Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Vitamin D affects autoimmune diseases and cancer genes

Vitamin D is believed to have a role in controlling genes linked to major diseases such as certain types of cancers, dementia, and autoimmune disorders, new research has found. While scientists aren’t exactly sure how vitamin D works with the genes, United Kingdom researchers are convinced the relationship exists. Their most recent findings were released Monday in Genome Research.

“Through large scale studies, we now have a good idea of the genes involved in common complex diseases such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and systemic lupus erythematosus,” wrote lead author, Dr. Sreeram Ramagopalan of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University in an email to CNN.com. “We found that the genes involved in autoimmune disease and cancer were much more likely than chance to be regulated by vitamin D.”...

[Full Article]