Scientists Identify Possible Link Between Vitamin D, Genes Related To Autoimmune Diseases And Cancer.
Information taken from "Medical Watch" Aug.25, 2010

The CNN (8/24, Park) "The Chart" blog reported, "Vitamin D is believed to have a role in controlling genes linked to major diseases, such as certain types of cancers, dementia, and autoimmune disorders." Researchers from Oxford and Canada "identified 2,776 gene positions occupied by the vitamin D receptor and 229 genes that changed in response to vitamin D."

According to the paper in Genome Research, "vitamin D receptor binding is significantly enhanced in regions of the human genome associated with several common autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and Crohn's disease, and in regions associated with cancers such as leukemia and colorectal cancer," HealthDay (8/24, Preidt) reported. Thus, "considerations of vitamin D supplementation as a preventive measure for these diseases are strongly warranted," the authors concluded.