I just finished reading the September installment of Health, Wealth and Retirement.  I always enjoy receiving this newsletter and find it most interesting.  I wanted to make a short comment about the article on headaches and would be glad to speak with someone if a follow-up is planned.  

For many years I experienced severe headaches almost every morning when I awoke from the night's sleep.  I had seen several doctors, and while ruling out all the usual culprits, no one had the answer I needed.  About a year ago I began sleeping with a CPAP having been diagnosed with sleep apnea.  Bingo!! Headaches gone.  Conclusion....the deprivation of sufficient oxygen to the brain while asleep was the cause of the headaches.  I thought that I would see this among the causes for headaches in the article that was published. I think many would benefit to learn that morning headaches may be caused by interrupted sleep patterns in the night.

-        Norm Kurtz 

Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. .... get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

The opposite of good is not evil, the opposite of good is indifference.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

There are two primary ways in which man relates himself to the world that surrounds him: manipulation and appreciation.  In the first way he sees in what surrounds him things to be handled, forces to be managed, objects to be put to use. In the second way he sees in what surrounds him things to be acknowledged, understood, valued or admired.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

A religious man is a person... whose greatest passion is compassion.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

In a controversy, the instant we feel anger, we have already ceased striving for truth and have begun striving for ourselves.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

(People achieve) fullness of being in fellowship, in care for others.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

Trust is the core of human relationships, of gregariousness among men. Friendship, a puzzle to the syllogistic and critical mentality, is not based on experiments or tests of another person's qualities but on trust. It is not critical knowledge but a risk of the heart which initiates affection and preserves loyalty in our fellow men.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

Wise criticism always begins with self-criticism.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

Man is a messenger who forgot the message.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

Philosophy may be defined as the art of asking the right question ... awareness of the problem outlives all solutions. The answers are questions in disguise, every new answer giving rise to new questions.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

The supremacy of expediency is being refuted by time and truth. Time is an essential dimension of existence defiant of man's power, and truth reigns in supreme majesty, unrivaled, inimitable, and can never be defeated.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

Society today is no longer in revolt against particular laws which it finds alien, unjust, and imposed, but against law as such, against the principle of law. And yet we must not regard this revolt as entirely negative. The energy that rejects many obsolete laws is an entirely positive impulse for renewal of life and law.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel

Vitamin D Deficiency and Its Management

By Spyros G.E. Mezitis, MD, PhD

Vitamin D is very important for human well-being.  It is associated with sun exposure and calcium metabolism.   Eighty percent of people are Vitamin D deficient in the Northeast United States and over one billion people worldwide suffer from Vitamin D deficiency.  Do you have these signs or symptoms?

The ten important signs and symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency shown in studies that may also be associated with other disorders are the following:

1. Arthritic and muscle pain
2. Chronic pain
3. Chronic fatigue
4. Depression
5. Chronic sinusitis
6. Progression from prediabetes to diabetes and worsening of diabetes
7. Arterial hypertension
8. Excessive hair loss and head sweats
9. Bone fragility and osteoporosis
10. Poor wound healing

 Where is Vitamin D in the body and how does it work?

·       Vitamin D is found below the skin and is activated by sunlight.  It is processed by the liver to Vitamin D 25-OH and further activated by the kidneys after which Vitamin D 1,25-OH helps absorb calcium from food in the intestines.  Calcium is important in muscle and nerve function, bone strengthening and hormone secretion.

How do you measure Vitamin D in the body?

·       Vitamin D 25-OH can be measured in the blood and above 30 ng/dL is considered normal.  Studies have shown that clinical signs and symptoms improve if Vitamin D 25-OH blood levels are corrected to above 40 ng/dL.

How do you treat Vitamin D deficiency?

·       Sun exposure needs to be at least two hours daily for arms and legs between 11 am and 3 pm in warm areas of the world but with increased risk of skin cancer.

·       Food that is rich in Vitamin D includes fish like salmon and tuna, dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt, egg yolks, and dark green vegetables like spinach, kale, and broccoli.

·       Vitamin D3 supplements alone or in combinations with calcium come in tablets, capsules, and liquid forms that can be taken daily, weekly or monthly.

Patients with clinical signs of Vitamin D deficiency should be tested and if the blood sample shows levels below 40 ng/dL, Vitamin D3 at a dose to be specified by a physician should be initiated.  Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and the oral capsules should be taken with fatty food.

The patient needs to follow with a physician and check the Vitamin D 25-OH blood level one month after starting Vitamin D supplementation.  The clinical signs and symptoms listed earlier should significantly improve.

Spyros G.E. Mezitis, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine,  Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Endocrinology Specialist and Clinical Investigator,  New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Cornell Medicine,  Lenox Hill Hospital/Northwell Health,  New York, New York
Endocrine Practice,  220 East 69th Street,  New York, NY 10021
Tel: 212-288-6661,  Website: drspyrosmezitis.com,  E-mail: mezendo212@gmail.com