Vitamin D is crucial in human immune response to tuberculosis

Medical Xpress reports that Vitamin D is crucial in human immune response to tuberculosis. The researchers "found that T-cells, which are white blood cells that play a central role in immunity, release a protein called interferon-gamma that triggers communication between cells and directs the infected immune cells to attack the invading tuberculosis bacteria. However, this activation requires sufficient levels of vitamin D to be effective."

This important finding stirs very mixed emotions in me. In childhood and adolescence I suffered repeated bouts of pulmonary tuberculosis, after which time I was advised by health professionals to avoid exposing my skin to sunshine in case it reawakened the dormant TB germs. Vitamin D is known as the 'sunshine vitamin'. Clearly, in the light of this research finding (published online today,Oct. 12, in the peer-reviewed journal, Science Translational Medicine) the advice that I was given was completely wrong, and since I followed that advice for a long time, it cannot but have compromised my health. More and more, researchers are reporting the many health benefits that vitamin D bestows on us, and the many disbenefits that are caused by inadequate levels of vitamin D.

New Study suggests Sunshine may help prevent Multiple Sclerosis

A new study in Australia suggests that obtaining Vitamin D through sun exposure may help prevent the onset of multiple sclerosis as well as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and some types of cancer.
Read article on the Daily Nexus website (University of California, Santa Barbara, USA)

Good News: 7 influential UK health groups are revising their position on Vitamin D

I recommend you to read the whole of this excellent article about the merits of Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, and about the harm done by not getting enough of this vital nutrient, often because of being wrongly advised by misinformed health experts. My personal experience is that by taking vitamin D3 supplements (my skin is too sensitive to sunshine for me to expose it to the sun much) my health has benefited immeasurably. I have not had a cold or cough or any other infection since I started taking the supplements, my muscle strength is much improved, my hair is in much better condition, etc.)

Official leaflets for people of Scotland advising them to make sure they get enough Vitamin D - Well done, Ryan McLaughlin!

Schoolboy, Ryan McLaughlin, tirelessly campaigned on this issue and petitioned the Scottish Parliament to produce new guidelines on vitamin D supplements for children and pregnant women. His efforts have been successful. See BBC News report.

Because Scotland gets less sunshine than the more southerly regions of Britain, it is inevitably more difficult to get sufficient Vitamin D, the 'sunshine vitamin.' Inadequate levels of this vitamin result in many health problems, including more fragile bones, excess weight, muscle weakness and many more. (Click on the Vitamin D label just beneath this post if you would like more information about Vitamin D.) Possibly the most important of Vitamin D's contributions to health is protection from infections. - If you have enough Vitamin D you are far less likely to catch colds and flu, etc.

If getting out into the sun is a problem for you and you decide to take supplements of the sunshine vitamin, the best version is Vitamin D3. Vitamin D is also essential to metabolise calcium. Read about dairy calcium, fat retention and vitamin D on my webpage here.

Scientists call for worldwide policy change on daily recommendations for vitamin D intake

International experts have again called out for an increase in daily recommendations for Vitamin D, which they say is crucial to reduce the risk of a host of diseases. The latest call comes from scientists in Europe and the US, who say that higher intake levels of the vitamin could help protect against conditions such as childhood rickets, adult osteomalacia, cancer, autoimmune type-1 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity and muscle weakness. Writing in the July 28 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, the authors propose worldwide policy changes to increase recommended intake levels of the sunshine vitamin. This, they said, would reduce the frequency of certain diseases, increase longevity and reduce medical costs.
Read article at nutraingredients.com

Some of the many beneficial rôles of Vitamin D

Vitamin D is being appreciated as "nature's antibiotic” as a string of recent discoveries about the multiple health benefits of this nutrient have come to the fore.
Right from the health of your immune system to prevention of heart disease and even vulnerability to influenza, vitamin D is now seen as one of the most critical nutrients for overall health. But it is also one of those most likely to be deficient – especially during winter when production of the "sunshine vitamin" almost grinds to a halt for people.
Read article in The Times of India

Three Cheers for Vitamin D!

Three Cheers for Vitamin D! - There are many health benefits from making sure you are getting enough vitamin D.

Maybe you are like me - not able to get out in the sun much, and so not getting much vitamin D from sunshine on your skin. If you are rather weak/frail/infirm, this lack of sunshine could be part of the cause, especially if you are elderly. Maybe, like me, you would benefit from taking in more vitamin D by way of your food or in vitamin D tablets.

I've found that after a few months taking vitamin D tablets I really have benefited from them. - I feel much stronger. - My arms and hands are stronger. My legs are stronger. It is much, much easier for me to get up from a chair, which had, as a steroid victim, become a really difficult feat.

Many people suffer, unknowingly, from vitamin D deficiency and would, as I did, benefit from increasing their intake of the sunshine vitamin. There are many health benefits from this, apart from the ones I have mentioned here. - If you click on the vitamin D tags in the list of tags under this post, I'm sure you would find much that will interest and help you.

Giving all pregnant women vitamin D supplements could cut the number of Multiple Sclerosis sufferers by up to 80 per cent, new research suggests.

Vitamin D for pregnant women could cut MS rates
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Scientists have proved a long suspected link between the "sunshine vitamin" and the debilitating disease, a finding that could prevent tens of thousands of people developing the condition in future generations.

The findings are so compelling that the Multiple Sclerosis Society is to urge the government to produce guidelines encouraging pregnant women and young children to take the supplements.

More than 85,000 people in the UK and 2.5 million worldwide are thought to suffer from the condition, which results in damage to the nervous system preventing messages being passed from the brain to the body.

It can eventually lead to symptoms such as loss of sight and mobility, muscle spasms, slurred speech, fatigue and depression. There is no cure.

The team at Oxford University made the breakthrough after investigating why the condition is much more prevalent in cold climates than it in is in warmer countries with high levels of sunshine.

They suspected that vitamin D, which is produced by the body when it comes into contact with sunlight, could play a key role.

In laboratory experiments they discovered that vitamin D has a direct impact on a sequence of DNA known to be key to the disease.

In particular it played a vital role in making the genes develop and perform properly.

"If too little of the vitamin is available, the genes may not function properly," claimed Dr Julian Knight, the senior researcher at the Wellcome Trust and co-author of the study.

The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Public Library of Science Genetics, believe that a lack of vitamin D in the womb produces a rogue gene which in turn may cause the immune system to turn against the body, resulting in damage to nerve endings."

Click on the Vitamin D tag for this blogpost and see further information about the benefits of getting enough of this sunshine vitamin!

Low Levels Of Vitamin D Link To Cognitive Problems In Older People

Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan, have for the first time identified a relationship between Vitamin D, the "sunshine vitamin", and cognitive impairment in a large-scale study of older people. The importance of these findings lies in the connection between cognitive function and dementia: people who have impaired cognitive function are more likely to develop dementia. The study was based on data on almost 2000 adults aged 65 and over who participated in the Health Survey for England in 2000 and whose levels of cognitive function were assessed. The study found that as levels of Vitamin D went down, levels of cognitive impairment went up. Compared to those with optimum levels of Vitamin D, those with the lowest levels were more than twice as likely to be cognitively impaired.
Read article at sciencedaily.com

Being fat is linked to vitamin D deficiency

Teenage girls and young women who are overweight have a higher chance of being deficient in vitamin D, scientists have found in research that strengthens the case for wider use of supplements. The research shows that even in a sunshine-rich climate similar to Sydney's it is possible for young people to lack the essential vitamin, which the body usually produces from sun exposure.
Read article in the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)

In his report, Sunlight Robbery, Oliver Gillie says we need more of the sunshine vitamin, Vitamin D.

See http://www.healthresearchforum.org.uk/reports/sunlightrobbery.pdf

It is very well worth reading. Among the many health problems caused by insufficient vitamin D are weak bones with a tendency to fracture easily.