Dr. Stasha Gominak Discusses Sleep and Vitamin D: 2 Powerful Health Boosters

This is a video of a one-hour plus lecture by a woman neurologist on her discoveries from working
with people with chronic headaches and other symptoms. She presents a lot of information, and I've
made notes of what I think are important points - as well as written a short abstract of the key points.

The video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF24xmJQK1k

Abstract: Normal (healthy) sleep - night after night - is what cures the body.
It repairs and remediates genetic weaknesses. Vitamin D (which is actually a
hormone and not a vitamin) may be a major factor for enabling good sleep:
which is not just being unconscious but going into deep, "slow-wave sleep,"
and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, in which the body is mostly paralyzed.
Much of her learning about this was the effects on patients - many of whom were
suffering from daily headaches - using CPAP devices, which was not pleasant.
She says 90% of her patients with such symptoms - headaches and others - had
sleep disorders, and all those with sleep disorders had low Vitamin D levels.
It's not the dose, but the blood level that's important. For good sleep, it needs to
be between 60 and 80; below 50 or above 80 can cause sleep problems. The test
should measure D-25OH. B12 levels are also important; should be 500 or higher.

Notes from video:

Her main focus as a neurologist is treating people who have chronic (daily) headaches. She found that people with sleep apnea who also have headaches are cured of headaches (along with several other conditions) when they use a CPAP device. She wondered why that would be, and if others with daily headaches have sleep disorders. She found that 9 out of 10 people with daily headaches also have sleep disorders (including several kinds other than sleep apnea - See 3:19).

Why has normal sleep become "abnormal?" i.e., why do so many people have sleep disorders?

We get paralzyed in certain phases of sleep - but only those phases. She wondered why this happens.

The brain doesn't normally allow deep or "Stage III" sleep - aka, slow wave sleep (SWS) - until we're in a safe position to get paralyzed (lying down). During Stage III sleep, the body becomes paralyzed and the brain releases growth hormone. This hormone enables children to grow during sleep and, in adults, may enable healing.

"The ability of sleep to cure the body is a million times stronger than medicines." (6:35)

After Stage III/SWS, we go into REM sleep, during which we're the most paralyzed. If this REM sleep is interrupted or abnormal, e.g., due to apnea, we can have mood or memory issues.

No sleep medications enable normal REM sleep - except the "date-rape" drug.

Getting up to pee at night is only "normal" for modern humans; wasn't true for our ancestors.

It's when we're paralyzed in deep sleep that we do the "work" of sleep (repairing damage/disorders).

Sleep disorders are caused when we get either too paralyzed - resulting in apnea, or not paralyzed enough, which causes limb or jaw movements.

She found that most all of her patients had a sleep disorder. And when they used a CPAP mask, it might cure not only the sleep disorder, but other problems - even tremors due to Parkinsons. However, she says "it's not the oxygen," i.e., (my understanding) is that it's not that the CPAP increases oxygen, but that it enables deep sleep (or prevents interruptions to Stage III and REM sleep).

At 21:41, there's a long list of health conditions associated with sleep apnea.

In deep sleep, we strengthen or shore up genetic weaknesses; if we don't get enough, then those weaknesses will start to manifest as disease, etc.

27:30 - B12 deficiency also causes daily headaches and sleep disorders.

"Every person with a bad sleep study has low Vit. D."

31:30 - Vit. D is actually a hormone, not a vitamin. It's made on the skin from cholesterol when we're exposed to UVB. This is true for all animals. Suggests that high cholesterol - as well as low D-levels - could be caused by inadequate sun exposure.

36:00 - Vit. D affects all body systems and organs.
37:30 - Very low D levels causes bad sleep. Could it be the cause of sleep apnea?

41:35 - GI tract disorders related to D-deficiency: B12 and iron deficiencies caused by low stomach acid; poor stomach motility; gallstones; diabetes; decreased good colonic bacteria w/ bloating, etc.; constipation; esophageal and colon cancer.

43:00 - In the lab, when Vit D is added to skin cancer cells, they become normal cell (non-cancerous).

43:19 - Vit D linked to inflammation - joint problems

43:36 - Many autoimmune disease linked to D deficiency.

45:51 - Vit D3 is not in any food except cod liver, unless it's been added
(and often what's added is the wrong form - D2). So it's not a vitamin as it's synthesized by the body.

51:00 - With Vit D, it's not the dose; it's the level that's important.

51:51 - Sleep is the cure for cardiovascular risk factors.

Normal (healthy) sleep - night after night - is what cures the body.

55:36 - www.vitamindcouncil.org - Recommend Vit D level of 80 in Sept and at least 50 at end of winter. Say it takes 10,000 IU/day to stay at that level.

She believes the D-range for good sleep is 60-80. Higher or lower can cause sleep disorders (esp. lower than 50). Tests should be measuring D25OH - not D1,25OH. Don't take D2, but if you have been, need to test D3-25OH level.

On: What's the right dose (of D)?

We make 20,000 IU on our skin in 1-6 hours of in the sun - in summer, mid-day.

The right dose depends on the person and on the present D-level. Need to get it up to at least 60.

She says that MS is a D-deficiency disorder.
Good dopamine levels are also required for good sleep.
Iron deficiency can cause low dopamine levels.

B12 also needs to be normal - >500. Both D and B12 should be checked as low D can cause low B12

Getting B12 shots once a month doesn't help as it's not stored. Needs to be taken daily if deficient. B12 pills are absorbed "just fine" if the potency is high enough.