(Press-News.org) CINCINNATI—A new study shows that vitamin D deficiency could be linked to the development and severity of certain autoimmune lung diseases.
These findings are being reported in the Jan. 4 edition of the journal Chest.
Brent Kinder, MD, UC Health pulmonologist, director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Center at the University of Cincinnati and lead investigator on the study, says vitamin D deficiencies have been found to affect the development of other autoimmune diseases, like lupus and type 1 diabetes.
"We wanted to see if lack of sufficient vitamin D would also be seen in patients who are diagnosed with an autoimmune interstitial lung disease (ILD) and whether it was associated with reduced lung function," he says.
Some ILD patients first discover they have an undifferentiated connective tissue disease, a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that affects multiple organ systems but is not developed enough for physicians to easily recognize and categorize.
Autoimmune diseases occur when the body produces abnormal cells that turn on the body and attack major organs and tissues. Connective tissue diseases include lupus, scleroderma, polymyositis, vasculitis, rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome.
"ILD is a group of diseases that mainly affect the tissues of the lungs instead of the airways, like asthma and emphysema do," says Kinder. "It causes scarring of the lungs, is more difficult to diagnosis and treat than other kinds of lung diseases and is often fatal.
"Since vitamin D deficiency has implications for other manifestations of autoimmune illnesses, we wanted to see it had an effect on the lungs of this patient population."
Researchers evaluated 118 patients from the UC ILD Center database—67 with connective tissue disease-related ILD and 51 with other causes of lung fibrosis—for serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, which indicate levels of vitamin D in the body. Then, they evaluated associations between these serum levels and the patients' conditions.
Overall, those with connective tissue disease-related ILD were more likely to have vitamin D deficiency—52 percent versus 20 percent—and insufficiency—79 percent versus 31 percent—than other forms of ILD.
Among this same group of patients, reduced serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were strongly associated with reduced lung function.
"These findings suggest that there is a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients with ILD, particularly those with connective tissue disease," Kinder says. "Therefore, vitamin D may have a role in the development of connective tissue disease-related ILD and patients' worsening lung function.
"One of the next steps is to see if supplementation will improve lung function for these patients."
He adds that if these findings are confirmed and vitamin D supplementation is shown to be effective in clinical trials, this may also provide a more natural, inexpensive treatment for the illness.
"Vitamin D is known to be a critical dietary factor for bone and skin health," he says. "Now, we're learning that it could potentially be modified as a treatment to improve ILD as opposed to other, more toxic therapies."
INFORMATION:
This study was funded by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Research Loan Repayment Grant and a K23 award from the NIH.
END
PHILADELPHIA — Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer and is on the rise in some demographic groups, including young women without any known risk factors. Now, researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center report that estrogen may increase the movement of precancerous cells in the mouth and thus promote the spread of the disease within the oral cavity.
The new results, published in the January issue of Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, may lead to novel chemoprevention strategies in the future.
Margie ...
DATA SHOWS OMALIZUMAB SAFE AND EFFECTIVE FOR MODERATE TO SEVERE ASTHMA
New research suggests that subcutaneous omalizumab is safe and effective an add-on treatment to corticosteroids for moderate to severe asthma in children and adults. Researchers from Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile performed a meta-analysis on eight trials where 1,883 patients received omalizumab and 1,546 received a placebo. At the end of the steroid reduction phase, patients taking omalizumab were more likely to have corticosteroids withdrawn completely compared with those taking placebo. Furthermore, ...
Decent Hill announces the publication of an exciting new memoir Racing with the Stars by A. J. Graziano. This memoir uncovers the untold racing careers of movie legend Paul Newman, actor Tom Cruise, and football legend Walter Payton.
Racing with the Stars is now available in paperback and as an eBook at the following retailers:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1936085399
Powell's: http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781936085408-0
Decent Hill: http://www.decenthill.net/Racing-with-the-Stars-Paperback-9781936085392.htm
DRM-free PDF eBook: http://www.decenthill.net/Racing-with-the-Stars-PDF-eBook-9781936085408.htm ...
Risk Assessment Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde and Associates. Security is a balance between confidentiality, authentication and integrity versus convenience, cost and reliability. Figure 4 illustrates the balance that must be struck by stakeholders when implementing technical solutions to counter security vulnerabilities,
Abstract. The introduction of smartcard technologies has reduced the incidence
of card fraud in the UK, but there are still significant losses from fraudulent
card use. In this paper we detail the context ...
In an announcement today by Adam Weitsman, president of Upstate Shredding - Ben Weitsman & Son, Scott J. Collins was named as General Manager. As of January 1, Mr. Collins will assume management responsibility for all company operations at all locations. These include Upstate's mega-shredder and high-tech metals separation facility in Owego, New York, company trucking and container fleet and Ben Weitsman scrap metal facilities in Binghamton, Ithaca, Jamestown, Liberty, Owego and Syracuse, New York, and Towanda, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Collins joins Upstate after nine years ...
The Brainchild Group - a renowned Internet marketing agency - is pleased to announce the expansion of its marketing consulting services to cover clients throughout Virginia.
The Brainchild Group specializes in Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and is best known for its work with high-profile brands from around the world, including automotive manufacturers, top restaurants, Olympic athletes, celebrities and Fortune 500 companies.
The agency specializes in guiding established brands and startups thru the intricacies associated with marketing ...
The Winning Souls Campaign is an awareness campaign stressing the importance of winning souls. Many Christian young people leave the church as they go off to college. The popularity of the internet has led Pastor Ced Reynolds to keep the awareness of God alive online than among college students. The Winning Souls Campaign uses .WS (dot WS) websites. Each student chooses their own domain name (ie; http://theirname.WS) to post their testimony online and shaing the concept with their friends who do the same. It's a simple plan that has the potential to become a "viral revival." ...
The Book Club Boutique is Soho's hippest literary salon. The BCB motto is Books, Booze and Boogie-Woogie and it's unique every time, with Salena Godden as the resident poet and host, composing and performing something completely new at each event. Every event is themed and this is no square affair; there is dancing, merriment and mingling over cocktails, plus different DJ's and live music.
In December 2010 THE BOOK CLUB BOUTIQUE BAND collaborate with friends from down under. The salon's resident band, kick off each show with The Book Club Boutique's very own theme tune. ...
As consumers tighten their spending belts, many are cutting back on "luxury" services. This doesn't bode well for the home-cleaning industry, but it hasn't stopped Merry Maids franchisee owner Rob Mascari from increasing his revenue over the past five years.
"We have seen growth each year, year over year, even through a difficult economy...we're anticipating somewhere between 5-10% growth a year."
The key, he says, is consistency in his postcard mailings. He doesn't expect immediate results, but patiently waits to see if his marketing campaigns perform — and they ...
January 1, 2011, the lowest shipping rate ever offered by Pulse Uniform will already end. In view of that, the store encourages its customers to do their shopping this coming three days to still enjoy the low shipping rate. "Half of the regular shipping rate was dropped for customers to save on the holiday rush. This time, all orders below $75, whether Cherokee scrubs, Dickies scrubs, or any nursing pants, tops, jackets, or lab coats, the shipping charge will only be $2.99," Pulse Uniform said in a press release.
After the first day of the New Year, Pulse Uniform's shipping ...
