vitamin D

The results from two large clinical trials don't support the idea that supplements of the vitamin bolster immune defenses against SARS-CoV-2.

Ana Teresa Freitas discusses how individual variation in vitamin D synthesis and metabolism influences susceptibility to upper respiratory viruses.

A large trial adds to a growing list of conditions once thought to be helped by vitamin D supplementation.

Mice with low vitamin D had exaggerated craving for opioids and felt the drugs’ effects more strongly—results supported in part by human medical records—suggesting that supplements should be explored as treatments for opioid use disorders.

Now more than ever before, recruiting patients for a research study doesn’t have to mean getting them to leave their homes.

We asked experts for measures people can take that may help boost defenses against COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases.

In clinical studies worldwide, researchers are testing the possibility that supplements of the vitamin could prevent or decrease the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Not one to shy away from controversy, Bruce Ames has pitted himself against industry groups, environmentalists, and his peers through his work identifying DNA mutagens. And he’s not done yet.

Meet some of the people featured in the October 2012 issue of The Scientist.

Studies on safety, efficacy, or dosing of drugs in children, or on nutritional supplements, are not run-of-the-mill.

Vitamin D has a variety of actions in the body. It binds to the vitamin D receptor (VDR), which then binds to the retinoid X receptor (RXR) and activates the expression of numerous genes. 

Prevention trials for vitamins and supplements are notoriously difficult, but some researchers aren’t giving up on finding proof that vitamin D helps ward off disease.

For more than 40 years, German gynecologist and legendary science writer Fritz Kahn (1888-1968) captured the imagination of an international audience with hundreds of wildly inventive illustrations and more than a dozen popular science books. 

Around the turn of the 20th century—before sunscreens hit the market and the damaging effects of UV radiation were widely appreciated—physicians saw the sun mostly as a source of healing.