Vitamins

The recent discovery--from a meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials--that supplemental cholecalciferol (vitamin D) significantly reduces all-cause mortality emphasizes the medical, ethical, and legal implications of promptly diagnosing and adequately treating vitamin D deficiency. Not only are such deficiencies common, and probably the rule, vitamin D deficiency is implicated in most of the diseases of civilization. Vitamin D's final metabolic product is a potent, pleiotropic, repair and maintenance, seco-steroid hormone that targets more than 200 human genes in a wide variety of tissues, meaning it has as many mechanisms of action as genes it targets. One of the most important genes vitamin D up-regulates is for cathelicidin, a naturally occurring broad-spectrum antibiotic. Natural vitamin D levels, those found in humans living in a sun-rich environment, are between 40-70 ng per ml, levels obtained by few modern humans. Assessing serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25(OH)D) i...

In the treatment of photoaged skin, glycolic acid works by removing superficial portions of the epidermis and stimulating dermis regeneration. Vitamins A, C, and E should stimulate collagen production and antioxidants should prevent free radical damage and skin aging. However, the effectiveness of different therapies has often relied on subjective methods of assessment. Histologic analysis has seldom been used because of the drawback of permanent scarring. In the literature, the use of a quantitative method for the assessment of facial rejuvenation has been described: the silicone replica technique. The authors' aim was to promote and recommend the use of this technique and, in particular, to test the effect of glycolic acid and multivitamin- and antioxidant-based products on skin texture. The authors performed a prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled study on 30 women treated topically in the outer canthal region (crow's-feet area). Patients were divided into thr...

The college-aged female bodybuilders in this study consumed nutrient-dense, low-fat foods and participated in strenuous exercise to develop their physiques. Non-competitors maintained consistent energy intake, exercise patterns, and body weight throughout the study period. In contrast, competitors exhibited periods of caloric restriction and excess associated with the pre- and post-competition events. This study indicates that college-aged female bodybuilders have food intake and exercise patterns that are unique to the sport.

To determine the prevalence and type of dietary supplement used, reasons for use, and sources of supplement information among Macedonian elite Soldiers. Anonymous self-reported questionnaires containing questions about demographic characteristics and dietary supplementation practices were distributed to 134 Soldiers, of whom 80 were recruited from the Ranger Battalion (R) and 54 from the Special Force Battalion (SF). The Soldiers completed and returned 132 questionnaires. Overall, 66.6% of the Soldiers, including 70.3% of SF and 64.1% of R, reported using supplements within the 3 months before the survey. On average, each of these Soldiers used 3.7 ? 2.9 supplements. The most commonly used supplements were multivitamins (50.0%) and vitamin C (47.7%). The most frequently cited reason for using supplements was to improve general health (51.6%). Primary sources of supplement information were friends (42.0%) and books/magazines (40.9%). Dietary supplement use was found to be common and ...

Dietary diversification has been identified as a sustainable intervention method in developing countries where subclinical vitamin A deficiency exists. Nutrition education is central to all methods of nutrition intervention including dietary diversification. The paucity of available data currently limits the effective use of nutrition education in national programs in Sri Lanka. We assessed the effect of nutrition education on nutrition related knowledge, food consumption patterns and serum retinol concentrations among 229 adolescent school girls, aged between 15-19 years. Knowledge on nutrition, food consumption patterns and serum retinol concentration was assessed at baseline. Intervention included nutrition education as lecture discussions, interactive group discussions and four different methods of reinforcement. Knowledge, food consumption patterns and serum retinol concentrations were reassessed after a ten week period of intervention. Educational intervention resulted in a si...

The article contains interesting information about the occurrence and discovery of vitamins in nature, diseases caused by vitamins, symptoms caused by vitamin deficiency in the body, deficiency of B1 and C vitamins, beriberi and tsinga diseases.

The objective of this project was to collect and evaluate data on nutrient intake and status across Europe and to ascertain whether any trends could be identified. Surveys of dietary intake and status were collected from across Europe by literature search and personal contact with country experts. Surveys that satisfied a defined set of criteria -- published, based on individual intakes, post-1987, adequate information provided to enable its quality to be assessed, small age bands, data for sexes separated above 12 years, sample size over 25 and subjects representative of the population -- were selected for further analysis. In a small number of cases, where no other data for a country were available or where status data were given, exceptions were made. Seventy-nine surveys from 23 countries were included, and from them data on energy, protein, fats, carbohydrates, alcohol, vitamins, minerals and trace elements were collected and tabulated. Data on energy, protein, total fat and carbohydrate were given in a large number of surveys, but information was very limited for some micronutrients. No surveys gave information on fluid intake and insufficient gave data on food patterns to be of value to this project. A variety of collection methods were used, there was no consistency in the ages of children surveyed or the age cut-off points, but most surveys gave data for males and females separately at all ages. Just under half of the surveys were nationally representative and most of the remainder were regional. Only a small number of local surveys could be included. Apart from anthropometric measurements, status data were collected in only seven countries. Males had higher energy intakes than females, energy intake increased with age but levelled off in adolescent girls. Intakes of other nutrients generally related to energy intakes. Some north-south geographical trends were noted in fat and carbohydrate intakes, but these were not apparent for other nutrients. Some other trends between countries were noted, but there were also wide variations within countries. A number of validation studies have shown that misreporting is a major problem in dietary surveys of children and adolescents and so all the dietary data collected for this project should be interpreted and evaluated with caution. In addition, dietary studies rely on food composition tables for the conversion of food intake data to estimated nutrient intakes and each country uses a different set of food composition data which differ in definitions, analytical methods, units and modes of expression. This can make comparisons between countries difficult and inaccurate. Methods of measuring food intake are not standardised across Europe and intake data are generally poor, so there are uncertainties over the true nutrient intakes of children and adolescents across Europe. There are insufficient data on status to be able to be able to draw any conclusions about the nutritional quality of the diets of European children and adolescents.

In a recent editorial opinion piece in Archives of Internal Medicine entitled "Enough is enough: Stop wasting money on vitamin and mineral supplements1, the journal editorial strongly supports the position that supplement "use is not justified, and they should be avoided", and they go on to add that "This message is especially true for the general population with no clear evidence of micronutrient deficiencies, who represent most supplement users in the United States and in other countries". We here critically examine whether it is true that most supplement users, and indeed the general population, exhibit "no clear evidence of micronutrient deficiencies". From our critical review of the aggregate data to date, we conclude (1) that on the contrary, large, highly significant and alarming proportions of the population exhibit significant deficiencies in over a dozen important micronutrients, at levels sufficiently low as to pose nutritional or health risks; (2) that dietary sources alone are insufficient to achieve proscribed minimally adequate intake levels for multiple essential vitamins and minerals; and (3) in a wide spectrum of population across the world, micronutrient deficiency remains a major public health problem of significant proportion.

Background: Early menopause, defined as the cessation of ovarian function before the age of 45 y, affects ∼10% of women and is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and other conditions. Few modifiable risk factors for early menopause have been identified, but emerging data suggest that high vitamin D intake may reduce risk.Objective: We evaluated how intakes of vitamin D and calcium are associated with the incidence of early menopause in the prospective Nurses' Health Study II (NHS2).Design: Intakes of vitamin D and calcium from foods and supplements were measured every 4 y with the use of a food-frequency questionnaire. Cases of incident early menopause were identified from all participants who were premenopausal at baseline in 1991; over 1.13 million person-years, 2041 women reported having natural menopause before the age of 45 y. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to evaluate relations between intakes of vitamin D and calcium and inci...

Menadione (vitamin K3) is a water-insoluble vitamin and an analogue of vitamin K. Its use an anti-cancer drug is increasing day by day. It produces its anti-tumor effect without causing any harm to the normal cells. Various methods have been developed for the analysis of menadione in pure form, pharmaceutical products and biological fluids which includes spectrophotometry, chromatography, potentiometry, colorimetry, electrochemical, chemiluminescenes and polarographic methods. Of all the methods HPLC methods have been found to give more reliable and sensitive results. Fluorimetric methods are more promising as compared to the spectrophotometric methods for the assay of menadione. Certain polarographic methods have been found to give better results for the biological fluids. Chemiluminescence methods can be used for the assay of the vitamin without facing any interference.

Parkinson's disease (PD) affects one in every 100 persons above the age of 65 years, making it the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease. PD is a disease of the central nervous system that leads to severe difficulties with body motions. The currently available therapies aim to improve the functional capacity of the patient for as long as possible; however they do not modify the progression of the neurodegenerative process. The need for newer and more effective agents is consequently receiving a great deal of attention and consequently being subjected to extensive research. This review concisely compiles the limitations of currently available therapies and the most recent research regarding neuroprotective agents, antioxidants, stem cell research, vaccines and various surgical techniques available and being developed for the management of PD.

Objectives
Multidrug-resistant (MDR) superbugs, including Acinetobacter baumannii and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), are a challenge for healthcare professionals. In this study, the synergistic activity of vitamins with antibiotics against resistant bacterial strains was evaluated.

Methods
Synergistic effects between antibiotics and stock solutions of vitamins were evaluated by the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion assay. Distilled water and propylene glycol were used as solvent for water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins, respectively. Final concentrations of 10 mg/mL for each water-soluble vitamin [B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B6 (pyridoxine), B12 (methylcobalamin) and C (ascorbic acid)] and 0.1 mg/mL for each fat-soluble vitamin [A (retinol), D (cholecalciferol), E (α-tocopherol) and K (menadione)] were used in combination with the antibiotics.

Results
The results demonstrated that vitamins K and E had good synergistic activity with piperacillin/tazobactam, imipenem and doripenem against A. baumannii, whilst vitamins B1, B2 and B12 showed remarkable synergistic activity with linezolid against MRSA. Vitamin B1 was further shown to have better synergism with oxacillin, tetracycline, rifampicin and linezolid against MRSA. The fat-soluble vitamins E and K showed good synergism against Gram-negative A. baumannii, whilst the water-soluble vitamins B1, B2 and B12 were effective against MRSA but not against A. baumannii.

Conclusions
This synergistic action of vitamins with antibiotics may be used as a tool to treat MDR superbugs, with further evaluation required at a molecular level.

Suplementos vitamínicos: ¿Un bien necesario o perjudicial para el ser humano? A través de dietas normales y equilibradas, es virtualmente imposible ingerir cantidades necesarias de micronutrientes. Sin embargo, el uso cada vez más frecuente de suplementos vitamínicos y alimentos fortificados, ha puesto en evidencia que se puede alcanzar niveles de ingesta que generan efectos adversos para la salud (Alonso, 2012). Se cree que los suplementos vitamínicos son beneficiosos para la salud ya que mejoran, entre otros aspectos, el rendimiento físico, aumentan el apetito y evitan o previenen enfermedades. A pesar de ello, los suplementos vitamínicos no siempre son la mejor opción, puesto que los nutricionistas recomiendan tomar vitaminas a través de la alimentación y evitar el consumo de estos agregados. El alto consumo de los productos mencionados anteriormente, está influenciado por las falsas expectativas de los padres y su presión ante los médicos, alegando la necesidad de conseguir una dieta balanceada con la utilización de componentes externos.

Evidence for the usefulness of using vitamin D to treat 'renal bone disease' is now nearly six decades old. In regular clinical practice, however, it is more like three decades, at most, that we have routinely been using vitamin D to try to prevent, or reverse, the impact of hyperparathyroidism on the skeleton of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The practice has been in the main to use high doses of synthetic vitamin D compounds, not naturally occurring ones. However, the pharmacological impacts of the different vitamin D species and of their different modes, and styles of administration cannot be assumed to be uniform across the spectrum. It is disappointingly true to say that even in 2016 there is a remarkable paucity of evidence concerning the clinical benefits of vitamin D supplementation to treat vitamin D insufficiency in patients with stage 3b-5 CKD. This is even more so if we consider the non-dialysis population. While there are a number of studies that re...

Introduction: Parental health literacy is an important factor of pediatric health. Although it is thorougly studied in other countries, neither proper definition, nor adequate tool for its measurement exists in Hungarian. Aim: The aim of this work was to define the dimensions of parental health literacy and to introduce a questionnaire for its measurement. Method: Opinions of parents, pediatric nurses and pediatricians on parental health literacy were used to establish the definition and basic components. Based on these and previously standardized tests a new questionnaire was developed. Results: Four dimensions of parental health literacy were formulated such as knowledge, functional literacy, self-confidence and motivation. The new questionnaire assesses all four dimension through eight topics. Conclusions: This is the first culturally adapted definition and test of parental health literacy in Hungarian. With its application the efficacy of both primary care services and health ed...