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Paris, France: Low levels of vitamin D can trigger hypertension, according to the world's largest study to examine the causal association between the two. Although observational studies have already shown this link, a large-scale genetic study was necessary before the cause and effect could be proven, the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG) will hear today (Tuesday). Dr. Vimal Karani S, from the Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK, will tell the meeting that data from the D-CarDia collaboration, involving 35 studies, over 155,000 individuals, and numerous centres in Europe and North America,...

U. MISSOURI (US) — Vitamin D supplements can help obese children and teens control their blood-sugar levels, which may help lower their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.“By increasing vitamin D intake alone, we got a response that was nearly as powerful as what we have seen using a prescription drug,” says Catherine Peterson, associate professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri. “We saw a decrease in insulin levels, which means better glucose control, despite no changes in body weight, dietary intake, or physical activity.”For the study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers...

A study led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has found a correlation between vitamin D3 serum levels and subsequent incidence of Type 1 diabetes. The six-year study of blood levels of nearly 2,000 individuals suggests a preventive role for vitamin D3 in this disease. The research appears the December issue of Diabetologia, a publication of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). "Previous studies proposed the existence of an association between vitamin D deficiency and risk of and Type 1 diabetes, but this is the first time that the theory has...

Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner Action Points Certain variations in the vitamin D receptor gene may influence the clinical effects of low vitamin D levels in some chronic diseases.Note that patients in the cohort without the genetic polymorphism showed no association between low 25(OH)D levels and outcomes such as hip fracture, myocardial infarction, cancer, and death. Variations in the vitamin D receptor gene may influence the clinical effects of low vitamin D levels in some chronic diseases, researchers found.Among patients with low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin...

For decades before antibiotics became generally available, sunshine was used to treat tuberculosis, with patients often being sent to Swiss clinics to soak up the sun's healing rays. Now, for the first time scientists have shown how and why heliotherapy might, indeed, have made a difference. A study led by researchers at Queen Mary, University of London, conducted in collaboration with the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research, has shown that high doses of vitamin D, given in addition to antibiotic treatment, appear to help patients with tuberculosis (TB) recover more quickly. The research, which will be published...

A doctor in a white lab coat stands at the pearly gates. The voice of God booms, “And your good deeds?” The man responds, “Well, as a dermatologist, I’ve been warning people that sunlight will kill them and that it is as deadly as smoking.” His smug smile fades as God snaps, “You’re saying that sunlight, which I created to keep you alive, give you vitamin D and make you feel good, is deadly? And the millions of dollars you received from chemical sunscreen companies had nothing do with your blasphemy?” A bottle of SPF 1000 sunscreen materializes in the...

We've seen promising moves towards developing a universal or near-universal influenza vaccine, but researchers at the Donald P. Shiley BioScience Center have taken a different tack to ward of the crafty virus. Although the flu virus actively keeps the immune system from detecting it for a few days, giving it time to gain a foothold, the researchers have found that a powerful synthetic protein, known as EP67, can kick start the immune system so that it reacts almost immediately to all strains of the virus. Previously, EP67 had primarily been used to help activate the immune response by being added...

Vitamin D is known for helping create strong bones and is a key regulator of serum calcium levels. Recent studies, however, have not offered much proof that Vitamin D supplements prevents bone fractures.

I'm almost 60 now, and my OCD has changed dramatically. Looking back, a direct connection between my severest symptoms, and the lack or abundance of Vitamin D, seems clear. As a child, I was allergic to milk and was raised on soybean formula. I practically lived outside and took jobs, like bean row walking and picking tomatoes. I did not start suffering from OCD until I started working in factories and restaurants. I spent a few years farming, and the OCD ebbed. Next I started trucking and worked in confinement hog buildings. I did a total tailspin and the OCD...

Two years ago, I started reading about vitamin D deficiency. In articles by Dr. Frank Lipkin and on Natural News, they explained the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency. Guess what? To my surprise and curiosity, a lot of the symptoms were like fibromyalgia. I went back through my paperwork and saw that the nurse had indeed told me to take vitamin D.

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...