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March 27, 2009 - A significant decrease in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels has led to an increase in vitamin D insufficiency in the US population, especially in racial and ethnic groups, according to results of a population-based study reported in the March 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. "Vitamin D insufficiency has been associated with increases in cardiovascular disease, cancer, and infection," write Adit A. Ginde, MD, from the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, and colleagues. "Vitamin D supplementation appears to mitigate the incidence and adverse outcomes of these diseases and may reduce all-cause mortality." [...] "These findings have important implications for health disparities and public health," the study authors conclude. "Our data provide additional evidence that current recommendations for vitamin D supplementation (200-600 IU/d) are inadequate to achieve optimal serum 25(OH)D levels in most of the US population." They add that large, randomized controlled trials of higher doses of vitamin D supplementation are needed to evaluate their effect on general health and mortality.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The "sunshine vitamin," vitamin D, is increasingly seen as vital to health, yet more Americans are not getting enough, U.S. researchers said on Monday. Analyzing data from government health surveys, researchers from the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine found three out of four Americans had "insufficient" levels of vitamin D, up from about one out two 20 years ago-

A recently completed study from researchers at Colorado State University supported by the Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has demonstrated that AHCC(R) (Active Hexose Correlated Compound) enhances host resistance by boosting protective immune responses specific to the West Nile Virus. Since its discovery in the United States in 1999, infections caused by the West Nile Virus have become a major public health concern. West Nile Virus is caused by people being bitten by mosquitoes infected with the virus. According to the CDC, there have been 28,018 reported cases with 1,092 deaths since 1999. In 2003, the highest number of cases was reported at nearly 10,000. Currently there is no effective treatment for the disease.

An estimated 80 percent of all women don't like they way they look. Eating disorders don't just affect women though. Of those diagnosed with disorders such as anorexia or bulimia, 10 to 15 percent are males.