Vitamin D has been the focus of tremendous ongoing scientific research throughout the past two decades. Its primogenetic undisputed role in bone mineralization has been expanded to a strikingly disparate amalgamation of transparent scientific cases and observational studies, randomized controlled trials of dubious design, and sporadically personal aphorisms and dogma. This phenomenon has led to the development of a burgeoning scientific field, in which substantial controversy is inevitably reflected in daily clinical practice, resulting in the precarious interpretation of not necessarily available results, lifestyle-affected vitamin D supplementation

Research and clinical application of vitamin D has increased dramatically over the past decade stimulated by novel health promotion discoveries and documentation. This book brings together key researchers with their views focusing on the health promotion role of vitamin D. Such information is vital to clinicians, users of vitamin D supplements of all ages and those interested in public policy. The authors document and define many of the key health related roles of vitamin D. Its traditional application in bone and muscle health as well as therapy of arthritis is expanded and clarified with new research. A better understanding of the effects of vitamin D inadequacy is modelled using problems ranging from infant growth retardation to chronic kidney and periodontal disease. Uniquely the vitamin?s role in resistance and treatment of infectious diseases is shown in examples ranging from HIV/AIDS to tuberculosis. Mechanistic understanding of vitamin D's actions is enhanced by looking into its effects on immune modulation and inflammation. Expansion of the role of sunlight in stimulating vitamin D production is discussed relative to the reduction in a variety of cancers. Clearly vitamin D is like a two edged sword with great benefits but also some risks. This book provides carefully defined examples of both situations.

Abstract: The latest phase of Vitamin D research is comprehensively reviewed. During the past decade it has beendiscovered that vitamin D is the precursor of a new steroid hormone which controls the translocation of calcium through the cells of intestine, bones and kidney. The chemistry of vitamin D and its metabolites is presented, followed by an extensive survey of the function of vitamin D metabolites inintestine and bone. The clinical implications and future directions of vitamin D research conclude this technical biochemical compendium.

Groundbreaking new research has traced the source of a wide array of to a single common factor—vitamin D deficiency. Leading rheumatologist and researcher Dr. James Dowd reveals the causes of vitamin D deficiency and offers a simple, easy-to-follow five-step program that can eliminate or alleviate a host of seemingly incurable conditions, such as arthritis, in as little as six weeks. Better yet, by staying on the program, you can enjoy robust health and improved fitness for the rest of your life.

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.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Vitamin D and Human Health" that was published in Nutrients