Tag Archives: vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency is a sign of poor health in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Vitamin D deficiency is a sign of poor health in COPD

Vitamin D is an important hormone in growth and bone metabolism. Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent worldwide and causes growth retardation and rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. However, the role of vitamin D deficiency

Too little sun-exposure in summer?

It is well known that UV rays are responsible for DNA damage in exposed cells: because of that, they are considered carcinogens for skin cells. In the last decades, frequent worldwide campaigns have advised people to avoid

Stress, sex, and sunlight – a different perspective on vitamin D

Low levels of vitamin D in the blood have been associated with a high risk of developing several diseases, including autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Our study group has been working on the role

Are Ecdysteroids insect hormones?

The polyhydroxylated derivatives of 7-dehydro, 6-ketocholesterol  (Ecdysone, Ecdysteroids, Ecd) were accidentally discovered  in the search for an insect moulting hormone in 1965. The first Ecd compound, named  ecdysone (“ecdysis” = shedding off the cuticle), was isolated from 

Vitamin D and T cells in multiple sclerosis: how to measure an effect?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the brain, leading to disability in patients suffering from this disease. A type of white blood cells, T cells, are important pathogenic cells which drive this inflammation in early

Theophylline, a drug to treat asthma increases risk of fracture and causes vitamin D deficiency

Incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) of which asthma is the commonest manifestation is growing by leaps and bounds in two most populous countries, India and China due to rapid growth of industrialization and associated rise

Vitamin D may contribute to development of asthma

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airway disease, which development mechanism has not been fully investigated yet. Despite the progress of medical science in asthma field, morbidity of this disease remains high worldwide. Scientists raise hypothesis that vitamin

Genetics and dietary stress explain low calcium absorption

It is well understood that osteoporosis is influenced by a variety of environmental factors such as age, nutrition, and race. Calcium absorption is one of these important factors and low levels of calcium absorption have been associated

Ability of four vitamin D assays to measure vitamin D2

Vitamin D, the sunshine hormone, is essential for healthy bones.   Vitamin D is found in two basic forms in nature—vitamin D3 which is made by skin exposed to sun rays (cholecaliferol), and vitamin D2 which is made