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ORLANDO – People with an excessive blood level of vitamin D from overdosing with supplements had a 2.5-fold increased incidence of atrial fibrillation(A Fib), based on a study of 132,000 residents of Utah and southeastern Idaho. The finding "suggests the need for caution with vitamin D supplementation and the need for careful assessment of serum levels if high doses [of vitamin D] are used," Megan B. Smith said at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association. The finding also suggests that patients identified with new-onset atrial fibrillation should be evaluated for a possible extremely high vitamin D level,...

This Ancient, Deadly Disease Is Still Killing In Europe John Donnelly, GlobalPost Dec. 30, 2011, 12:53 PM GENEVA, Switzerland – On the sidelines of a conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, just three months ago, a senior health official from Belarus met privately with Mario Raviglione, whose job here at the World Health Organization’s headquarters is to control the spread of tuberculosis around the world. Belarus needed help. It had just confirmed a study that found 35 percent of all TB cases in the capital of Minsk were multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) – the highest rate in the world ever recorded for...

— The number of reported cases of a novel swine influenza virus has risen to 12 since July, encompassing 5 states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The virus includes a gene from the human pandemic strain and affects mostly children. The infections in question involve a variant of the A(H3N2) virus that circulates among pigs. It contains a gene from the pandemic 2009 influenza A(H1N1) virus that codes for matrix proteins found in the viral shell. In 3 of the 5 states where the A(H3N2)v virus has surfaced — Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Maine —...

Another day, and another vitamin has failed to live up to all of its hype. This time it’s vitamin D. The reality check is coming from two new research reviews published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The reviews, which looked at hundreds of previous studies of the “sunshine vitamin,” conclude that there’s little evidence that vitamin D protects against cancer or heart disease. They also show that vitamin D doesn’t prevent fractures when it’s taken alone. Pairing vitamin D with extra calcium does appear to help prevent broken bones in the elderly, however. “For many years, the enthusiasm for...

A rare genetic variant which causes reduced levels of vitamin D appears to be directly linked to multiple sclerosis, says an Oxford University study. UK and Canadian scientists identified the mutated gene in 35 parents of a child with MS and, in each case, the child inherited it. Researchers say this adds weight to suggestions of a link between vitamin D deficiency and MS. The study is in Annals of Neurology. Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). Although the cause of MS is not yet conclusively known, both genetic and...

John J. Cannell, M.D writes that he receives numerous questions from individuals who ask, "My doctor prescribed Drisdol, is that OK?" Drisdol is vitamin D2 in a form that doctors write prescriptions for. Sun exposure does not produce vitamin D2 in the body, the vitamin is produced by plant matter and irradiating fungus. When consumed, numerous metabolic forms of D2 can be traced in the body. According to some studies, vitamin D3, which is produced by the skin, is more powerful, hence more effective at raising blood levels compared with vitamin D2, however, some studies say they are equal. Few...

Can vitamin D help prevent certain cancers and other diseases such as type 1 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain autoimmune and chronic diseases? To answer these questions and more, UCSD School of Medicine and GrassrootsHealth bring you this innovative series on vitamin D deficiency. Join nationally recognized experts as they discuss the latest research and its implications. In this program, Cedric Garland, Dr. PH, discusses the expected vitamin D serum level for cancer prevention. Series: Vitamin D Deficiency – Treatment and Diagnosis [2/2009] [Health and Medicine] [Professional Medical Education] [Show ID: 15767]

The Winnipeg streets are silent and black when Joanne Bromilow gropes a weary hand to a glass of water and two turquoise pills on her bedside table. Before her feet hit the floor later that morning, she’ll have taken another kaleidoscopic handful with hues almost as intense and varied as her symptoms:....Bromilow is one of the 75,000 Canadians in the grips of multiple sclerosis. ........ Half a world away in Sydney, Australia, Lynne Berson wakes up in the half-light of early dawn, pads her way to the kitchen to make her kids’ lunches while musing how spoiled she is to...

Investigators explore potential role of UV light exposure and vitamin D in Crohn's therapyWashington, DC -- New research points to a potential role for UV light exposure and vitamin D levels in chronic digestive conditions; Crohn's disease, a serious inflammatory condition in the small intestine; and ulcerative colitis (UC), which similarly affects the colon. In two separate studies presented at the American College of Gastroenterology's 76th Annual Scientific Meeting, a group of investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital probed the connection between geography, UV exposure and incidence of inflammatory bowel disease while another group from Weill Cornell Medical Center looked at...

If it's Monday, it must be bad news about multivitamin day -- or was that Wednesday? No, Wednesday was good news about vitamin D, not so good news about vitamin E -- if you're confused, join the club. The alphabet soup of vitamin studies making headlines in the last few weeks has left more than one head spinning, and most clinicians scrambling for answers. As the dust begins to settle, physicians interviewed by MedPage Today and ABC News agreed on a bit of simple wisdom -- a healthy diet is more important than a fistful of supplements. "I had already...

Predicts advanced diseaseMiami Beach, Fla., October 2, 2011 – More than three-quarters of cancer patients have insufficient levels of vitamin D (25-hydroxy-vitamin D) and the lowest levels are associated with more advanced cancer, according to a study presented on October 2, 2011, at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). "Until recently, studies have not investigated whether vitamin D has an impact on the prognosis or course of cancer. Researchers are just starting to examine how vitamin D may impact specific features of cancer, such as the stage or extent of tumor spread, prognosis, recurrence...

September 28, 2011 - (BRONX, NY) - People taking oral steroids are twice as likely as the general population to have severe vitamin D deficiency, according to a study of more than 31,000 children and adults by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Their findings, in the September 28 online edition of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, suggest that physicians should more diligently monitor vitamin D levels in patients being treated with oral steroids. "When doctors write that prescription for steroids and they're sending the patients for lab tests, they should also get the...

Children with severe therapy-resistant asthma (STRA) may have poorer lung function and worse symptoms compared to children with moderate asthma, due to lower levels of vitamin D in their blood, according to researchers in London. Lower levels of vitamin D may cause structural changes in the airway muscles of children with STRA, making breathing more difficult. The study provides important new evidence for possible treatments for the condition. The findings were published online ahead of the print edition of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. "This study clearly demonstrates that low levels of vitamin...

African-American men in northern regions especially need high doses of supplementsCHICAGO --- African-American men living in areas with low sunlight are up to 3 ½ times more likely to have Vitamin D deficiency than Caucasian men and should take high levels of Vitamin D supplements, according to a new study from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "This study shows that the current one-size fits all recommendations for 600 International Units (IU) of Vitamin D don't work," said Adam Murphy, M.D., a clinical instructor in urology at Northwestern's Feinberg School. "Skin color and sunlight exposure need to be considered for...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Despite some research linking low vitamin D levels to heart disease, a new study suggests that lacking D does not increase one's risk of an irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation. > "I think the study was done well," said Dr. Michal Melamed, who studies vitamin D at the Einstein School of Medicine in New York and was not involved in the research. It shows that this one vitamin doesn't have an effect on all heart diseases, which is a good thing, she said. A 2008 study of the same group of Framingham participants found...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has died a hundred deaths, more or less. Here's a new one: darkness. Doctors over the years have resurrected the story of Mozart's death again and again, each time proposing some alternative horrifying medical reason why the 18th century's most celebrated and prolific composer keeled over at age 35. A new monograph suggests that Mozart died from too little sunlight. The researchers give us a simple theory. When exposed to sunlight, people's skin naturally produces vitamin D. Mozart, toward the end of his life, was nearly as nocturnal as a vampire, so his skin probably produced very...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new analysis of earlier research finds that both higher vitamin D intake and higher blood levels of the vitamin's active form are linked to lower risk of colon and rectal cancers. In 18 studies that included more than 10,000 people, colon cancer risk was as much as 33 percent lower in subjects with the highest blood levels of vitamin D compared to those with the lowest levels, researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Those with the highest intake of vitamin D through supplements and food had 12 percent lower risk than those...

A study conducted by VHIO researchers confirms that a lack of vitamin D increases the aggressiveness of colon cancer The indication that vitamin D and its derivatives have a protective effect against various types of cancer is not new. In the field of colon cancer, numerous experimental and epidemiological studies show that vitamin D3 (or cholecalciferol) and some of its derivatives inhibit the growth of cancerous cells. Researchers at the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), in collaboration with the Alberto Sols Institute of Biomedical Research (CSIC-UAB), have confirmed the pivotal role of vitamin D, specifically its receptor (VDR), in...

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A study links low vitamin D in young girls with early menstruation, which is a risk factor for a host of health problems for teen girls as well as women later in life. Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Public Health measured the blood vitamin D levels in 242 girls ages 5-12 from Bogota, Colombia, and followed them for 30 months. Girls low on vitamin D were twice as likely to start menstruation during the study than those with sufficient vitamin D, said epidemiologist Eduardo Villamor, associate professor in the U-M SPH. This is important for...

Daily supplements of vitamin D may boost the function of the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, says a new study from Boston-based researchers that supports the potential role of the vitamin for pre-diabetics. A daily 2,000 International Units (IU) dose of vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol, was associated with a 25 percent improvement in the functioning of beta cells in the pancreas, according to findings published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

SAN DIEGO, CA – Vitamin D deficiency has been known to cause an assortment of health problems, a recent study being presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Annual Meeting in San Diego today, suggests that lack of the vitamin might also increase the chance of muscle injuries in athletes, specifically NFL football players. "Eighty percent of the football team we studied had vitamin D insufficiency. African American players and players who suffered muscle injuries had significantly lower levels," said Michael Shindle, MD, lead researcher and member of Summit Medical Group. Researchers identified 89 football players from...

To fully optimize a drug therapy for osteoporosis and low bone mineral density (BMD), patients should maintain vitamin D levels above the limits recently recommended by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), according to a new study by researchers from Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. The study will be presented at the Endocrine Society's Annual Meeting in Boston, June 4-7. The study demonstrated that maintaining a circulating vitamin D level above 33 ng/ml is associated with a seven-fold greater likelihood of having a more favorable outcome with bisphosphonate therapy. Last November, the IOM issued recommendations that 25-Hydroxy vitamin D...

Obesity and low vitamin D are linked to risk of cancer and other diseasesSEATTLE – Overweight or obese women with less-than-optimal levels of vitamin D who lose more than 15 percent of their body weight experience significant increases in circulating levels of this fat-soluble nutrient, according to a new study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. "Since vitamin D is generally lower in persons with obesity, it is possible that low vitamin D could account, in part, for the link between obesity and diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes," said Caitlin Mason, Ph.D., lead author of...

Having low vitamin D levels may increase a person's risk of developing Parkinson's disease later in life, say Finnish researchers. Their study of 3,000 people, published in Archives of Neurology, found people with the lowest levels of the sunshine vitamin had a three-fold higher risk. Vitamin D could be helping to protect the nerve cells gradually lost by people with the disease, experts say. The charity Parkinson's UK said further research was required. Parkinson's disease affects several parts of the brain, leading to symptoms like tremor and slow movements. 30-year study The researchers from Finland's National Institute for Health and...

ATS 2011, DENVER – Vitamin D supplements may help patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) get more from their pulmonary rehabilitation programs, according to a study conducted by researchers from Belgium. The study results will be presented at the ATS 2011 International Conference in Denver. "Our study shows that high doses of vitamin D supplementation on top of a standard rehabilitation program improve the outcome in terms of exercise capacity and respiratory muscle strength," said Miek Hornikx, physiotherapist and doctoral student in the department of pneumology at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Leuven, Belgium. Vitamin D deficiency is common...

Abstract The association is not clear-cut, according to an assessment of data from the Third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey. Introduction Ultraviolet radiation has various deleterious effects but a positive influence on vitamin D metabolism. Dermatologists typically recommend that patients use sunscreen and take other precautions to prevent sunburn, nonmelanoma skin cancer, melanoma, and cutaneous photoaging. This practice is increasingly being scrutinized because much of the population is vitamin D deficient and because several healthful effects have been attributed to vitamin D, including a potential cancer-protection effect. To assess the association between baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (25[OH]D) and...

A new study published in the journal Respirology reveals that adult patients admitted to the hospital with pneumonia are more likely to die if they have Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is known to be involved in the innate immune response to infection. The team of researchers at Waikato Hospital and the Universities of Waikato and Otago, measured vitamin D in the blood samples of 112 adult patients admitted with community acquired pneumonia during the winter at the only acute-care hospital in Hamilton, New Zealand. The researchers found that Vitamin D deficiency was associated with higher mortality within the first...

News tips from the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, April 30-May 3, Denver, Colo.Pediatricians from Johns Hopkins Children's Center and elsewhere have discovered a link between low levels of vitamin D and anemia in children. The findings, presented on May 1 at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Denver, Colo., show that vitamin D deficiency may play an important role in anemia. Anemia, which occurs when the body has too few oxygen-carrying red blood cells, is diagnosed and tracked by measuring hemoglobin levels. Symptoms of mild anemia include fatigue, lightheadedness and low energy. Severe...

High levels of vitamin D in the bloodstream appear to be associated with a decreased risk of developing early age-related macular degeneration among women younger than 75 years, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a chronic, late-onset disease that results in degeneration of the macula, is the leading cause of adult irreversible vision loss in developed countries," the authors write as background information in the article. "Age-related macular degeneration affects approximately 9 percent (8.5 million) of Americans aged 40 years and older." Amy E. Millen,...

Researchers say their mice study should provide a word of caution to people who believe that excess vitamin D prevents cancerOrlando, Fla. -- In mice models of breast cancer, researchers at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, a part of Georgetown University Medical Center, found that vitamin D significantly reduced development of estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer both in lean and obese mice, but had no beneficial effect in estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) cancer. In fact, obese mice destined to develop ER- breast cancer were clearly worse off than lean ER- mice if they were given vitamin D in their diet....

A lack of vitamin D, even in generally healthy people, is linked with stiffer arteries and an inability of blood vessels to relax, research from the Emory/Georgia Tech Predictive Health Institute has found. The results add to evidence that lack of vitamin D can lead to impaired vascular health, contributing to high blood pressure and the risk of cardiovascular disease. Study participants who increased their vitamin D levels were able to improve vascular health and lower their blood pressure. The data is being presented on Sunday by Ibhar Al Mheid, MD, a cardiovascular researcher at Emory University School of Medicine,...

[PRESS RELEASE, 9 March 2011] A study from Karolinska Institutet has shown that the body's ability to break down medicines may be closely related to exposure to sunlight, and thus may vary with the seasons. The findings offer a completely new model to explain individual differences in the effects of drugs, and how the surroundings can influence the body's ability to deal with toxins. The study will be published in the scientific journal Drug Metabolism & Disposition and is based on nearly 70,000 analyses from patients who have undergone regular monitoring of the levels of drugs in their blood. The...

U-M researchers find high levels of enzyme that blocks vitamin D can predict lung cancer survivalANN ARBOR, Mich. — Recent research suggests vitamin D may be able to stop or prevent cancer. Now, a new study finds an enzyme that plays a role in metabolizing vitamin D can predict lung cancer survival. The study, from researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, suggests that this enzyme stops the anti-cancer effects of vitamin D. Levels of the enzyme, called CYP24A1, were elevated as much as 50 times in lung adenocarcinoma compared with normal lung tissue. The higher the level...

February 24, 2011 ─ (BRONX, NY) ─ A study of more than 3,000 children shows that low vitamin D levels are associated with increased likelihood that children will develop allergies, according to a paper published in the February 17 online edition of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University headed the study. Researchers looked at the serum vitamin D levels in blood collected in 2005-2006 from a nationally representative sample of more than 3,100 children and adolescents and 3,400 adults. The samples are derived from the National Health and Nutrition...

With most people unable to get enough vitamin D from sunlight or foods, scientists are suggesting that a new vitamin D-fortified food — bread made with high-vitamin D yeast — could fill that gap. Their study, confirming that the approach works in laboratory tests, appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Connie Weaver and colleagues cite studies suggesting that up to 7 in 10 people in the United States may not get enough vitamin D, which enables the body to absorb calcium. Far from just contributing to healthy bones, however, vitamin D seems to have body-wide beneficial effects....

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha have reported that markedly higher intake of vitamin D is needed to reach blood levels that can prevent or markedly cut the incidence of breast cancer and several other major diseases than had been originally thought. The findings are published February 21 in the journal Anticancer Research While these levels are higher than traditional intakes, they are largely in a range deemed safe for daily use in a December 2010 report from the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine. "We...

Gov't Research Also Shows Them Much Higher in Vitamin D; Dietitian: Credit Healthier Animal Feed, in Part(CBS) If you like eggs, this is good news: A new government study finds they're actually 14 percent lower in cholesterol and 64 percent higher in vitamin D than previously thought. Registered Dietitian Cynthia Sass stopped by the "The Early Show" Tuesday to explain what this may mean for your health. What caused this change in cholesterol and vitamin D levels? Sass, the author of "Cinch!: Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds, and Lose Inches," told "Early Show" co-anchor Chris Wragge the saying "You are what...

CINCINNATI—A new study shows that vitamin D deficiency could be linked to the development and severity of certain autoimmune lung diseases. These findings are being reported in the Jan. 4 edition of the journal Chest. Brent Kinder, MD, UC Health pulmonologist, director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Center at the University of Cincinnati and lead investigator on the study, says vitamin D deficiencies have been found to affect the development of other autoimmune diseases, like lupus and type 1 diabetes. "We wanted to see if lack of sufficient vitamin D would also be seen in patients who are diagnosed with...

Most Americans and Canadians up to age 70 need no more than 600 international units (IUs) of vitamin D per day to maintain health, and those 71 and older may need as much as 800 IUs, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The amount of calcium needed ranges, based on age, from 700 to 1,300 milligrams per day... > A large amount of evidence, which formed the basis of the new intake values, confirms the roles of calcium and vitamin D in promoting skeletal growth and maintenance and the amounts needed to avoid poor bone health. >...

Supplementation with the 'sunshine vitamin' may reduce risk of diabetes and heart disease(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) ― Researchers from the UC Davis Health System have found that compared with healthy controls, blood levels of vitamin D are significantly reduced in patients in the Sacramento area with metabolic syndrome, a constellation of disease risk factors that affects about one in three U.S. adults and predisposes them to diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The study is the first to examine vitamin-D status in patients with metabolic syndrome living in Northern California, where the many hours of sunshine make the vitamin-D deficiency finding surprising. The...

Megadoses of 'sunshine vitamin' don't prevent disease, may be harmful WASHINGTON — For the past few years vitamin D has been the "it" vitamin, with studies wildly trumpeting the supplement's role in strengthening bones, reducing the risk of some cancers, heart disease, along with fighting autoimmune diseases and diabetes. But long-awaited new dietary guidelines say there's no proof that megadoses of the "sunshine vitamin" prevent cancer, diabetes or other conditions. While some people will need a bit more vitamin D than they're already getting, some studies suggest that too much could actually cause some kinds of cancer, according to the...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Vitamin D and calcium have been hailed as a possible antidote for cancer, heart disease and more, but a panel of US and Canadian doctors said Tuesday that the duo's only sure benefit is bone health. After reviewing about 1,000 studies on the supposed links between low vitamin D levels and higher risk of serious diseases, the panel concluded that they showed inconsistent results, sometimes due to shoddy research methods. The experts also issued new guidelines -- the first since 1997 -- for North Americans, saying people should take between 700 and 1,300 milligrams of calcium and...

Vitamin D Is Essential To The Modern Indoor Lifestyle By Michael Holick October 23rd, 2010; Vol.178 #9 (p. 32) Every cell in the body has a vitamin D receptor protein. It's estimated that upwards of 2,000 genes are directly or indirectly regulated by vitamin D.It’s known that vitamin D is necessary for proper bone formation and maintenance. But recent decades have seen a torrent of studies suggesting that vitamin D can also affect many other aspects of health; some scientists have come to consider the daily recommended intake of 400 international units of vitamin D far too low. Michael Holick...

Supplementation Is Safe and Effective. DR. HEANEY is John A. Creighton University Professor and professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. He was a member of the Institute of Medicine's Calcium and Related Nutrients Panel of the Food and Nutrition Board, which set the intake recommendations for vitamin D in 1997. He reports no financial disclosures.Widespread supplementation of the adult population with vitamin D is advisable because it restores the conditions under which human physiology evolved, and because it is efficacious and safe.Let's look first at the physiology. Vitamin D is normally made in...

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 25 – Vitamin D may be an effective therapy to treat and even prevent allergy to a common mold that can cause severe complications for patients with cystic fibrosis and asthma, according to researchers from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Louisiana State University School of Medicine. Results of the study, led by Jay Kolls, M.D., Ph.D., a lung disease researcher at Children's Hospital and professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, are published in the September 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Aspergillus...

The extent to which vitamin D deficiency may increase susceptibility to a wide range of diseases is dramatically highlighted in research published today. Scientists have mapped the points at which vitamin D interacts with our DNA – and identified over two hundred genes that it directly influences. The results are published today in the journal Genome Research. It is estimated that one billion people worldwide do not have sufficient vitamin D. This deficiency is thought to be largely due to insufficient exposure to the sun and in some cases to poor diet. As well as being a well-known risk factor...

Vitamin D promises to be the most talked-about and written-about supplement of the decade. While studies continue to refine optimal blood levels and recommended dietary amounts, the fact remains that a huge part of the population — from robust newborns to the frail elderly, and many others in between — are deficient in this essential nutrient. If the findings of existing clinical trials hold up in future research, the potential consequences of this deficiency are likely to go far beyond inadequate bone development and excessive bone loss that can result in falls and fractures. Every tissue in the body, including...

Vitamin D expert Anthony Norman recommends a daily intake of 2000 international units for most adultsRIVERSIDE, Calif. – Vitamin D surfaces as a news topic every few months. How much daily vitamin D should a person get? Is it possible to have too much of it? Is exposure to the sun, which is the body's natural way of producing vitamin D, the best option? Or do supplements suffice? In the July 2010 issue of Endocrine Today, a monthly newspaper published by SLACK, Inc., to disseminate information about diabetes and endocrine disorders, Anthony Norman, a distinguished professor emeritus of biochemistry and...

Physicians say Canadians should be taking more supplementsNew and updated guidelines on recommended vitamin D intake have been published this week in the online issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). Dr. David Hanley, professor at the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine, and member of Osteoporosis Canada's (OC) Scientific Advisory Council, is the lead author of the paper on behalf of Osteoporosis Canada. "OC's current recommendations on vitamin D intake for Canadians are more than 10 years old, and since then, there has been a lot of new and exciting research in this area," says Hanley, who is...

Previously I have highlighted the benefits vitamin D has with regard to improving the immune response and helping keep infections such as flu at bay. It has been mooted that the upsurge in viral infections during the winter is connected with the generally lower vitamin D levels at this time. The traditional view is that winter infections are due to “indoor crowding.”However, research indicates that flu epidemics do not occur in the summer in crowded workplaces despite the presence of the flu virus around people who should be susceptible to infection. This is based on research by the Centers for...