In the News

If you tan in salons to avoid the harmful effects of the sun’s rays, you probably aren’t doing your skin any favors. People who use tanning beds likely face the same risk of deadly skin cancer as those who lay out in the sun, according to a report in Pigment Cell Melanoma Research.… continue reading

People over 65 years of age living in a low-income housing unit experienced greater improvements in vitamin D deficiency with a single, daily dose of cholecalciferol 300,000 IU compared with 800 IU. Researchers from Brazil conducted a randomized, double blind, controlled trial and compared the effects of high- and low-dose cholecalciferol on serum 25-hydoxycholecalciferol levels and reversion of secondary hyperparathyroidism.… continue reading

A colon cancer cell isn’t a lost cause. Vitamin D can tame the rogue cell by adjusting everything from its gene expression to its cytoskeleton. In the Nov. 17 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology, Ordóñez-Morán et al. show that one pathway governs the vitamin’s diverse effects.… continue reading

Sharon Kirkey, Canwest News Service – Edmonton Journal Award-winning dermatologist Bernard Ackerman likes how he looks with a tan. He likes how he feels in his soul “when warmed by rays of the sun,” and he believes the possibility of a few wrinkles, and even a squamous-cell carcinoma — a skin cancer “which in the vast majority of instances poses no threat to the life of a patient” — must be balanced against the “immeasurable” advantages provided by exposure to ultraviolet radiation.… continue reading

By Ben Wasserman There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that taking high doses of vitamin D may effectively reduce the risk of getting respiratory infections like influenza or flu. There is a theory that explains why flu peaks in certain reasons.… continue reading