Vitamin D Deficiency News and Research

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Low vitamin D levels mediate racial disparities in pain

A new study reveals that black Americans display lower levels of vitamin D and greater pain sensitivity compared to white Americans. Findings published in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), indicate that vitamin D deficiency may be one of many factors that account for increased pain in older black Americans with knee osteoarthritis (OA).

7 Nov 2012

Vitamin D deficiency: an interview with Kellie Bilinski

We know that vitamin D is important in keeping bones strong. In the last 30-40 years it has also been realized that vitamin D has a lot of other roles in the body. Vitamin D essentially has a role in any cell in the body that has a vitamin D receptor.

5 Nov 2012

Allergies and hygiene: an interview with Sally Bloomfield

Allergies occur when the body overreacts to substances in our environment, such as pollen, dust mites and so forth. What happens is that when we are exposed to these potential threats, the immune system should react, deal with it, and then shut down.

26 Oct 2012

Comprehensive handbook on vitamin A deficiency disorders

Vitamin A plays a key role among the vitamins essential for healthy growth and development. Vitamin A deficiency disorders (VADD) are therefore an important part of general malnutrition that in the majority of cases leads to failure to thrive and underweight.

16 Oct 2012

Sunshine vitamin affects cardiac outcomes

Vitamin D deficiency could increase the risk for ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction, and early death, researchers suggest.

27 Sep 2012

Low levels of vitamin D associated with higher risk of heart attack and early death

New research from the University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen University Hospital shows that low levels of vitamin D are associated with a markedly higher risk of heart attack and early death. The study involved more than 10,000 Danes and has been published in the well-reputed American journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

24 Sep 2012

Vitamin D deficiency affects more Australians than previously thought

September marks the start of spring but new research reveals it is also the month when Australians’ vitamin D levels are at their lowest ebb.

24 Sep 2012

Vitamin D deficiency common in critically ill children

Children who are critically ill frequently have low serum levels of vitamin D, report researchers.

18 Sep 2012

Urban air pollution exposure during pregnancy may lead to lower vitamin D levels in offspring

Gestational exposure to ambient urban air pollution, especially during late pregnancy, may contribute to lower vitamin D levels in offspring, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM).

14 Sep 2012

Book shows how vitamin A deficiency affected millions of people throughout history

Lifting the shadow of death - Intriguing reading for specialists and the interested public alike. This book shows how vitamin A deficiency - before the vitamin was known to scientists - affected millions of people throughout history. It is a story of sailors and soldiers, penniless mothers, orphaned infants, and young children left susceptible to blindness and fatal infections. We also glimpse the fortunate ones who, with ample vitamin A-rich food, escaped this elusive stalker.

12 Sep 2012

Vitamin D supplements have unintended lipid consequences

Correcting vitamin D levels in individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease may have detrimental effects on their lipid profiles, report researchers.

6 Sep 2012

Study questions use of vitamin D supplements to improve cholesterol

Vitamin D has been touted for its beneficial effects on a range of human systems, from enhancing bone health to reducing the risk of developing certain cancers. But it does not improve cholesterol levels, according to a new study conducted at The Rockefeller University Hospital.

From Quest Diagnostics 5 Sep 2012

ABCD4 and CblF proteins responsible for hereditary vitamin B12 deficiency

Vitamin B12 is vital for cell division, the synthesis of red blood cells and the functioning of the nervous system. Unable to produce the vitamin itself, the human body has to obtain it via animal proteins. So far it has been known that on its way into the cell vitamin B12 is absorbed by little organelles, so-called lysosomes. From there, the vitamin enters the cell interior with the aid of the transport protein CblF, which was discovered by the same research team three years ago.

28 Aug 2012

Researchers discover new genetic disease related to vitamin B12 deficiency

Vitamin B12 is essential to human health. However, some people have inherited conditions that leave them unable to process vitamin B12. As a result they are prone to serious health problems, including developmental delay, psychosis, stroke and dementia. An international research team recently discovered a new genetic disease related to vitamin B12 deficiency by identifying a gene that is vital to the transport of vitamin into the cells of the body.

27 Aug 2012

Creighton University research to improve patient care and outcomes in CAD treatment

Since 1990, Creighton University School of Medicine professor and researcher Devendra K. Agrawal, Ph.D., has been awarded more than $20 million in research grants to study coronary artery heart disease. He is determined to eradicate the impact of this heart disease—the number one killer of men and women in the United States.

26 Aug 2012

Vitamin D may help fight childhood acute respiratory infections

Supplementation with vitamin D, particularly in winter, appears to reduce a child’s risk for contracting acute respiratory infections by almost 50%, show results from a Mongolian study.

21 Aug 2012

Daily vitamin D intake protects against respiratory infections in children

A study conducted in Mongolian schoolchildren supports the possibility that daily vitamin D supplementation can reduce the risk of respiratory infections in winter. In a report that will appear in the journal Pediatrics and has received early online release, an international research team found that vitamin D supplementation decreased the risk of respiratory infections among children who had low blood levels of vitamin D at the start of the study.

21 Aug 2012