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An optimum Vitamin D intake lowers the mortality rate

Scientists recommend moderate sun exposure and the use of nutritional supplementation to meet vitamin D requirements

(lifePR) (Veldhoven, 25.02.2011) Vitamin D deficiency can lead to serious, often fatal diseases, including numerous forms of cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, infections, autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, dementia and heart failure. The mortality rate could be reduced by up to 24 percent if the population was to have an optimal intake of vitamin D, believed to be a value of 105 nano-molecules per litre of blood (105 nmol/L). These findings come from a study published in the “Scandinavian Journal of Public Health” professional journal, carried out by a research group from the five Northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and led by William B. Grant, one of the world's most renowned experts in the field of vitamin D research. To ensure that the population has an optimal vitamin D intake, experts recommend moderate exposure to sunlight, either through spending time outdoors or by using sunbeds, together with the use of dietary supplements. “In particular, the crucial role played by sunlight exposure in ensuring an optimal vitamin D level should be emphasised to a greater extent in health policy recommendations”, said William B. Grant on the results of the study.

In their study, the research group determined the effect of an increased vitamin D intake on the mortality risk, based on the existing research findings and using the example of the five North European countries mentioned. An average vitamin D level of at least 70 nano molecules per millilitre of blood (70 nmol/L) is scientifically considered to be the value at which the positive effects of vitamin D are seen. Vitamin D production is stimulated by UV radiation with 90 percent of it being produced in the skin.

Note:

A summary of the study, “William B. Grant, Asta Juzeniene, Johan E. Moan: Health benefit of increased serum 25(OH)D levels from oral intake and ultraviolet-B irradiance in the Nordic countries; Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 2011; 39: 70–78” can be found on the SRF-Website www.sunlightresearchforum.eu and is available to download.

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Über Sunlight Research Forum

The Sunlight Research Forum (SRF) is a not-for-profit organisation based in The Netherlands. SRF's aim is to help bring to the fore, the latest medical and scientific information on the effects of moderate UV exposure on man. It takes time, often decades, for new scientific ideas to be accepted and assimilated, first into the general body of scientific knowledge and finally into policy. We want to reduce this time to a minimum so that the benefits of research can lead to a better understanding of UV effects on man and will become available to the public without any unnecessary delay. We hope to provide policy makers with correct information on which to base national health policy and individuals with better information on which to base choices about their lifestyles.

New research and well founded ideas on moderate UV exposure both indoor and outdoor will be presented and discussed in the Sunlight Research Forum by people working in the health disciplines, by academics and by journalists.