Vitamin D Deficiency Is Why You Get the Flu and Other Infections

[mellowsong]

Vitamin D deficiency is why you get flu and other infections
07/03/2010 23:53:00

A new study led by researchers at the University of Copenhagen has confirmed that vitamin D plays an important role in activating immune defenses against infectious diseases like flu.

Vitamin D deficiency has already been linked to a wide spectrum of diseases including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, depression, autoimmune disease and many others.

The study published in the latest edition of Nature Immunology discovers that activation of T-cells to fight infections needs definite help from vitamin D.

Carsten Geisler and colleagues, study authors, explained the role vitamin D plays in the immune responses as follows.

First when the naive T cell recognizes foreign invaders like bacteria or viruses with T cell receptor (TCR), it sends activating signals (1) to the vitamin D receptor gene. The VDR gene then starts producing DVR protein, which binds vitamin D in the T cell (3) and becomes activated. Then the vitamin D bound and activated DVR gets into the cell nucleus and activates the gene for PLC-gamma1 (5), which in turn produces PLC-gamma1 protein (6) and "the T cells can get started".

In the case of flu fighting, Dr. John Cannell and his colleagues have reported that vitamin D helps produce antibacterial peptides that help protect against flu. That is why in winter people are prone to becoming vitamin D deficiency and getting infected with flu viruses.

Dr. Cannell, a vitamin D expert and director of Vitamin D Council, says in his newsletter sent last year that two physicians, one in Wisconsin and the other in Georgia reported to him that few of their patients/residents who maintained a high level of serum vitamin d acquired swine flu last year while many of other patients and medical workers who did not take vitamin D to maintain high vitamin D levels got swine flu and other flu viruses.

By David Liu /Credit: Professor of Immunology, Carsten Geisler

http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/....replyids=6111

[Aaltrude]

There is more to it than just vitamin D. I catch colds and flu easy in spite of having a high vitamin D level as proven by blood tests.

[mellowsong]

Originally Posted by Aaltrude

There is more to it than just vitamin D. I catch colds and flu easy in spite of having a high vitamin D level as proven by blood tests.

Oh I'm sure you're right. For example, vitamin A is needed by the immune system too. Everything has to be in balance and one thing rarely solves something as complicated as immunity.