The importance of vitamin D

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — For close to a decade, medical scientist Dr. Michael McCaskill researched treating people who live with sickle cell disease. What his research team discovered was that there may be an important correlation with a specific type of hormone found in the blood.

“Everyone should be paying attention to Vitamin D. 80 percent of black Americans are severely deficient,” explains McCaskill.

We receive vitamin D from certain foods we eat. The greater percentage of vitamin D comes from our bodies using sun exposure to convert cholesterol into vitamin D. It travels through the bloodstream and is stored in fatty tissues to have a role in regulating inflammation, neuromuscular function, immune response and cell growth. Low vitamin D levels are associated with increased symptoms of depression, anxiety and even suicidal thoughts.

During the coronavirus pandemic, when African Americans in New Orleans and other major cities were disproportionately affected, researchers across the globe looked to vitamin D because of it’s role in helping to fight against respiratory infections.

McCaskill, among other scientists would continue research to look at vitamin D deficiency and sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell is a disease that affects close to 10% of African Americans.

“We did research with sickle cell patients in Louisiana. What we found was that people with higher levels of vitamin D have lower levels of these indicators of inflammation. People who have higher levels of inflammation have lower levels of vitamin D. Scientists are starting to ask the question about, what’s the role vitamin D has in the manifestation in severe sickle cell disease,” explains McCaskill.

Sickle cell trait evolved in humans, as a way to fight against malaria. However, 8 million people in the world suffer from pain and complications because they have sickle cell disease and are not just carriers. Vitamin D could be the answer.

However, if everyone’s body has the ability to convert vitamin D with sunlight, why are more people with darker skin tones vitamin D deficient? There is one prevailing theory that attempts to answer that.

“The human species created melanin to filter out the UV radiation to protect the skin from cancer but also to have a sweet spot of letting in enough radiation to convert vitamin D. It worked well, until humans started to move from East Africa and populate areas across the planet. As we head toward the poles, there is less energy in every square meter from the earth toward the sun. The human species eventually had another problem of potentially blocking too much radiation to convert healthy levels of vitamin D. The solution was to differentiate into different skin tones that could convert different levels of melanin depending on the geographical coordinates of specific races and skin tones across the planet,” explains McCaskill.

The Fitzpatrick scale is a six-point scale that helps people identify how well, their skin can convert vitamin D, according to their skin color. However, the explanation is complicated and how much vitamin D a person needs, depends on how much sun exposure they receive and where they live.

McCaskill explains saying, “it’s not a standard blood chemistry test. But if you ask you ask your medical provider, they often will accommodate. If they see you are vitamin D deficient, they often will treat.”

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