignored, it will get worse over time and become an increasingly important impairment to comfort.


Arthritis here can result in pain with walking, standing, reaching overhead.  Over time, arthritis at this point can result in bunion deformity and reduced flexibility of the foot.


Over 20 years ago, I developed a transdermal high-concentration MSM salve, to treat my daughter's horse. The creature suffered from inflammation of the knees & hocks. The alternative was veterinary injections, costing over $400 each, and horses, after all, have four of these joints to inject. The salve penetrated horse-hide, and is being used to this day on horses and other animals.


With humans, I have had very good response using the high concentration MSM cream, Kink-Ease.  Begins to ease pain in about 5 minutes, it does not stink or stain, and it is very inexpensive.


Best applied before climbing into bed, it should be used several times, daily.  Effects last 2-4 hours, or more. After a day or two, the duration of action increases to 3-4 hours, and often longer than that.


The major side-effect is that the cream acts as a skin softener. If you use it on your feet, the callouses will soften, and the skin exfoliates. Nobody seems to mind this side effect.


For more information:




David S. Klein, MD, FACA, FACPM

Stages of Life Medical Institute

Longwood, Florida 32750

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