Vitamins play a critical role in maintaining your overall health. For example, vitamins help to prevent progressive heart damage and they aid in bone growth. Low vitamin levels in your body indicate a specific vitamin deficiency. Depending on the...
You need vitamin D through dietary or other sources so your body can absorb calcium to keep your bones healthy and strong. This nutrient also helps reduce inflammation and regulates your immune system and other body processes. If you do not have...
Vitamin K has many functions, including maintaining bone mass and producing skin cells. It helps prevent cardiovascular disease and also helps blood to clot normally. People who take prescription anticoagulant medications, such as warfarin, must...
Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses around the world. According to the World Health Organization, around 121 million people worldwide are affected by depression. While researchers aren't exactly sure what causes depression,...
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin used by the body to regulate calcium levels and blood pressure, and it plays a role in immune system function. It also helps prevent uncontrolled cell division, which could lead to diseases like cancer. While...
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin necessary for calcium absorption and bone growth. Nicknamed the "sunshine vitamin," it is the only vitamin obtained from outdoor exposure. It is stored in body fat and, while a toxic overload can occur due to...
Hair loss can occur for a number of reasons, but the most common include alopecia areata, an autoimmune reaction and androgenic alopecia, hereditary male-pattern baldness. Women can also inherit a form of androgenic alopecia called female diffuse...
According to a 2009 report in the "Archives of Internal Medicine," as many as 77 percent of the American population is vitamin D deficient. This has become a widespread health concern as vitamin D deficiency has been linked to many symptoms and...
Heart disease is the primary cause of death for men and women in the United States. Cardiovascular complications including congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis and heart attack are precipitating factors in the development of heart disease....
Vitamins, including vitamin D, help keep all the tissues in your body functioning properly. A lack of vitamin D can affect your heart, resulting in an irregular heartbeat and palpitations. If you experience heart problems, talk to your doctor,...
With the complex mix of vitamins recommended for pregnant women, getting the right balance of each can be difficult but it's essential that you make an effort to ingest vitamin D each day. This vitamin is important for both your health and the...
Vitamin D is produced in the body when ultraviolet sunlight hits the skin. In addition to its role in helping to absorb calcium and strengthen bones, vitamin D interacts with every major organ in the body, according to a 2011 study by Amie...
If concerns about wrinkles and skin cancer have you acting like a vampire or slathering on sunscreen when you venture outside, you may want to rethink your approach. With global concerns over deficiency, vitamin D has become a headliner in health...
Low levels of vitamin D and vitamin D deficiency have become a widespread health concern. According to a 2009 report in the Archives of Internal Medicine, as many as 77 percent of Americans are vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D is needed for bone...
The body brilliantly regulates biochemical processes through feedback mechanisms. The thyroid gland constantly monitors levels of several substances to ensure the body has all it needs to function. When levels drop, the thyroid tells the body to...
Vitamin D, sometimes called the sunshine vitamin, is a fat-soluble vitamin your body needs to build and maintain strong bones and teeth. Vitamin D deficiencies are common in many people, including women. You require more vitamin D after the age of...
Vitamin D is actually a hormone your body creates naturally after your skin's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet B rays, according to Dr. Steve D. Wheeler, in his 2010 article published by the American Headache Society. Vitamin D deficiency is...
Fat-soluble vitamin D primarily aids in calcium absorption, which promotes bone mineralization, growth and remodeling. Your body synthesizes vitamin D from sunlight, but you can also obtain the vitamin from fortified sources, including milk, and...
Fish, fish oil and other seafood supply vitamin D naturally from the diet with additional small amounts found in eggs and a few other foods. Fortified foods and milk constitute the major sources of the vitamin in the U.S. diet, explains the...
Vitamin D3, also called cholecalciferol, is synthesized in your skin when you are exposed to the ultraviolet-B, or UVB, rays from the sun. Some foods are also fortified with vitamin D3. All it takes is 10 minutes per day of direct sunlight to...
TSH, or thyroid stimulating hormone, is produced by the pituitary gland. Its main function is to regulate the production of thyroid hormones thyroxine and triiodothyronine by the thyroid gland. The thyroid hormones play an important role in...
The two measurable forms of vitamin D include an inactive form, 25-hydroxy-vitamin D, and an active hormone, 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D. Lab Tests Online explains that the inactive form is tested to determine vitamin D status because it has a longer...
Believe it or not, estrogen and vitamin D are both technically steroid hormones, produced by the cholesterol in your body. They work synergistically and both are important influencers on your bone health. Low estrogen is a known cause of increased...
Vitamin B-12, or cobalamin, is key in the functioning of several enzymes. Enzymes are special proteins that increase the rates of chemical reactions, helping the body perform many activities. Very low B-12 has a number of causes and can result in...
Vitamin B-12 is vital to processes in the body that occur at a cellular level. It is responsible for the production of red blood cells, the strengthening of nerve cells and the formation of DNA. B-12 is a water soluble vitamin found in most fish,...
Zinc is an essential mineral that plays a large role in many physiological activities. Along with iron, zinc is the most highly concentrated mineral in your brain. In the past few decades, researchers have studied the effects of zinc...
An estimated 0.25 to 1.7 percent of newborns experience bleeding complications due to low blood levels of vitamin K, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Vitamin K is an essential nutrient your infant's body needs to maintain proper...
Vitamin D is important for calcium metabolism, nerve and muscle function, and immunity. The University of Maryland Medical Center states that those who do not get enough vitamin D are at greater risk of osteoporosis, high blood pressure and...
Vitamin D3 or cholecalciferol is one of the most important forms of vitamin D, along with vitamin D2 or ergocalciferol, according to MayoClinic.com. Because the sun is the main source of vitamin D, people who work indoors or live in the far north,...
