First pediatric study to look at the role of vitamin D in critical illness

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-09/choe-fps091212.php

Public release date: 12-Sep-2012
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Contact: Adrienne Vienneau
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute
First pediatric study to look at the role of vitamin D in critical illness

OTTAWA, Canada, September 12, 2012—Vitamin D is increasingly being recognized as important for good health. Vitamin D is a hormone made in the skin following sun exposure or acquired from diet and supplement intake. Previous medical research has shown that low body levels of vitamin D make people more susceptible to problems such as bone fractures, poor mental health and infections like the common cold. Until recently, there had been little consideration given to the role of vitamin D in more severe diseases, which is why Dr. Dayre McNally's recent publication in the esteemed scientific journal Pediatrics is so compelling.

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Their study found that in three of every four critically ill children, blood vitamin D levels were below the target considered safe by many experts and medical societies. Further, those with lower vitamin D levels were noted to be sicker, requiring more life-sustaining therapies (breathing tubes, medications to support heart function) and staying in the ICU for longer periods of time.