[Tic Tac Took]

Taking vitamin D supplements may help fight Crohn's disease, according to a new Canadian study published in the latest issue of journal of Biological Chemistry.

"Our data suggests, for the first time, that Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to Crohn's disease," said Dr. John H. White of McGill University.

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Crohn's disease symptoms include abdominal pain, and diarrhea, weight loss, arthritis, skin problems, and fever among others.

There is no known cause for the disease, but one theory speculates that people with the condition have a malfunctioning innate immune system which inadequately responds to foreign invaders like viruses and bacteria.

What White and colleagues found is that vitamin D acts directly on the beta defensin 2 gene, which encodes an antibacterial peptide, and also the so called NOD2 gene, which alerts cells to the presence of invading bacteria and viruses.

Vitamin D has been known to be involved in the production of antimicrobial peptides because of which the vitamin is believed to be able to help fight infection such as flu. Numerous studies have indeed associated vitamin D deficiency with high risk of infection.

Vitamin D may not only help prevent or treat Crohn's disease, but also many types of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune disease, depression, according to the Vitamin D Council.

Other diseases related to vitamin D deficiency include Alzheimer's disease, allergy, asthma, autism, celiac disease, cerebral palsy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic pain, cognitive function, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, Gaucher's disease, Graves' disease, hypertension, mental illness, multiple sclerosis, muscular weakness and falls, obesity, otosclerosis, and parkinson's disease.

Dr. John Cannell, a vitamin D expert, director of vitamin D Council suggests on its website that to prevent diseases, high doses may be needed. For adults, 4000 to 6000 IUs per day may be adequate to maintain a serum level that prevents diseases.

For more information on vitamin D, visit vitamindcouncil.org and for more information on Crohn's disease, visit http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/crohns/

By David Liu



http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/...901100629.html

[Orefsmisits]

Here's a published review of studies on Vitamin D from Laboratory Equipment.com

Vitamin D Reduces Heart Risk

February 17, 2010

Middle aged and elderly people with high levels of vitamin D could reduce their chances of developing heart disease or diabetes by 43%, according to researchers at the Univ. of Warwick, UK.

A team of researchers at Warwick Medical School carried out a systematic literature review of studies examining vitamin D and cardiometabolic disorders. Cardiometabolic disorders include cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome.


Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in some foods and is also produced when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger vitamin D synthesis. Fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel are good sources of vitamin D, and it is also available as a dietary supplement.

Researchers looked at 28 studies including 99,745 participants across a variety of ethnic groups including men and women. The studies revealed a significant association between high levels of vitamin D and a decreased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (33% compared to low levels of vitamin D), Type 2 diabetes (55% reduction) and metabolic syndrome (51% reduction).

The literature review, published in the journal Maturitas, was led by Johanna Parker and Oscar Franco, Assistant Prof. in Public Health at Warwick Medical School.

Franco says: ?We found that high levels of vitamin D among middle age and elderly populations are associated with a substantial decrease in cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

?Targeting vitamin D deficiency in adult populations could potentially slow the current epidemics of cardiometabolic disorders.?

All studies included were published between 1990 and 2009 with the majority published between 2004 and 2009. Half of the studies were conducted in the United States, eight were European, two studies were from Iran, three from Australasia and one from India.

Source: Univ. of Warwick

[sbrpkkl]

Yes that's true that vitamin D fight many diseases, Vitamin D is also known as the "sunshine vitamin" because the body manufactures the vitamin after being exposed to sunshine. Ten to 15 minutes of sunshine 3 times weekly is enough to produce the body's requirement of vitamin D.

[AttableBewNaw]

Vitamin D Levels Could Play Role in Heart Disease, Diabetes Risk
March 2010

"High levels of vitamin D among middle-age and elderly populations are associated with a substantial decrease in cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome," said Dr. Oscar Franco of the Health Sciences Research Institute in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Franco is a lead author of a systematic review and meta-analysis that looked at the association between blood levels of vitamin D and cardiometabolic disorders, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Twenty-eight studies giving data on 99,745 participants across a variety of ethnic groups including men and women were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis published in the journal Maturitas.

After analyzing the 28 studies researchers found that the highest blood levels of vitamin D were associated with a 33% reduction in the risk of developing CVD, a 55% reduction in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and a 51% reduction in the risk of developing metabolic syndrome, compared with the lowest blood levels of vitamin D.

"If the relationship proves to be causal, interventions targeting vitamin D deficiency in adult populations could potentially slow the current epidemics of cardiometabolic disorders," wrote the researchers.

Maturitas Published online ahead of print.

[Indessasp]

Press Release:

This morning, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial of school children showing vitamin D prevents influenza. A secondary finding was that asthmatic children on placebo had six times more asthma attacks than did children on vitamin D.

For information, contact the lead author, Dr. Mitsuyoshi Urashima at urashima@jikei.ac.jp


Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Mar 10. [Epub ahead of print]
Randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation to prevent seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren.

Urashima M, Segawa T, Okazaki M, Kurihara M, Wada Y, Ida H.

Division of Molecular Epidemiology Jikei University School of Medicine Minato-ku Tokyo Japan.

BACKGROUND: To our knowledge, no rigorously designed clinical trials have evaluated the relation between vitamin D and physician-diagnosed seasonal influenza. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effect of vitamin D supplements on the incidence of seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren. DESIGN: From December 2008 through March 2009, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comparing vitamin D(3) supplements (1200 IU/d) with placebo in schoolchildren. The primary outcome was the incidence of influenza A, diagnosed with influenza antigen testing with a nasopharyngeal swab specimen. RESULTS: Influenza A occurred in 18 of 167 (10.8%) children in the vitamin D(3) group compared with 31 of 167 (18.6%) children in the placebo group [relative risk (RR), 0.58; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.99; P = 0.04]. The reduction in influenza A was more prominent in children who had not been taking other vitamin D supplements (RR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.79; P = 0.006) and who started nursery school after age 3 y (RR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.78; P = 0.005). In children with a previous diagnosis of asthma, asthma attacks as a secondary outcome occurred in 2 children receiving vitamin D(3) compared with 12 children receiving placebo (RR: 0.17; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.73; P = 0.006). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that vitamin D(3) supplementation during the winter may reduce the incidence of influenza A, especially in specific subgroups of schoolchildren. This trial was registered at https://center.umin.ac.jp as UMIN000001373.

PMID: 20219962 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

[CorpoRasion]

Yes buddy it's quite right that vitamin D can fight with many of the dangerous one diseases... It come's from the sunlight, fish oil and have imparts much to the healthy one body figure....

[SweetCaroline]

I totally agree with you that vitamin D is very good to create immunity against many diseases. It is also created through sunlight but it is in less amount. Diary products are rich in vitamin D.

[aNoBVsUW]

Hi Jean,
Vitamin D provides calcium balance in our body and helps us in making our teeth and bones strong. Vitamin D reduce the risk of osteomalacia, depression, stress and prevent the loss of amino acids through the kidneys. Fish, cod liver oil, milk, and eggs are great source of vitamin D.

[Vegeinvalge]

Hey my friend Jeannine i also agree with on vitamin D benefits. That's no doubt that this will helpful in keeping life healthy and this post will helpful for lot's of people.

[PhilipBartew]

Vitamin D is a vital vitamin for our body. It has good antioxidant properties and improves the body immune system. Hence it save from many diseases attacks. The best source of vitamin D is sunshine. Vitamin D strengthen our bones through boosting up calcium absorption process.