Vitamin D dan Remaja

Hasil penelitian terbaru mengungkapkan bahwa remaja yang kekurangan vitamin D berisiko terkena gangguan jantung, diabetes,

Dan tekanan darah tinggi. Hal itu disampaikan para peneliti pada pertemuan tahunan American heart association baru-baru ini ( 2009).

Peneliti juga menemukan remaja berkulit putih di AS memiliki vitamin D yang lebih tinggi dua kali lipat jika dibandingkan dengan remaja Afrika-amerika dan sekitar 30% lebih tinggi ketimbang remaja amerika-meksiko.

“Data menunjukkan bahwa serum vitamin D pada anak muda meningkatkan perhatian mengenai pilihan makan mereka dan jumlah waktu yang mereka habiskan untuk terpapar sinar matahari,” kata Robert eckel, mantan direktur American heart association.

Tubuh akan memproduksi Vitamin D ketika terpapar sinar matahari. Selain itu, vitamin D dapat ditemukan pada sejumlah makanan dan minuman, di antaranya ikan, telur, dan susu.

Hasil penelitian tesebut melengkapi fungsi vitamin D yang sudah familier, yakni membantu melindungi tulang yang kuat dari penyerapan kalsium.

Sumber : Harian Media Indonesia

Low Vitamin D Hurts Teens' Hearts

Low Vitamin D Raises Teens' Risk of Diabetes, Heart Disease

By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News

Reviewed By Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACC

March 11, 2009 -- Low vitamin D levels greatly increase a teenager's risk of diabetes and heart disease, Johns Hopkins researchers find.

It is becoming clear that adults who get too little vitamin D are at higher risk for diabetes and heart disease. Now, it appears vitamin D levels also affect these risks earlier in life, say Johns Hopkins researchers Jared P. Reis, PhD, and colleagues.

The researchers analyzed data from 3,577 adolescents aged 12 to 19 enrolled in National Health and Nutrition Examination surveys from 2001 through 2004.

Compared to the 25% of teens with the highest levels of vitamin D in their blood (more than 26 nanograms per milliliter), the 25% of teens with the lowest vitamin D levels (less than 15 ng/mL) had:

• Fourfold greater risk of metabolic syndrome, a combination of risk factors for diabetes
• 2.54 times greater risk of high blood sugar
• 2.36 times greater risk of high blood pressure

Black teens averaged about half the vitamin D levels seen in white teens (15.5 ng/mL vs. 28.0 ng/mL).

Although the findings suggest that vitamin D supplements would be helpful, Reis warns that it remains to be proven whether this would reduce diabetes and heart disease risk.

"We believe clinical trials designed to determine the effects of vitamin D supplementation on heart disease risk factors in adolescents should be conducted before recommendations can be made for vitamin D in the prevention of cardiovascular disease," Reis says in a news release.

And supplements may not be the best way to get vitamin D, suggests American Heart Association past president Robert H. Eckel, MD.

"The AHA recommends an overall healthy diet and lifestyle, and that people get their nutrients primarily from food sources rather than supplements," Eckel says in the news release.

How much vitamin D is enough? That's still being debated. The American Academy of Pediatrics recently suggested a daily intake of 400 IU. But some experts say children and teens need more than 1,000 IU of vitamin D every day.

People who are obese are more likely to have vitamin D deficiency than normal-weight people. Reis suggests this may be because vitamin D is fat soluble and gets tucked away in fat tissue.

"We are just now starting to understand the role that vitamin D may play in cardiovascular health," Reis says.

Reis reported the findings at this week's American Heart Association meeting in Palm Harbor, Fla.

SOURCES: American Heart Association Scientific Conferences, Palm Harbor, Fla., March 10-14, 2009. News release, American Heart Association. WebMD Health News: " Kids May Need 10 Times More Vitamin D," May 28, 2008. WebMD Health News: " Supplement Your Knowledge of Vitamin D," May 19, 2008.

©2009 WebMD, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

sunber : Emedicinehealth.com

Vitamin C May Help Prevent Gout

Study Shows Vitamin C From Food or Supplements May Reduce the Risk of Gout

By Jennifer Warner
WebMD Health News

Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD

March 9, 2009 -- Boosting vitamin C intake may be a simple way to help prevent one of the most common forms of arthritis.

A new study shows the vitamin better known for fighting colds may also prevent gout.

Researchers found men who had the highest vitamin C intake from supplements and food were up to 45% less likely to develop the painful condition than those who had the lowest.

Vitamin C is found naturally in citrus fruit, broccoli, and other fruits and vegetables; it is often taken in supplement form.

Researcher Hyon K. Choi, MD, formerly of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and now of the Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues say other studies have suggested that vitamin C appears to prevent gout by reducing levels of uric acid in the blood. Buildup of uric acid can lead to the formation of crystals, which can deposit in the body, leading to the pain, inflammation, and swelling associated with gout.

In the study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed the relationship between vitamin C intake and gout among 46,994 healthy men from 1986 to 2006. The men answered questionnaires detailing vitamin C intake through diet and/or vitamin C supplements every four years.

During the study period, 1,317 new cases of gout were diagnosed among the participants.

The results showed that those with higher vitamin C intake had a consistently lower risk of developing gout than others. For example, men with a vitamin C intake of 1,500 milligrams or more per day had a 45% lower risk of gout compared with those who had a vitamin C intake of less than 250 milligrams per day.

Nearly all the men who had vitamin C intakes over 500 milligrams per day took vitamin C supplements. Researchers found that for every 500 milligrams of vitamin C the men took, the risk of gout was reduced by an additional 15%.

Researchers say the results suggest that taking vitamin C supplements at the levels in the study (less than 2,000 milligrams per day) may be a safe and effective way to prevent gout.

SOURCES: Choi, H. Archives of Internal Medicine, March 9, 2009; vol 169: pp 502-507. News release, American Medical Association.

©2009 WebMD, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

High Blood Sugar Linked to Memory Loss

Taking Steps to Lower Blood Sugar May Protect Against Age-Related Memory Loss

By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News

Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD

Dec. 30, 2008 -- Maintaining normal blood sugar levels as we age may protect against more than diabetes. It may also help prevent age-related memory loss, a new study shows.

Using high-resolution brain imaging, researchers showed that rising blood sugar levels selectively target a key area of the brain linked to memory decline.

The finding suggests that interventions to improve blood sugar, such as getting regular exercise and eating a healthy diet, may help both the body and the brain as it ages.

"We have known that exercise improves blood sugar and that it helps prevent age-related memory loss," says lead researcher Scott Small, MD, of Columbia University Medical Center. "In this study, we were able to show the specific area of the brain that is impacted by rising blood sugar."

Blood Sugar and Memory

Focusing on the hippocampus -- the area of the brain associated with memory and learning -- Small and colleagues previously identified a section that was most associated with age-related memory decline.

In their newly published study, the researchers looked at how this area, known as the dentate gyrus, is affected by changes typically seen with aging, such as rising cholesterol, body weight, and blood sugar.

Human and animal imaging studies confirmed that rising blood sugar was the only change directly associated with decreased activity in the dentate gyrus.

Because blood sugar levels tend to rise with age, the finding suggests that monitoring and taking steps to lower blood sugar as we grow older may be an important strategy for preventing age-related cognitive decline for everyone, not just people with diabetes, Small tells WebMD.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging, the American Diabetes Association, and the McKnight Brain Research Foundation. It appears in the December issue of the journal Annals of Neurology.

"Beyond the obvious conclusion that preventing late-life disease would benefit the aging hippocampus, our findings suggest that maintaining blood sugar levels, even in the absence of diabetes, could help maintain aspects of cognitive health," Small says in a news release.

Exercise Lowers Blood Sugar

Because exercise improves the ability of the muscles to process glucose, it makes sense that it helps protect cognitive function as we age, Small says.

Linda Nichol, PhD, of the National Institute on Aging, tells WebMD that the research may help explain why diabetic people are at increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

She says studies are under way to determine if drugs that regulate blood sugar can help slow cognitive declines in people with early evidence of the disease.

It is far too soon to say if people who don't have diabetes might benefit from taking the drugs as they get older, she says.

"We already know that physical exercise can help people stay cognitively sharp as they age," she adds. "This study may help explain why."

SOURCES: Small, S.A. Annals of Neurology, December 2008; online edition. Scott A. Small, MD, associate professor of neurology, Sergievsky Center, Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University Medical Center, New York. Linda Nichols, PhD, program director, Alzheimer's Clinical Trials, Division of Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging.

©2008 WebMD, LLC. All Rights Reserved.