維他命D激活免疫系統功能是必不可少的
Vitamin D is essential for activating immune system function
Thursday, July 29, 2010
by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
(NaturalNews) Researchers have discovered that vitamin D plays a crucial role in activating the immune system's ability to recognize and fight pathogens.
（NaturalNews）研究人員已發現維他命D在激活免疫系統的能力，去識別和打擊病原體方面扮演關鍵角色。
While scientists have long known that vitamin D plays a critical role in bone health, recent research has begun to suggest that it also serves to regulate the immune system, helping prevent infection, cancer and autoimmune disorders. Until now, the mechanism by which the vitamin acts on the immune system has been unknown.
雖然科學家早就知道維他命D在骨骼健康方面起著關鍵作用，最近的研究已開始提出，它亦有助於調節免疫系統，幫助預防感染、癌症和自身免疫性疾病。到目前為止，那維他命在免疫系統的機制作用仍然不明。
In a study published in the journal Nature Immunology, researchers from the University of Copenhagen found that when a variety of white blood cells known as a T-cell comes across a pathogen in the bloodstream, it extends a receptor in search of vitamin D. If it encounters the vitamin, the T cell becomes "activated." If there is not enough vitamin D in the blood, the cell remains passive and no immune response occurs.
The body produces vitamin D upon exposure to sunlight. It can also be found in eggs, fatty fish, fortified milk and in supplement form.
Once activated, a T-cell transforms into one of two kinds of cells. One type seeks out and destroys all traces of the infectious agent, while the other records information about the pathogen and transmits it to other parts of the immune system. These latter ("helper") cells help the immune system respond quickly should infection with a similar pathogen occur at a later date.
In addition to providing new information about the importance of vitamin D, the study provides hope for better understanding -- and perhaps prevention -- of the unhelpful immune responses that result in autoimmune disorders like allergies or Type 1 diabetes, as well as those that cause the body to reject transplanted organs. The researchers were able to determine what chemical steps occur to transform a T-cell from active to inactive, suggesting the possibility that doctors may eventually be able to initiate or block this process, depending on the patient's need.
Sources for this story include:
http://news.ku.dk/all_news/2010/2010.3/d_vitamin/;
http://www.naturalnews.com/029312_immune_system_vitamin_D.html
維他命D亦預防心髒病
Vitamin D prevents heart disease, too
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
(NaturalNews) An increase in blood levels of vitamin D can significantly reduce a person's risk of heart disease, according to a study conducted by researchers from Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City and presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Atlanta.
（NaturalNews）血液中維他命D的水平增加能顯著降低一個人的心髒病風險，據一項由鹽湖城Intermountain醫學中心心臟研究所的研究人員進行的研究 ，和在亞特蘭大的美國心臟專科學院的年度會議提交。
Researchers reviewed the health records of more than 9,000 people who had been diagnosed with vitamin D insufficiency and who had also undergone vitamin D testing at a later date. They found that approximately 50 percent of all patients had achieved healthy vitamin D levels of at least 30 nanograms per milliliter by the second test. Rates of heart disease were significantly lower in this group than among patients who were still deficient in the vitamin.
Prior studies have shown a correlation between low levels of vitamin D and a higher risk of heart disease. Yet researchers have been unable to determine whether there is any direct connection between the two factors, since low vitamin D levels might also correlate with a number of other cardiovascular risk factors such as general poor health, poor diet or lack of exercise.
The only way to firmly establish a connection would be to conduct an experiment where only half a group of vitamin D-deficient participants is supplemented while the rest receive a placebo. Because vitamin D deficiency has been proven to increase the risk of other diseases, such a study would not be ethical and cannot be conducted.
"What we did was observational and not definitive, but we think it adds significantly to the story," said lead author J. Brent Muhlestein. "It's at least a reasonable piece of evidence to add to the hypothesis that low vitamin D is causative of cardiovascular risk and treatment can reduce cardiovascular disease risk."
The body synthesizes vitamin D naturally upon exposure to sunlight. Low levels of the vitamin have been linked to weakened bones and higher risks of infection, cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Sources for this story include:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/15/science/la-sci-vitamind16-2010mar16
http://www.naturalnews.com/029303_vitamin_D_heart_disease.html
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