Free Republic

How many times did your parents make you go outside and play? You should call and thank them... A new study suggests vitamin D might also might lead to aggressive behavior in adolescents. University of Michigan researchers say they have found a link between vitamin D deficiency in young kids and aggression in adolescents. According to their study of schoolchildren in Bogotá, Columbia, almost young kids with low levels of the vitamin were nearly twice as likely to exhibit aggression as they got older. "Children who have vitamin D deficiency during their elementary school years appear to have higher scores...

Climate change, like every hot-button issue facing the nation, divides Americans along party lines. Democrats are a lot more likely than Republicans to acknowledge Earth is heating up. But a new study from Yale University reveals that even among Democrats, opinions vary nationwide depending on the region in which people live. And nowhere is acceptance of global warming more pervasive than in the Seattle area. Among 425 congressional districts in the United States, Washington’s 7th District ranks No. 1 for acceptance of climate change among Democratic voters. About 93 percent of the ones who live in the district say they...

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,...

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...

WEDNESDAY, March 4 (HealthDay News) -- Many teens today, especially black teens, aren't getting enough of vitamin D, the so-called sunshine vitamin that is essential for cells to function, say researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to many chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, immune system problems and inflammatory diseases. "There is evidence that the levels of vitamin D we have been using in the past may have been too low," said lead researcher Dr. Sandy Saintonge, a fellow in general preventive medicine at Weill Cornell. Vitamin D is measured...

Study finds Parkinson’s patients are more commonly lacking in the vitamin than Alzheimer’s patients or healthy peopleA vitamin D shortage is more likely to show up in people with Parkinson’s disease than in healthy people or those with Alzheimer’s disease, scientists report in the October Archives of Neurology. The study is the most recent contribution to a torrent of findings linking vitamin D deficiency with health risks. It’s well documented that such a deficiency can cause osteoporosis. Studies in recent years have also implicated a shortage of vitamin D in heart disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, cancer and even respiratory problems....