(28-10-11) This Vitamin Helps Promote Healthy Lungs

by Cate Stevenson, BA

Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin. It helps to keep bones and teeth
healthy and keeps your muscles strong. Recent research has also pointed to
vitamin D's role in boosting the immune system. In the latest health news,
researchers at the University of California have discovered another health
breakthrough about vitamin D: it plays a critical role in your body's ability
to fight off infections. And not just any infection, but a potentially life-
threatening one like tuberculosis (TB).

For their study, the U.S. researchers investigated the mechanisms by which the
body manages to kill or stop the growth of pathogens, such as "M.
tuberculosis," the bacteria that causes TB. In the course of their research,
they detected that white blood cells -- which are critical in the fight against
infections -- can't perform their job properly without adequate levels of
vitamin D.

Not impressed by this finding? Think of this protective activity the other way
around. The researchers found that there was an astonishing 85% drop in TB
bacteria when adequate amounts of vitamin D were absorbed.

There have been clues for a long time that vitamin D might be an alternative
remedy for TB. Sanatoriums built to treat TB patients were often placed in
sunny locations. This seemed to help many recover from the lung disease, though
at the time doctors didn't know why.

The U.S. study revealed even more intricately how vitamin D could successfully
kill off infections caused by TB. T- cells release interferon (a protein),
which activates infected cells to generate other proteins to kill TB. These
proteins are delivered directly to the part of the cell where the bacteria
live.

The study authors noted one more important point: most people with TB never
get any symptoms. This could be because their immune response -- boosted by
adequate vitamin D -- is successful in stopping a fledgling TB infection from
progressing into a full-blown, active disease.

This is an important health breakthrough, as we have reached a time when drug-
resistant forms of TB are cropping up. Vitamin D could be a safe and effective
way to boost immunity against this stubborn infection and others like it.

Source: Adams, J., et al., "Newly identified mechanism helps explain why people of
African descent are more susceptible to tuberculosis," University of
California, accessed online Oct. 13, 2011.

News

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