Dr. Coimbra first discovered the benefits of vitamin D when he noticed significant improvement in a patient with Parkinson’s disease and vitiligo after giving them 10,000 IU of vitamin D per day. As Dr. Coimbra learned more about vitamin D, he began to increase his patients’ dosage while closely monitoring them for symptoms of toxicity. He found that he could prevent an increase of calcium in the urine caused by higher doses of vitamin D by asking his patients to decrease their dairy intake. Magnesium can also be taken with high doses of vitamin D to help control calcium levels and aid absorption. People with autoimmune disorders often have polymorphisms affecting any of the nine genes that vitamin D requires for proper function. Vitamin D deficiency is also related to modern lifestyles that limit sun exposure. In 1988, it was discovered that we have vitamin D receptors in almost every cell of the body. This triggered an increase in vitamin D research and the understanding that vitamin D was important for far more than just bone and calcium. If you have a problem with vitamin D metabolism, you could be prone to many diseases. Dr. Coimbra explains that some health concerns must be addressed with doses of up to 600,000 IU of vitamin D. This dosage may also be helpful before surgery. When treating people with autoimmune diseases, Dr. Coimbra gives his patients 1,000 IU of vitamin D per kilogram of body weight.

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