Monday, October 13, 2008 Vitamin D Supplementation Guidelines for Youngsters DoubledAmerican Academy of Pediatrics raises daily recommended intake from 200 to 400 IUs
By Amanda Gardner HealthDay ReporterCertain risks associated with vitamin D deficiency have been known for decades: rickets (weakening of the bones), which is still widespread in infants, children, adolescents and adults; growth failure; lethargy; irritability; respiratory infections during infancy; and osteoporosis later in life.
More recently, however, associations have been made between vitamin D deficiency and type 2 diabetes, some cancers, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
"Among rheumatologists who treat patients with autoimmune diseases, there has been an increasing recognition that insufficiency in vitamin D may contribute to a variety of autoimmune diseases," said Dr. Nora G. Singer, a pediatric rheumatologist at Case Western Reserve University's Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, in Cleveland. "If [vitamin D deficiency] really does impact innate immunity or the first line of immune defense, then maybe some of the increase in autoimmune diseases we're seeing could relate to this."
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