Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent today not only among the elderly but pervasively throughout all ages of life.This is due, in part, to systemic diseases that affect vitamin D metabolism, to changes in lifestyle, such as insufficient exposure to sunlight, and to increased use of sunscreen. Apart from the obvious effects of vitamin D deficiency on skeletal metabolism, the problem is assuming even greater significance because observational and interventional studies have linked vitamin D deficiency to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. This book addresses a variety of important issues that have emerged from this fast-moving area of clinical medicine. The topics include assays of vitamin D and its binding protein, effects on aging and associated complications, primary and secondary states of altered parathyroid hormone secretion, vitamin D in the growing years of children and adolescents, nutritional requirements, and vitamin D as it relates to systemic disorders such as diabetes mellitus. Vitamin D in Clinical Medicine aims to offer new insights, in an evidence-based way, on important issues related to vitamin D. It is written for general practitioners and internists, as well as for endocrinologists, nutritionists, pulmonologists, cardiologists, and oncologists.

The Nutrition and Health series of books has as an overriding mission to provide health professionals with texts that are considered essential because each includes: a synthesis of the state of the science; timely, in-depth reviews by the leading researchers in their respective fields; extensive, up-to-date fully annotated reference lists; a detailed index; relevant tables and figures; identification of paradigm shifts and the consequences; of information between chapters, but targeted, inter-chapter refer virtually no overlap rals, suggestions of areas for future research; and balanced, data-driven answers to patient questions that are based on the totality of evidence rather than the findings of any single study. The series volumes are not the outcome of a symposium. Rather, each editor has the potential to examine a chosen area with a broad perspective, both in subject matter as well as in the choice of chapter authors. The international perspective, especially with regard to public health initiatives, is emphasized where appropriate. The editors, whose training is both research and practice oriented, have the opportunity to develop a primary objective for their book, define the scope and focus, and then invite the leading authori ties from around the world to be part of their initiative. The authors are encouraged to provide an overview of the field, discuss their own research, and relate the research de findings to potential human health consequences.

Osteoporosis is one of the most clinically relevant disabling chronic disease encountered in clinical practice. A common cause of osteoporosis is glucocorticoid excess, as glucocorticoids may increase bone resorption, inhibit bone formation, have indirect actions on bone by decreasing intestinal calcium absorption and induce hypercalciuria. This book presents a comprehensive overview of the effects of glucocorticoids on bone metabolism and structure and on the diagnosis and treatment of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis. It aims at providing updated information on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of this often dramatic complication of glucocorticoid excess. Being one of the few publications completely devoted to glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis it will heighten the awareness of specialists who prescribe glucocorticoids of the clinical relevance of this treatment complication. 'Glucocorticoid-Induced Osteoporosis' is addressed to clinical experts as well as to general practitioners who will both benefit from the comprehensive and integrative view of the management of patients exposed to glucocorticoids.

Vitamin D: Volume 2: Health, Disease and Therapeutics, Fourth Edition, authoritatively covers the evidence for new roles for vitamin D, ranging from cardiovascular disease, to cancer, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis and renal disease. This collection represents a who's who of vitamin D research and the coverage is appropriately broad, drawing in internal medicine, orthopedics, oncology and immunology. Clinical researchers will gain a strong understanding of the molecular basis for a particular area of focus. - Offers a comprehensive reference, ranging from basic bone biology, to biochemistry, to the clinical diagnostic and management implications of vitamin D - Saves researchers and clinicians time in quickly accessing the very latest details on the diverse scientific and clinical aspects of Vitamin D, as opposed to searching through thousands of journal articles - Chapter authors include the most prominent and well-published names in the field - Targets chemistry, metabolism and circulation, mechanisms of action, mineral and bone homeostasis and vitamin D deficiency - Presents a clinical focus on disorders, analogs, cancer, immunity, inflammation, disease and therapeutic applications

Vitamin D is crucial to our health, yet most people are low in this vital vitamin - despite the vitamins they take, the foods they eat, the milk they drink or the sun exposure they receive. In Power of Vitamin D you will learn:?Çó Why we are facing a true Epidemic of Vitamin D deficiency.?Çó The crucial role Vitamin D can play in the Prevention as well as Treatment of various Cancers.?Çó How Vitamin D can help Prevent Diabetes, Coronary Heart Disease, Hypertension and Kidney Disease.?Çó How Vitamin D can Prevent as well as Treat Muscle Aches, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Bone Pains and Osteoporosis.?Çó The vital role of Vitamin D in the normal functioning of the Immune System.?Çó How Vitamin D can Prevent as well as Treat the Common Cold, Tuberculosis, Asthma, Thyroid Diseases, M.S., Lupus and Arthritis.?Çó The essential role of Vitamin D during Pregnancy for Mothers and Babies.?Çó Doctors frequently miss the Diagnosis of Vitamin D deficiency because they often order the wrong test.?Çó The right test to Diagnose Vitamin D deficiency.?Çó The best way to Prevent and Treat Vitamin D deficiency. ?Çó Vitamin D Toxicity and how to Prevent it. ?Çó Not just theoretical knowledge, but detailed, practical information from actual Case Studies.

Because diseases of the bone are often less acute and less lifethreatening than dis eases of the circulatory system, gastrointestinal tract, kidney, liver, and the nervous system, they have received a disproportionately smaller amount of attention in the medical world. With the average increasing life span of man as a result of improve ments in modern medicine, espe~ially in the pediatric field, the seriousness of many metabolic bone diseases has indeed become more obvious. In addition, other improvements in medicine, such as hemodialysis for the preservation of renal failure patients, have permitted the development of other consequences of diseased kidneys, one of which is the appearance of renal osteodystrophy. Finally, the appearance of several genetic disorders in the area of metabolic bone disease has been underscored by the solution of other pediatric diseas~s of much more serious consequences. These emerging problems all suggest that much remains to be learned concerning the sys temic control of bone, both as a structural organ and as a reservoir for the important elements of calcium and phosphorus so essential for the support of life in complex multicellular organisms of which man is the most important. As will be demonstrated in the historical portion of this manuscript, the existence of the three most important humoral factors regulating bone metabolism and func tion are now known.

While the skeletal effects of vitamin D are well-documented, the role and importance of vitamin D outside of bone health has not been well-established. Vitamin D receptors are located in nearly every tissue of the body, and low levels of vitamin D are associated with a range of various diseases. This book provides an in-depth examination of these extraskeletal effects of vitamin D and the associations between vitamin D deficiency and various disease states. Beginning with a review of the biochemistry and physiology of vitamin D, subsequent chapters investigate its relationship to autoimmune and infectious diseases, various forms of cancer, endocrine issues such as diabetes, obesity and reproductive function, cardiovascular disease and muscle weakness. Concluding chapters discuss the role of vitamin D in neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's Disease, and cognitive function. Focusing on extraskeletal effects only across a range of conditions, Extraskeletal Effects of Vitamin D will be an important resource for clinical endocrinologists and primary care physicians.