Section archive

Vitamin D

Vitamins

Vitamin D deficiency linked to Alzheimer's disease

A meta-analysis of 10 observational studies found serum 25OHD concentrations 1.4 standard deviations lower in Alzheimer's patients than in matched healthy controls. The authors treat vitamin D as a possible biomarker of the disease rather than a proven cause.

Vitamins

Vitamin D cuts colorectal cancer risk, helps survival

Reviewing three decades of research in Anticancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry, Harvard's Edward Giovannucci finds a consistent link between better vitamin D status and lower colorectal cancer incidence and mortality, and concludes improving vitamin D status could be beneficial.

Oct 26, 2012

Vitamins

Vitamin D may indeed help fight cancer

A report in Mutation Research argues vitamin D may guard against cancer by protecting DNA from free-radical damage and regulating cell growth. The authors cite a trial where supplements cut a marker of oxidative damage in colorectal cells, plus animal and cell-culture work.

Apr 27, 2012

Vitamins

This free vitamin helps fight prostate cancer

In a trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 52 men with low-risk prostate cancer took 4,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily for a year, and most of those who finished saw their Gleason scores fall. David Marshall's team tracked PSA every two months and rebiopsied.

Apr 23, 2012

Vitamins

Do you know how to prevent lethal prostate cancer?

Among men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, those whose prediagnostic vitamin D was in the highest quartile were 57 percent less likely to develop lethal prostate cancer than those in the lowest. No significant link appeared with prostate cancer overall.

Apr 16, 2012

Supplements

These supplements fight prostate cancer

In mice carrying human prostate tumors, combining a soy diet with calcitriol inhibited tumor growth more than either alone but also caused hypercalcemia and in some cases lethal toxicity, a study in Prostate found. Soy raised the bioavailability of calcitriol.

Apr 14, 2012

Vitamins

Breaking cancer news: Dietary vitamin D fights breast cancer

Mice with MCF-7 breast cancer xenografts fed 5,000 IU/kg of ordinary vitamin D3 showed significant tumor shrinkage in more than half of cases, matching the effect of injected calcitriol without the side effects the active form produced.

Apr 5, 2012

Vitamins

Vitamin D deficiency may boost risk of multiple sclerosis

A review in Current Opinion in Neurology reports that high 25(OH)D at a first demyelinating event tracks with lower multiple sclerosis risk, as do high maternal levels for offspring. One small trial found no slowing of progression, but the authors call it underpowered.

Apr 1, 2012

Vitamins

Taking vitamin D supplements may help prevent stroke

A meta-analysis in Stroke found women with the highest vitamin D levels were 49 to 59 percent less likely to suffer ischemic stroke than those with the lowest. The authors call the association modest and say adequate vitamin D status may lower women's stroke risk.

Mar 26, 2012

Vitamins

Vitamin D deficiency boosts risk of type 2 diabetes in pre-diabetes people

In a Swedish study of 2,378 adults, men in the highest quartile of 25(OH)D had lower odds of developing type 2 diabetes, an effect confined to those with prediabetes. In both sexes, progression from prediabetes to diabetes fell about 25 percent per 10 nmol/L increase.

Mar 22, 2012

Vitamins

Optimal levels of vitamin D during pregnancy

John Cannell describes Bruce Hollis's randomized trial, which gave 350 pregnant women 600, 2,000 or 4,000 IU of vitamin D a day. Only the 4,000 IU group came close to producing infants at 20 ng/ml, the lowest level the 2010 Food and Nutrition Board calls adequate for fetal health.

Mar 22, 2012

Vitamins

Ignore This Deficiency... And Become 3 Times More Likely to Die?

Mercola summarizes an analysis of more than 10,000 patients in which people with low vitamin D were more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure and diseased heart muscle, and three times more likely to die of any cause. He urges readers to get a 25(OH)D blood test.

Mar 15, 2012

Politics

Should pregnant women be forced to get vitamin D tests

The UK Department of Health is promoting a petition to add vitamin D testing to routine antenatal blood checks, citing research that deficiency in pregnancy may cause lasting in-utero damage. The article pushes back, noting testing and supplements are a revenue source for business.

Mar 13, 2012

Vitamins

Vitamin D or exposure to sunshine may boost athletic performance

A report in the December 2011 Asian Journal of Sports Medicine says a growing body of evidence suggests vitamin D plays a role in athletic performance. Author B. Hamilton notes vitamin D receptors turn up in muscle tissue, indicating the vitamin affects skeletal muscle structure and function.

Mar 2, 2012

Vitamins

Vitamin D deficiency common in elderly patients

German researchers measured vitamin D in 1,578 patients at a geriatric rehabilitation hospital in Trier and found 89 percent had insufficient levels and 67 percent were severely deficient. Low vitamin D can weaken muscles and raise the risk of falls and fractures in older people.

Feb 5, 2012

Vitamins

Research From 100 Countries Proves This Vitamin Strongly Protects Against Cancer

Dr. Mercola reports on a review of data from more than 100 countries in which higher solar UVB exposure consistently tracked with lower incidence of 15 cancers, with weaker evidence for nine more, and urges sun exposure or vitamin D3 plus blood testing to confirm levels.

Jan 30, 2012

Vitamins

Vitamin D helps asthma, eczema, but optimal dose unclear - review

Reviewing recent research, Augusto Litonjua reports that low vitamin D levels mostly track with higher asthma and allergy risk, though a few studies found the reverse, and that small short-term trials suggest supplements ease eczema and asthma flares. The optimal level stays unclear.

Jan 23, 2012

Vitamins

Vitamin D deficiency may increase risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus - study

Analyzing 12,263 Koreans from a 2008-2009 national survey, researchers found people with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D below 25 nmol/L were 76% more likely to have type 2 diabetes than those above 75 nmol/L, with 21% and 34% increases at middle levels.

Jan 21, 2012

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