I hate the sun.
It’s weird, I know, but really, I don’t enjoy being out in the sun. Living in the Pacific Northwest is perfect for me, with oodles of rain and lots of cloudy days. Steve, who loves the sun, thinks this is weird–and he has been contending that all my skin woes are because I’m deficient in vitamin D.
Turns out, he’s right.
The naturopath called to tell me my test results were back. Most things looked pretty good, but there are a few things, she said, that needed to be tweaked. We all know I’m a worrywart, so I asked what they are. So first off, I’m deficient in vitamin D. My protein was a little low, and my cholesterol, she said, was too low. (I never knew cholesterol could be too low.) Also, my DHEA levels were high, and she said she was going to look at my testosterone levels and cortisol levels. She said that there was probably some hormonal stuff going on. I don’t really understand that whole DHEA thing (apparently, many vitiligo sufferers have low DHEA), but the followup appointment is week after next where we’ll go through it all.
What is really interesting though is the vitamin D stuff. I couldn’t find anything from a google search on vitamin D deficiency and vitiligo–but when I changed the search to vitamin D deficiency and autoimmune, a bunch of research started coming up. To begin with:
Immunity
Vitamin D in the form of 1,25(OH)2D is a potent immune system modulator. The VDR is expressed by most cells of the immune system, including T cells and antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells and macrophages (6). Macrophages also produce the 25(OH)D3-1-hydroxylase enzyme that converts 25(OH)D to 1,25(OH)2D (7). There is considerable scientific evidence that 1,25(OH)2D has a variety of effects on immune system function that may enhance innate immunity and inhibit the development of autoimmunity (8).
Then, I found this study, which is fascinating: Vitamin D: its role and uses in immunology
And then I found this site, which lists recent vitamin D and autoimmune research.
There’s a lot more too–and while I haven’t been able to find any studies directly linking vitiligo to vitamin D, the fact that it’s classified as an autoimmune disease suggests that there may be a correlation, just that it hasn’t been explored fully. Most studies focus on the debilitating autoimmune diseases.
So that’s where we are today; I’m feeling pretty hopeful.
One Comment
Hi Zia,
First my question: Do you trust doctors?
I don’t. They almost killed me, treating my autoimmune disease (MS).
Now I am OK with natural supplements and dietary intervention only. That means, I am on a permanent MS remission - no drugs.
Honestly, I couldn’t understand, why don’t like sunshine. I immigrated to NZ to be able to enjoy lots of direct sunshine. It really makes me stronger!