Diabetes Type 2 Support Group
Type 2 Diabetes is a condition in which the body either does not produce enough insulin or does not make efficient use of it. Insulin is a hormone needed to convert food into glucose, a sugar that the body uses for energy. Without enough insulin, glucose can accumulate in the blood, and can cause serious health problems such as heart disease and strokes and organ damage...
I'll start taking the tablets when Winter arrives I don't eat as much oily fish as I should
unshine remedy vitamin D keeps diseases at bay
By FIONA MACRAE
Last updated at 8:38 AM on 24th August 2010
Comments (9)
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Gwyneth Paltrow has been prescribed vitamin D supplements
Stocking up on vitamin D supplements and enjoying the summer sun could cut the risk of a host of diseases.
An Oxford University study has linked the vitamin, which is made when our skin is exposed to sunlight, to the activity of more than 200 genes in the body.
Some of these genes are already known to raise the odds of multiple sclerosis, diabetes, arthritis, dementia and some cancers.
Boosting levels of the vitamin could keep illness at bay, said the researchers.
Expert Sreeram Ramagopalan recommends 50 micrograms a day - the equivalent of ten multi-vitamin pills.
Britons should also make the most of the summer sun by sunbathing-without sunscreen for 15 to 20 minutes a day.
Dr Ramagopalan, of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University, spoke out after showing the vitamin affects the function of 223 genes in the body.
Many of the genes had already been implicated in disease, the journal Genome Research reports.
Dr Ramagopalan said: 'If you are born with these genes it does seem that having vitamin supplements or high levels of vitamin D could counteract their effects.
'Considerations of vitamin D supplementation as a preventative measure for these diseases are strongly warranted.'
Professor George Ebers, another of the study's authors, said: 'Rather than arguing whether these conditions are caused by nature or nurture, it is very clear that most of these things are actually nature and nurture - the environment interacting with a gene.
'If we can change the environment, we may be able to prevent it.'
The study comes just weeks after Gwyneth Paltrow revealed she is suffering from osteopenia, a thinning of the bones that can be a forerunner to osteoporosis.
The 37-year-old actress wrote in her internet newsletter Goop: 'My doctors tested my vitamin D levels, which turned out to be the lowest thing they had ever seen (not a good thing).'
Her doctors prescribed vitamin D supplements and told her to 'spend a bit of time in the sun'.
Although some foods such as oily fish and eggs are rich in the vitamin, most of our supply comes from the action of sunlight on the skin and many Britons do not have enough of it.
In England, half of the population is low in the 'sunshine vitamin' when the winter ends, in Scotland, it is two-thirds.
Government scientific advisors are looking for ways to boost levels, with options including fortifying milk and other foods.
The Food Standards Agency advises people to limit themselves to 25micrograms of vitamin D a day - however, Dr Ramagopalan says the body is well equipped to cope with higher doses.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1305594/Sunshine-remedy-vitamin-D-keeps-diseases-bay.html#ixzz0xVmoAmPd
unshine remedy vitamin D keeps diseases at bay
By FIONA MACRAE
Last updated at 8:38 AM on 24th August 2010
Comments (9)
Add to My Stories
Gwyneth Paltrow has been prescribed vitamin D supplements
Stocking up on vitamin D supplements and enjoying the summer sun could cut the risk of a host of diseases.
An Oxford University study has linked the vitamin, which is made when our skin is exposed to sunlight, to the activity of more than 200 genes in the body.
Some of these genes are already known to raise the odds of multiple sclerosis, diabetes, arthritis, dementia and some cancers.
Boosting levels of the vitamin could keep illness at bay, said the researchers.
Expert Sreeram Ramagopalan recommends 50 micrograms a day - the equivalent of ten multi-vitamin pills.
Britons should also make the most of the summer sun by sunbathing-without sunscreen for 15 to 20 minutes a day.
Dr Ramagopalan, of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University, spoke out after showing the vitamin affects the function of 223 genes in the body.
Many of the genes had already been implicated in disease, the journal Genome Research reports.
Dr Ramagopalan said: 'If you are born with these genes it does seem that having vitamin supplements or high levels of vitamin D could counteract their effects.
'Considerations of vitamin D supplementation as a preventative measure for these diseases are strongly warranted.'
Professor George Ebers, another of the study's authors, said: 'Rather than arguing whether these conditions are caused by nature or nurture, it is very clear that most of these things are actually nature and nurture - the environment interacting with a gene.
'If we can change the environment, we may be able to prevent it.'
The study comes just weeks after Gwyneth Paltrow revealed she is suffering from osteopenia, a thinning of the bones that can be a forerunner to osteoporosis.
The 37-year-old actress wrote in her internet newsletter Goop: 'My doctors tested my vitamin D levels, which turned out to be the lowest thing they had ever seen (not a good thing).'
Her doctors prescribed vitamin D supplements and told her to 'spend a bit of time in the sun'.
Although some foods such as oily fish and eggs are rich in the vitamin, most of our supply comes from the action of sunlight on the skin and many Britons do not have enough of it.
In England, half of the population is low in the 'sunshine vitamin' when the winter ends, in Scotland, it is two-thirds.
Government scientific advisors are looking for ways to boost levels, with options including fortifying milk and other foods.
The Food Standards Agency advises people to limit themselves to 25micrograms of vitamin D a day - however, Dr Ramagopalan says the body is well equipped to cope with higher doses.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1305594/Sunshine-remedy-vitamin-D-keeps-diseases-bay.html#ixzz0xVmoAmPd
I never would have believed this except that before I had my second hip done I just didn't even go to the pool at all due to pain.
When I went for my check up he put me on D as I was lacking in it terribly. Now that I am back and outside in the sun a lot my D is fine..Guess we should all take it in the winter but you have lots of gray days there!!! Better take a few in summer too!