http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/health_guru_nearly_killed_eating_hGIit27zRFN0UP3eMLWgKL?sms_ss=twitter...
Over the month Null, 65, ate the powdered product, he suffered "excruciating fatigue along with bodily pain," and "began to suffer from extreme cracks and bleeding from within his feet,"
the suit says.
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The health nut went to see his doctor, and tests showed he had elevated levels of Vitamin D in his system. He later discovered that
the Ultimate Power Meal had 1,000 times the amount of Vitamin D than the label claimed.
That meant that instead of ingesting 2,000 IU of Vitamin D
daily, he was ingesting 2 million IU, the suit says. Most doctors recommend 1,000 IU a day.
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When Null discovered what the problem was, he "sequestered himself and fasted, only consuming massive amounts of water, as he was told that there was no medical treatment to lower the amount of Vitamin D in his system," the suit says.
"It took three months to get his blood seemingly back to where he was able to function. Even now, Null's condition is questionable, as he continues to occasionally urinate blood," the suit says.
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Cholecalciferol, Not Ergocalciferol, Is SafeAlthough there are documented cases of pharmacological overdoses from ergocalciferol,
the only documented case of pharmacological—not industrial—toxicity from cholecalciferol we could find in the literature was intoxication from an over-the-counter supplement called Prolongevity. On closer inspection, it seemed more like an
industrial accident, but it was interesting because it gave us some idea of the safety of cholecalciferol. The capsules consumed contained up to 430 times the amount of cholecalciferol contained on the label (2,000 IU). The man had been taking between 156,000–2,604,000 IU of cholecalciferol a day (equivalent to between 390–6,500 of the 400 unit capsules) for two years.
He recovered uneventfully after proper diagnosis, treatment with steroids, and sunscreen.
It is true that a few people may have problems with high calcium due to undiagnosed vitamin D hypersensitivity syndromes such as primary hyperparathyroidism, granulomatous disease, or occult cancers, but a blood calcium level, PTH, 25(OH)D, and calcitriol level should help clarify the cause of the hypersensitivity. Although D can be toxic in excess, the same can be said for water.
Therapeutic IndexAs a physician, I know that psychotic patients should drink about 8 glasses of water a day. However, many would hurt themselves by regularly drinking 40 glasses a day (called compulsive water intoxication). So you could say that water has a therapeutic index of 5 (40/8).
Heaney's recent research indicates that healthy humans utilize about 4,000 units of vitamin D a day (from all sources). However, 40,000 units a day, over several years, will hurt them. Therefore, vitamin D has a therapeutic index of 10 (40,000/4,000)—twice as safe as water. We are not saying vitamin D is as safe as water, we are saying vitamin D is safe
when used in the doses nature uses.
Sun Supplies 10,000 Units Of Vitamin DThe single most important fact anyone needs to know about Vitamin D is how much nature supplies, if we behave naturally, e.g., go into the sun.
Humans make at least 10,000 units of vitamin D within 30 minutes of full body exposure to the sun, what is called a minimal erythemal dose. Vitamin D production in the skin occurs within minutes and is already maximized before your skin turns pink.
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John Cannell, MD 2009/6/20
The Truth About Vitamin D Toxicity (refer
here for understanding MD recommendations and more on safety)