/newsroom/taxonomy/term/3839/all en /newsroom/channels/news/how-vitamin-d-deficiency-can-lead-autoimmune-diseases-360580 <p>As Canadians brace for “vitamin D winter” – months when the sun’s angle is too low to produce the vitamin in the skin – a 91���� study explains why vitamin D deficiency early in life is associated with a higher risk of autoimmune diseases.</p> <p>During childhood, the thymus helps train immune cells to distinguish between the body’s own tissues and harmful invaders. A vitamin D deficiency at that stage of life causes the thymus to age more quickly, the researchers discovered.</p> Mon, 21 Oct 2024 15:20:40 +0000 keila.depape@mcgill.ca 314722 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/vitamin-d-may-not-protect-against-covid-19-previously-suggested-331358 <p>While previous research early in the pandemic suggested that vitamin D cuts the risk of contracting COVID-19, a new study from 91���� finds there is no genetic evidence that the vitamin works as a protective measure against the coronavirus.</p> <p>"Vitamin D supplementation as a public health measure to improve outcomes is not supported by this study. Most importantly, our results suggest that investment in other therapeutic or preventative avenues should be prioritized for COVID-19 randomized clinical trials," say the authors.</p> Fri, 04 Jun 2021 15:34:04 +0000 shirley.cardenas@mcgill.ca 268949 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/less-body-fat-toddlers-taking-vitamin-d-260693 <p><em><strong>By Fergus Grieve, <a href="/newsroom/">91���� Newsroom</a></strong></em></p> <p><em>Supplement given during first year of life critical for muscle-mass development</em></p> <p>A healthy intake of vitamin D in the first year of life appears to set children up to have more muscle mass and less body fat as toddlers, according to a new study published in the journal Pediatric Obesity.</p> Fri, 29 Apr 2016 20:01:52 +0000 cynthia.lee@mcgill.ca 25786 at /newsroom /newsroom/rene-st-arnaud Tue, 26 Feb 2019 16:59:44 +0000 Anonymous 22964 at /newsroom /newsroom/john-h-white Tue, 26 Feb 2019 16:59:44 +0000 Anonymous 22608 at /newsroom /newsroom/channels/news/association-between-low-vitamin-d-and-ms-254752 <p>Low levels of vitamin D significantly increase the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a study led by Dr. Brent Richards of the Lady Davis Institute at the Jewish General Hospital, and published in PLOS Medicine. This finding, the result of a sophisticated Mendelian randomization analysis, confirms a long-standing hypothesis that low vitamin D is strongly associated with an increased susceptibility to MS. This connection is independent of other factors associated with low vitamin D levels, such as obesity. Tue, 25 Aug 2015 20:26:01 +0000 cynthia.lee@mcgill.ca 24435 at /newsroom