"The vitamin D miracle: Is it for real?"

[Aurelia]

This is a fascinating article on vitamin D, written by Martin Mittelstaedt and published in the Canadian newspaper, the Globe and Mail, on 8th March 2008. It is now available here:

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/15070 ... -for-real-

Lots of interesting facts about vitamin D, including the usual stuff linking lack of it with cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, heart disease, schizophrenia, and other diseases.

A handy rule of thumb is that if your shadow is longer than you are, the sunlight is not intense enough for vitamin D synthesis in the skin, which can only take place when the UV index is 3 or higher.

It mentions many of the research studies (published in peer-reviewed journals) that Dan has already linked to on this board, and refers to findings such as:

- Vitamin D supplements linked to a 60% decrease in cancer incidence among middle-aged and older women.
- Relatively high levels of vitamin D in the blood linked with a 72% lower risk of dying from colorectal cancer.
- Low vitamin D status linked with a 62% increased risk of heart failure.
- Overall risk of cancer in women cut by 60% on 1,100 IU of vitamin D per day, plus a calcium supplement.
- Children given 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily cut their risk of getting juvenile diabetes by 80%.

Here are two key extracts from Martin Mittelstaedt's article that reminded me of Dan's post about vitamin D3 and the integrity of the intestinal mucosal barrier: http://rosacea-support.org/forum/viewto ... ?f=4&t=199

Extract 1

Vitamin D's most profound gene-influenced activity appears to be in keeping healthy the broad category of cells known as epithelium, which line the outsides of our organs and the surfaces of the structures in our body. Even though these lining tissues amount to only about 2% of the weight of our bodies, they are the source of about 85% of cancers, those known as carcinomas.

These include cancer of the colon, prostate, pancreas and uterus, along with the most common type of breast cancer, ductal carcinoma, which develops on milk-duct lining. ...

"Vitamin D is a particularly effective agent in inhibiting abnormal growth or development of malignancies in epithelial tissues," says Cedric Garland, a professor of preventive medicine at the University of California, San Diego.

Extract 2

One important function of vitamin D at the gene level that may explain its anti-cancer properties is that it helps to regulate the production of E-Cadherin, a type of biological glue that holds cells together. When this glue is in short supply, it allows epithelial cells to lose adhesion to one another, permitting some to escape from the tissue they are supposed to be embedded in. Unconstrained, these cells start to multiply at a greater rate than they otherwise would and begin forming the lesions that ultimately turn into cancers.

Vitamin D plays a role in telling cells when to die, thus helping to prevent uncontrolled proliferation and curbing the growth of new blood vessels that nourish growing tumours.

It may also play a role in diseases unrelated to cancer. A main biological function of epithelial cells is to be a barrier against viruses and bacteria that cause infections.

Scientists speculate that when low vitamin D status weakens epithelial cells, the barrier function is compromised, exposing tissues to attack from disease-causing agents - in diabetes, for example, by weakening islet cells; in multiple sclerosis, by weakening glial cells in the nervous system; and in tuberculosis, by reducing the ability of the lung lining to repulse bacteria, according to Dr. Garland.


Please read the whole article to see it all put into the proper context, thanks. The link again:

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/15070 ... -for-real-

BTW Here's the relevant part of our Rosacea Support Resource Pages, dealing with rosacea:

http://rosacea-research.org/wiki/index.php/Vitamin_D3

Kind regards,

Aurelia