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In early April of 2005, after a particularly rainy spring, an influenza epidemic (epi: upon, demic: people) exploded through the maximum-security hospital for the criminally insane where I have worked for the last ten years. It was not the pandemic (pan: all, demic: people) we all fear, just an epidemic. The world is waiting and governments are preparing for the next pandemic. A severe influenza pandemic will kill many more Americans than died in the World Trade Centers, the Iraq war, the Vietnam War, and Hurricane Katrina combined, perhaps a million people in the USA alone. Such a disaster would...

Canadians Advocate Boosting Vitamin D in PregnancyA Canadian medical society recommends pregnant women and nursing moms boost their intake of vitamin D dramatically Janet Raloff Canadian pediatricians certainly aren't shirking controversy when it comes to a vitamin guideline they've developed for pregnant women and nursing moms. They're asking these women to boost their intake of vitamin D dramatically—to 10 times the daily doses advocated by most health organizations in the States. This new prescription is aimed at combating rickets—leg deformations caused by soft bones—in youngsters who get too little of the sunshine vitamin. EATING FOR TWO. To ensure baby's bones...

<p>Sunbathing can slow the ageing process by up to five years, according to new research.</p> <p>Scientists have found that people who avoid the sun, or have inadequate vitamin D in their diet, are subject to genetic damage associated with ageing and age-related illnesses.</p>

Exposure To Sunlight May Decrease Risk Of Advanced Breast Cancer By Half ScienceDaily (Oct. 21, 2007) — A research team from the Northern California Cancer Center, the University of Southern California, and Wake Forest University School of Medicine has found that increased exposure to sunlight -- which increases levels of vitamin D in the body -- may decrease the risk of advanced breast cancer. In a study reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the researchers found that women with high sun exposure had half the risk of developing advanced breast cancer, which is cancer that has spread beyond the...

Lower vitamin D levels, more hip fractures HONOLULU, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher found an increased risk of hip fractures in women with low levels of vitamin D. Jane Cauley of the University of Pittsburgh evaluated patient data on 400 women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study Cohort, who had experienced hip fracture. "The risk of hip fractures was 77 percent higher among women whose 25 hydroxyvitamin D levels were at the lowest concentrations,"Cauley said in a statement. "This effect persisted even when we adjusted for other risk factors such as body mass index, family history...

Hijabs a source of illness, doctors say Doctors have claimed that Muslim women wearing the hijab could be at risk of serious illness because they do not get enough sun. It has been claimed that women who cover their skin are could be suffering bone deficiencies over a lack of vitamin D. Most of the body’s vitamin D - which prevents rickets - is obtained through sunlight acting on the skin. Only a little comes from food. Doctors told a London conference on Wednesday that people with dark pigment oare at risk because of "cultural reasons" and because they are...

Source: Boston University Date: July 19, 2007 Vitamin D Deficiency: Common And Problematic Yet Preventable Science Daily — In a review article to appear in the July 19th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Michael Holick, an internationally recognized expert in vitamin D, provides an overview of his pioneering work that expounds on the important role vitamin D plays in a wide variety of chronic health conditions, as well as suggesting strategies for the prevention and treatment of vitamin D deficiency. Humans attain vitamin D from exposure to sunlight, diet and supplements. Vitamin D deficiency is common...

Source: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Date: July 10, 2007 Low Vitamin D Levels May Be Common In Otherwise Healthy Children Science Daily — Many otherwise healthy children and adolescents have low vitamin D levels, which may put them at risk for bone diseases such as rickets. African American children, children above age nine and with low dietary vitamin D intake were the most likely to have low levels of vitamin D in their blood, according to researchers from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. A study in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition measured blood levels of...

A study released today concludes that increased vitamin D intake reduces the risk of developing cancer. The findings are the latest in a growing body of evidence suggesting that current dietary guidelines for vitamin D may be too low. But experts, including the study’s author, caution that the research should be viewed as preliminary and should not be taken as a reason to drastically increase vitamin D use with supplements in an effort to prevent cancer. “It adds support to the really convincing evidence out there that we need to raise recommendations for vitamin D,� says Joan M. Lappe, PhD,...

OMAHA, Neb.—Building hope for one pill to prevent many cancers, vitamin D cut the risk of several types of cancer by 60 percent overall for older women in the most rigorous study yet. The new research strengthens the case made by some specialists that vitamin D may be a powerful cancer preventive and most people should get more of it. Experts remain split, though, on how much to take. "The findings ... are a breakthrough of great medical and public health importance," declared Cedric Garland, a prominent vitamin D researcher at the University of California-San Diego. "No other method to...

Calcium linked to dementia Last Updated: 1:27am BST 14/05/2007 Calcium and vitamin D in dairy products may help to cause brain damage and dementia in older people, new research suggests. Scientists believe too much calcium can narrow blood vessels in the brain, leading to neural damage. The effect may be compounded by vitamin D, which regulates calcium retention and activity. Researchers made the discovery after scanning the brains of 79 men and 153 women aged up to 86. All had at least a number of brain lesions - areas of tissue damage. But those consuming the most calcium and vitamin...

For decades, researchers have puzzled over why rich northern countries have cancer rates many times higher than those in developing countries — and many have laid the blame on dangerous pollutants spewed out by industry. But research into vitamin D is suggesting both a plausible answer to this medical puzzle and a heretical notion: that cancers and other disorders in rich countries aren't caused mainly by pollutants but by a vitamin deficiency known to be less acute or even non-existent in poor nations. Those trying to brand contaminants as the key factor behind cancer in the West are "looking for...

Source: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Date: February 22, 2007 Vitamin D May Reduce Falls In Elderly Nursing Home Residents Science Daily — New research suggests that reducing the number of falls suffered by seniors in nursing homes may be helped by taking a vitamin, along with other measures known to decrease falls. According to a study in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, seniors taking a high daily dose of vitamin D experienced 72 percent fewer falls compared to those taking a placebo. Approximately 50 percent of nursing home residents fall every year, and those who are injured become even more...

Many babies born short of vitamin D Janet Raloff Even in the womb, babies face a high risk of vitamin D deficiency, a new study finds. The sunshine vitamin is a building block for a hormone that not only helps build bone and muscle, but also fights infections and many chronic diseases. Lisa M. Bodnar of the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and her colleagues collected blood samples from 400 first-time moms early in their pregnancies and again at delivery. Half the women were black, and half were white. More than 90 percent of the participants took multivitamins—including...

2 new studies back vitamin D for cancer prevention Two new vitamin D studies using a sophisticated form of analysis called meta-analysis, in which data from multiple reports is combined, have revealed new prescriptions for possibly preventing up to half of the cases of breast cancer and two-thirds of the cases of colorectal cancer in the United States...... "The data were very clear, showing that individuals in the group with the lowest blood levels had the highest rates of breast cancer, and the breast cancer rates dropped as the blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D increased," said study co-author Cedric Garland,...

Higher levels of vitamin D in the blood may lower the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS), research suggests. Previous studies have suggested vitamin D may have a protective effect - but the evidence has been inconclusive. A Harvard School of Public Health team measured levels of the vitamin in large numbers of US military personnel. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found the risk of MS fell as blood levels of the vitamin rose. MS is among the most common neurological diseases affecting around two million people worldwide. The researchers uncovered 257 cases of MS...

The Antibiotic VitaminDeficiency in vitamin D may predispose people to infection Janet Raloff In April 2005, a virulent strain of influenza hit a maximum-security forensic psychiatric hospital for men that's midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. John J. Cannell, a psychiatrist there, observed with increasing curiosity as one infected ward after another was quarantined to limit the outbreak. Although 10 percent of the facility's 1,200 patients ultimately developed the flu's fever and debilitating muscle aches, none did in the ward that he supervised. WINTER WOES. Cold-weather wear and the sun's angle in the winter sky limit how much ultraviolet...

PHILADELPHIA -- Consumption of Vitamin D tablets was found to cut the risk of pancreatic cancer nearly in half, according to a study led by researchers at Northwestern and Harvard universities. The findings point to Vitamin D's potential to prevent the disease, and is one of the first known studies to use a large-scale epidemiological survey to examine the relationship between the nutrient and cancer of the pancreas. The study, led by Halcyon Skinner, Ph.D., of Northwestern, appears in the September issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. The study examined data from two large, long-term health surveys and found...

(NewsTarget) A new study by researchers at the University of California found solar ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation can significantly reduce the risk of 16 different types of cancer by naturally stimulating the production of vitamin D in the skin. "Enhancing vitamin D status appears to be the single most important simple thing people can do to reduce their risk of cancer, apart from avoiding tobacco and moderation in the intake of alcohol," say Cedric Garland and William Grant, the study's authors. The researchers recommend that people get their vitamin D from exposure to natural sunlight. Fair-skinned people who live in...

Anyone concerned about their bones is likely to make sure they have plenty of vitamin D, either by getting enough sunshine, eating fish, or taking supplements. Yet scientists know surprisingly little about how the compound works. A new study has finally shed some light on this process, showing how the vitamin takes part in a delicate balancing act between cells that tear down our bones and cells that rebuild them. Vitamin D is a familiar player in bone health. Without sufficient amounts of this hormone, our frames become frail with disorders such as osteoporosis or rickets. But vitamin D has...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cancer researchers urged people on Wednesday to take more vitamin D to lower their risk of colon, breast and ovarian cancer, saying studies showed a clear link. "Our suggestion is for people to increase their intake," through diet or a vitamin supplement, Dr. Cedric Garland said in a telephone interview. Garland's research team reviewed 63 studies, including several large long-term ones, on the relationship between vitamin D and certain types of cancer worldwide between 1966 and 2004. He said the benefit of vitamin D was as clear as the harmful link between smoking and lung cancer. "There's...

A LARGE daily dose of vitamin D can lower the risk of common cancers by as much as 50 per cent, scientists say. Researchers reported in the American Journal of Public Health that the natural form of the vitamin, D3, can dramatically reduce the chances of developing breast, ovarian and colon cancer, as well as others. Taking 1000 international units of the vitamin daily could lower an individual's cancer risk by 50 per cent, they said. But such large doses must be treated with caution. More than 2000 units a day can lead to absorbing excessive calcium that could damage...

Breathing Easier with Vitamin D Janet Raloff Most people associate vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, with strong bones. But studies in the past few years have linked this essential nutrient to a bonanza of additional benefits—from fighting cancer and diabetes to strengthening muscles. Physicians in New Zealand have now linked the vitamin to yet one more apparent advantage: improved lung function. Peter N. Black is a University of Auckland internist with a research interest in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)—a category including diseases most people know as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Classic signs of COPD are holes in lung tissue...

Vitamin D 'key for healthy lungs' Vitamin D is essential for the processing of calcium Vitamin D could play a role in keeping the lungs healthy, research suggests. Patients with higher vitamin D levels in their blood had significantly better lung function, a University of Auckland team found in a study of 14,091 people. The difference between the two was more marked than that between smokers and those who had quit, the study published in the journal Chest said. Dietary supplements could boost lung function, the team suggested, but they added that more research was needed. "Low levels of vitamin...

A combination of vitamin D and an over-the-counter painkiller halts the growth of prostate cancer cells, researchers at Stanford University report.Although their work was done with cells grown in the laboratory, the results were so promising that a trial of the treatment has been started with prostate cancer patients, said Dr. David Feldman, a professor of medicine at Stanford and lead author of the study in the Sept. 1 issue of Cancer Research. The trial used calcitriol, a form of vitamin D available only by prescription, and naproxen, sold over the counter as Aleve and other brand names. The original...

Sunny News: Research on Vitamin D Makes Doctors Consider Prescribing SunshineBy Marilynn Marchione The Associated Press Published: May 21, 2005 Scientists are excited about a vitamin again. But unlike fads that sizzled and fizzled, the evidence this time is strong and keeps growing. If it bears out, it will challenge one of medicine's most fundamental beliefs: that people need to coat themselves with sunscreen whenever they're in the sun. Doing that may actually contribute to far more cancer deaths than it prevents, some researchers think. The vitamin is D, nicknamed the "sunshine vitamin" because the skin makes it from ultraviolet...

Scientists are excited about a vitamin again. But unlike fads that sizzled and fizzled, the evidence this time is strong and keeps growing. If it bears out, it will challenge one of medicine's most fundamental beliefs: that people need to coat themselves with sunscreen whenever they're in the sun. Doing that may actually contribute to far more cancer deaths than it prevents, some researchers think. The vitamin is D, nicknamed the "sunshine vitamin" because the skin makes it from ultraviolet rays. Sunscreen blocks its production, but dermatologists and health agencies have long preached that such lotions are needed to prevent...

Half of dialysis patients fail to receive life-saving vitamin An article published online in advance of the April issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (www.jasn.org) found that administering injectable vitamin D to chronic kidney failure patients who are undergoing dialysis significantly improves survival. The annual mortality rate of dialysis patients is currently 20 percent in the United States, due mainly to cardiovascular disease.Because individuals with failing kidneys cannot effectively utilize vitamin D provided by the diet, injections have been recommended, but only for those with hyperparathyroidism meaning that about half of those receiving dialysis are lacking...

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Getting a little sunshine may be one way for men to cut their risk of prostate cancer. A large study presented at a cancer conference Thursday found that men with higher levels vitamin D in their blood were half as likely to develop aggressive forms of the disease than those with lower amounts. Doctors are not ready to recommend the ``sunshine vitamin'' without more study, but many see little harm in getting the 15 minutes a day that the body needs to make enough of this nutrient. ``When you were little and...

'They have vilified the sun - and me' Professor Michael Holick, author of The UV Advantage, tells Brendan O’Neill how he was turned into a pariah for suggesting that a little bit of sunlight can be good for you. 'I was treated almost as a villain, as if I had said something really outrageous.' Michael Holick, professor of medicine and physiology at Boston University School of Medicine, is still sore about being asked to resign his professorship of dermatology in May 2004. His crime? He wrote a book called The UV Advantage, which suggests that exposing yourself to sunlight without...

LONDON (Reuters) - People born in May in the northern hemisphere have a higher than average risk of developing multiple sclerosis, researchers said on Tuesday. An analysis of data from studies of more than 42,000 people in Canada, Britain, Denmark and Sweden showed that May babies have a 13 percent increased chance of suffering from the illness later in life, but that having a November birthday decreased the average odds by 19 percent. "If you are born in May, your risk is higher than any other month and if you are born in November your risk is lower than any...

Source: University Of Maine Date: 2004-01-30 Teenage Girls Lacking In Vitamin D A University of Maine researcher has found evidence that many girls in Maine are not getting enough vitamin D, either from their diets or sun exposure. Lack of the critical nutrient could lead to health risks later in life, especially for osteoporosis. Vitamin D is necessary for the growth of healthy bones and may be critical in other bodily processes as well. What's Related Lack Of Sun Poses Danger In Our Twilight Years Over the last three years, Susan Sullivan of the Dept. of Food Science and Human...

DALLAS, May 16 (UPI) -- Scientists believe they have discovered precisely how a high-fat diet can lead to the development of colon cancer. Reporting in Friday's issue of the journal Science, researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center said the vitamin D receptor, which is found on the surface of cells in the colon and normally binds vitamin D, also binds with and neutralizes a toxic chemical known to cause colon cancer. David Mangelsdorf, principal investigator of the study and a pharmacologist at UT's Howard Hughes Medical Institute, told United Press International the toxic chemical is called lithocholic...