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Vitamin D May Affect Lung Transplant Success

Posted 27 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, April 27 – Vitamin D is important for the health of lung transplant patients, a new study suggests. Researchers from Loyola University Health System in Chicago found that vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increase in lung transplant rejection and infections. "Patients who undergo lung transplants are at risk for rejecting the organ, and two-thirds of these patients are vitamin D deficient," Dr. Erin Lowery, the study's first author and assistant professor in the department of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, said in a health system news release. For the study, researchers examined 102 lung transplant patients. The participants had their vitamin D levels checked within 100 days of their surgery or 100 days after the operation. Normal vitamin D levels were found in 21 patients, but 81 transplant recipients were ... Read more

Vitamin D Doesn't Help Kids Do Better in School, Study Finds

Posted 12 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, April 12 – High levels of vitamin D do not seem to help teens improve their school grades, researchers say. Some previous research has suggested a link between higher levels of vitamin D and improved brain power in adults, so the authors of the new study wanted to determine if the same might be true in teens. British researchers at the University of Bristol measured vitamin D levels in slightly more than 3,000 children – all born in the early 1990s – when they were 9 years old. The children's grades in English, math and science were evaluated when they were ages 13-14 and again when they were 15-16. The investigators found no evidence that higher vitamin D levels improved the students' academic performance. The findings support previous research about vitamin D and children, and suggest that vitamin D's brain power boost doesn't appear until later in life. The study was ... Read more

Lack of Vitamin D May Harm Older Women's Health

Posted 6 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, March 6 – Vitamin D deficiency is common among women in nursing homes and is associated with an increased risk of death, a new study finds. The findings highlight the need to prevent and treat vitamin D deficiency, according to lead author Dr. Stefan Pilz, of the Medical University of Graz in Austria, and colleagues. Their study of nearly 1,000 female nursing home residents, average age almost 84, in Austria found that 284 (30 percent) of the patients died after an average follow-up time of 27 months. The researchers also found that almost 93 percent had lower-than-recommended vitamin D levels. The study appears in the April issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. "Our findings show that the vast majority of nursing home residents are severely vitamin D deficient and those with the lowest vitamin D levels are at high risk of mortality," Pilz said in a ... Read more

Mom's Vitamin D Levels Linked to Language Problems in Kids

Posted 13 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Feb. 13 – Pregnant women with low levels of vitamin D may be putting their children at risk for language difficulties, Australian researchers report. Taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy may relieve the problem, they suggest. "Adequate vitamin D levels among pregnant women may be important for the optimal development of their baby," said lead researcher Andrew Whitehouse, an associate professor and reader in developmental psychopathology at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research at the University of Western Australia. "However, it is important for the findings of this study to be replicated before any strong conclusions are made." Vitamin D levels among pregnant women have decreased steadily over the past 20 years, most likely because of less exposure to sunlight, Whitehouse said. "The effects of lower maternal vitamin D levels on the developing offspring is ... Read more

Vitamin D Won't Help Most COPD Patients: Study

Posted 17 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Jan. 17 – Vitamin D supplements don't seem to help most patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study by Belgian investigators. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are the two main forms of COPD, and many sufferers have both. The condition makes it hard for people to breathe. Since most COPD patients are vitamin D deficient and vitamin D helps fight inflammation, the hope was that high doses of the sunshine vitamin would reduce the number of severe flare-ups ("exacerbations") that can land patients in the hospital, researchers said. "There are studies showing that patients with vitamin D deficiency are more susceptible to different inflammatory, infectious and autoimmune diseases, and most likely COPD," said lead investigator Dr. Wim Janssens, from the respiratory division at University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Leuven. However, ... Read more

Too Much Vitamin D Could Be Harmful to Heart

Posted 10 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Jan. 10 – Studies have shown that vitamin D is critical for bone health and could have a protective benefit for the heart, but new research suggests that too much of it could actually be harmful. "Clearly, vitamin D is important for your heart health, especially if you have low blood levels of vitamin D. It reduces cardiovascular inflammation and atherosclerosis, and may reduce mortality, but it appears that at some point it can be too much of a good thing," study leader Dr. Muhammad Amer, an assistant professor in the division of general internal medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a Hopkins news release. In conducting the study, published in the Jan. 15 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology, researchers examined five years of data from a national survey of more than 15,000 adults. They found that people with a normal levels of vitamin D ... Read more

Vitamin D Lacking in Many Spine Surgery Patients

Posted 4 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Nov. 4 – Low vitamin D levels are common among spine surgery patients and may delay their recovery, a new study says. Vitamin D helps with calcium absorption. Spine surgery patients with low levels of the vitamin may have difficulty producing new bone, explained researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. They assessed 313 patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery and found that more than half of them had inadequate levels of vitamin D, including one-fourth who were severely deficient. The study was scheduled for presentation Thursday at the annual meeting of the North American Spine Society in Chicago. "Our findings suggest it may be worthwhile to screen surgery patients for vitamin D," principal investigator Dr. Jacob M. Buchowski said in a university news release. "We think those with insufficient levels of vitamin D may benefit from taking 50,000 ... Read more

Vitamin D, Calcium Combo May Halve Melanoma Risk in Some Women

Posted 27 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, June 27 – Certain women at risk for developing melanoma, the most severe form of skin cancer, may cut the likelihood in half by taking vitamin D/calcium supplements, a new study suggests. "It looks like there is some promising evidence for vitamin D and calcium for prevention of melanoma in a high-risk group," said lead researcher Dr. Jean Tang, an assistant professor of dermatology at Stanford University School of Medicine. The women most at risk of developing the life-threatening cancer are those who have had a previous non-melanoma form of skin cancer, such as basal cell or squamous cell cancer, the researchers said. Vitamin D and calcium are well-known for their roles in bone growth, but they also affect other cells in the body. Some studies have shown that vitamin D and calcium are associated with lower risk of colon, breast, prostate and other cancers, the researchers ... Read more

Vitamin D May Prevent Serious Respiratory Disease in Newborns

Posted 10 May 2011 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, May 10 – Vitamin D supplements for pregnant women may help prevent a respiratory disease called RSV that can lead to pneumonia and other potentially life-threatening illnesses in newborns, Dutch researchers report. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most common cause of pneumonia and inflammation of the lower airways (bronchiolitis) in infants in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While most children recover, many are hospitalized and develop respiratory problems that persist well into childhood. "We have no treatment for RSV. The only thing we can do is try to prevent the disease," said lead researcher Dr. Louis Bont, from the department of pediatric infectious diseases at Wilhelmina Children's Hospital and University Medical Center in Utrecht. One way to prevent RSV is for pregnant women to take supplemental vitamin D, ... Read more

Vitamin D Guidelines Edge Upwards, But Most Americans Getting Enough: Report

Posted 30 Nov 2010 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Nov. 30 – Despite calls by some experts that Americans take in much more vitamin D, a new report from the Institute of Medicine finds that most people are getting enough of the nutrient each day. The IOM did bump up the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin D from the amount cited in their last report, released 13 years ago. For many people, 600 international units (IUs) of vitamin D or more each day will maintain bone health, but those aged 71 and older may need as much as 800 IUs daily, the IOM experts say. That's up from 1997 recommendations, which advised 400 IUs per day for people aged 51 to 70 and 600 IUs per day for those over 70. "The majority of Americans and Canadians do achieve these levels," said report co-author Dr. Steven K. Clinton, a professor in the division of medical oncology at Ohio State University. "We don't feel there is a widespread problem of ... Read more

Low Vitamin D Linked to Deterioration in Certain Leukemia Patients

Posted 14 Nov 2010 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Nov. 12 – Patients with a certain type of leukemia who had insufficient vitamin D levels when their cancer was diagnosed saw their disease progress much faster and were two times more likely to die than those with adequate vitamin D levels, a new study finds. Researchers also discovered that increasing vitamin D levels in patients was linked to longer survival times, even after controlling for other factors associated with leukemia progression. This is an important finding for both patients and doctors, according to the researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. and the University of Iowa. The disease – chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) – is cancer of the white blood cells (lymphocytes) and mainly affects adults. Although CLL is often diagnosed at an early stage, the standard approach is to wait until patients develop symptoms before beginning chemotherapy, explained ... Read more

Vitamin D No Magic Bullet for Osteoarthritis

Posted 7 Nov 2010 by Drugs.com

SUNDAY, Nov. 7 – People suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee appear to receive no relief from taking vitamin D supplements, U.S. researchers report. "I've never heard of vitamin D as an intervention strategy," said Dr. Kevin Dalal, an assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "I am not surprised it didn't work. It's a tough process to try to change after it's been going on for years." He noted that 25 million Americans suffer from osteoarthritis. "The joints that bear the weight take the brunt of the disease. The joint space starts narrowing, bone spurs develop and the joint becomes very uncomfortable," explained Dalal, who was not involved in the study. He said the theory behind why vitamin D might work is its ability to increase the absorption of calcium, which might strengthen the knee joint. The findings were to be ... Read more

Vitamin D May Influence Genes for Cancer, Autoimmune Disease

Posted 24 Aug 2010 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Aug. 24 – Scientists have discovered a link between vitamin D and genes related to autoimmune diseases and cancer. The finding may explain why vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for a number of serious illnesses, including multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, according to researchers from the United Kingdom and Canada. In the study, Sreeram Ramagopalan of Oxford University and colleagues noted there is a growing amount of evidence that vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for a wide range of diseases, but it's not known exactly how vitamin D is involved. It has been suspected that genetics may contribute to this connection. Vitamin D has an effect on genes through the vitamin D receptor, which binds to specific locations on the human genome to influence gene expression (the process by which a gene's information is converted into the structures ... Read more

Extra Vitamin D May Improve Heart Health in Black Teens

Posted 5 Aug 2010 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Aug. 5 – Black teens can gain a measure of protection from heart disease by taking daily vitamin D supplementation at levels that are five times the current recommendations, new research suggests. Specifically, high amounts of vitamin D at doses of 2,000 International Units (IU) per day appears to spur an increase in the flexibility of blood vessels while alleviating arterial stiffness among black youth in the United States, the study authors reported. The finding was released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, by a team of researchers from the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) Georgia Prevention Institute. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to depressed mood and energy levels, weakened bones and cardiovascular complications. The study authors noted that blacks generally face a higher risk for serious ... Read more

Related support groups: Vitamin D, Vitamin D3, Cholecalciferol, Ergocalciferol, Drisdol, Calciferol, Delta D3, D3-50, D3-5, D 1000 IU

Daily Dose of Vitamin D Helps Prevent Falls in Seniors

Posted 16 Jul 2010 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Oct. 2 – A daily high-dose vitamin D supplement can reduce the risk of falls in seniors, say researchers who reviewed the findings of eight fall prevention studies involving participants aged 65 and older. The analysis revealed that taking between 700 and 1,000 international units (IU) of supplemental vitamin D per day (vitamin D2 or D3) reduces falls by 19 percent and by up to 26 percent with vitamin D3. The beneficial effect was significant within two to five months of starting treatment, extended beyond 12 months, and was independent of age, type of dwelling, or additional calcium supplementation, the researchers noted. The study, published in the Oct. 2 online edition of BMJ, concluded that all people aged 65 and older should take at least 700 to 1,000 IU of supplemental vitamin D a day to reduce the risk of falling. Higher doses may be even more effective, which should be ... Read more

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Vitamin D Deficiency, Hypoparathyroidism, Rickets, Osteomalacia, Vitamin/Mineral Supplementation and Deficiency, Renal Osteodystrophy, Hypocalcemia, Hypophosphatemia, Familial Hypophosphatemia