Published on April 11, 2025
Dr. Cicero Coimbra shares about his clinical experiences using therapeutic doses of vitamin D to treat Multiple Sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases, and how it works
Key Points
- Dr. Cicero Coimbra is a noted physician for using therapeutic levels of vitamin D in treating autoimmune diseases and MS; his specialties include internal medicine, neurology, and pediatric neurology
- The “Coimbra Protocol” involves implementing therapeutic doses of vitamin D (1,000 IU/kg/day) and adjusting based on individual responses, particularly monitoring parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels to avoid toxicity, along with additional nutrients and diet/lifestyle factors
- Dr. Coimbra discusses the protocol in depth and invites other medical practitioners to reach out to learn the protocol for their own practice and patients
Today’s featured video is an exclusive interview/presentation with Cicero Coimbra, M.D., Ph.D. and Jen Aliano, Director of GrassrootsHealth. It is a deep, detailed dive into vitamin D’s role in immune function and its therapeutic uses in autoimmune disease.
Dr. Coimbra is the founder of the “Coimbra Protocol” which uses very high doses of vitamin D along with other nutrients and lifestyle factors to treat autoimmune diseases. This protocol is now used in at least 13 countries by over 200 doctors who have been trained by Dr. Coimbra or other trained physicians.
Watch the Video: “Therapeutic Uses of Vitamin D, with Cicero Coimbra, MD, PhD”
Access Direct Links to the Following Chapters in the Video Description on YouTube:
Intro
How Dr. Coimbra first became interested in vitamin D
Presentation Begins: Vitamin D from the Sun
“Vitamin D is as fundamental as the sun and the closest we have to a panacea.”
How Immune Cells Rely on Vitamin D to Function
“We can use vitamin D as the key to unlocking biochemical defenses against harmful microorganisms.”
History of Sunlight and Vitamin D in the Treatment of Disease
How Low Vitamin D Allows Microbes to Infiltrate the Blood Brain Barrier
Autoimmune Disease Triggers: Stress, Magnesium, Vitamin D
“This is a vicious cycle, when emotional distress leads to reduced magnesium, and as magnesium is required for vitamin D activation, then you have reduced vitamin D activity, and that increases the possibility of acquiring an autoimmune disorder. And, when the patient has an autoimmune disorder, this contributes to deepen the emotional distress. Reduced magnesium also causes excessive reaction to daily life problems and increases emotional distress which disrupts the epigenetic control of “dirty genes” or SNPs, which are usually switched off since prenatal life. When we have high levels of stress, it leads to those genes being switched on.”
How to Adjust Doses of Vitamin D to Overcome Vitamin D Resistance
“PTH inhibition is the most valuable index to adjust daily doses of vitamin D; it shows the level of individual resistance, and if not suppressed, assures safety. It means that we are pretty sure that there will be no intoxication, meaning no increased level of calcium.”
Vitamin D Resistance: What is it and how to overcome it
Mechanisms and Consequences of Vitamin D Resistance
Patient Results
Why Giving Active Vitamin D Will Not Work for These Patients
Vitamin D, Vitamin B2 and Magnesium Interdependence
“Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) and magnesium are both needed to recycle the enzymes required to activate vitamin D; approximately 10-15% of the world population has a reduced ability to absorb B2.”
Safety and Caution with High Doses of Vitamin D; What can cause hypercalcemia, what are the symptoms, and what is the recovery protocol?
Addressing Bone Health in the Coimbra Protocol
The Importance of Addressing Mental Health and its Effect on Vitamin D Resistance
Magnesium and Other Important Supplements
Current Vitamin D Recommendations in Comparison
Vitamin D is Essential in Pregnancy
“Looking at the evidence, it is amazing the number of problems you can prevent just by giving a pregnant woman 7,000 IU of vitamin D per day, which is completely safe. And it is important to say that some of our MS patients, for instance, who were unable to get pregnant, when they started receiving high doses of vitamin D, they got pregnant within a few months.”
Coimbra Protocol Training for Practitioners (Q&A)
Criticisms, Challenges, and Collaboration in Research and Practice
Observations during COVID
“Seeing MS patients getting back to a normal life, young people no longer at risk of going blind or paraplegic – such experience gives great satisfaction to the doctor who has them under his/her care. It has been very gratifying.” Dr. Cícero Coimbra
About Cicero G Coimbra, MD, PHD
Dr. Coimbra earned his medical degree from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1979) and holds specialist degrees in internal medicine and neurology. He completed a fellowship in pediatric neurology at the Jackson Memorial Hospital of the University of Miami and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Lund, Sweden. He was Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery and is the Founding President of the Institute for Research and Treatment of Autoimmunity in Brazil.
Dr. Coimbra’s clinical work focuses on neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases, and he currently seeks to deepen and share his knowledge about the causes of the worldwide exponential rise in the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Find more information about the Coimbra Protocol here.
Patients from several countries have greatly benefited from this protocol. Some of these stories can be found in this book in English: “BEYOND VITAMIN D: Stories of patients, family members, and doctors whose lives have been transformed by the Coimbra Protocol”
Donate Today
💛 Help Us Continue to Make a Global Impact! GrassrootsHealth is a nonprofit public health organization dedicated to promoting optimal health worldwide, with a primary focus on the role of vitamin D. Since 2007, we have teamed up with the world’s leading vitamin D researchers and experts to educate about vitamin D and to move vitamin D research into practice. Through evidence-based education, resources, tools, and our citizen-science approach to research (the D*action project), we empower individuals and practitioners alike to make informed and actionable decisions about their health and the health of their patients.
Thank you for supporting our mission and our ongoing commitment to vitamin D research, education, and advocacy!
Are you interested in implementing a vitamin D screening and supplementation protocol in your practice? Let us know – we can help!
How Are Your Levels of Vitamin D and Other Important Nutrients?
Check your vitamin D, omega-3s, magnesium, and other important markers today as part of the vitamin D*action project.
Measure your:
- Vitamin D
- Magnesium PLUS Elements (including zinc, copper, selenium, mercury, cadmium and lead)
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids
- hsCRP (for Inflammation)
- HbA1c (for Blood Sugar)
- and more
Did you know that each of the above can be measured at home using a simple blood spot test? As part of our ongoing research project, you can order your home blood spot test kit to get your levels, followed by education and steps to take to help you reach your optimal target levels. Start by enrolling and ordering your kit to measure each of the above important markers, and make sure you are getting enough of each to support better health and wellbeing!
Start Here to Measure Your Levels
How Can You Use this Information for YOUR Health?
Having and maintaining healthy vitamin D and other nutrient levels can help improve your health now and for your future. Measuring is the only way to make sure you are getting enough!
STEP 1 Order your at-home blood spot test kit to measure vitamin D and other nutrients of concern to you, such as omega-3s, magnesium, essential and toxic elements (zinc, copper, selenium, lead, cadmium, mercury); include hsCRP as a marker of inflammation or HbA1c for blood sugar health
STEP 2 Answer the online questionnaire as part of the GrassrootsHealth study
STEP 3 Using our educational materials and tools (such as our dose calculators), assess your results to determine if you are in your desired target range or if actions should be taken to get there
STEP 4 After 3-6 months of implementing your changes, re-test to see if you have achieved your target level(s)
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Dr. Coimbra’s Protocol for Multiple Sclerosis
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The Pleiotropic Effects of Vitamin D3: Clinical Applications Beyond a Pro-Hormone