Taking oral vitamin D can prevent some skin diseases

A study conducted by the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) suggests that taking oral vitamin D can produce many common chemical compounds in our skin, and possibly prevents skin infections, the most common of which is eczema.

Leading this research is Prof. Dr. Richard Gallo - Professor of Pharmacology, Dean of Dermatology Department of UCSD School of Pharmacy. He and his assistant Tissa R. Hata in US San Diego found that using oral vitamins could overcome the weaknesses of the immune system of patients with skin diseases. Their discovery has just been published on October 3 in the Journal of Allergy and Immunology.

Scientists have studied a small number of patients with dermatological problems, a chronic skin disease that affects 10 to 20% of children and 3% of older people. Over time, the disease is increasingly difficult to treat because people who are sick often leave for long and scratch because of discomfort. This increases the risk of skin infection by staph and herpes and smallpox virus.

Previously there were also studies showing the disadvantages of the skin's immune system. The skin that produces salt acid is called cathelicidin, which helps fight bacterial invasion. In skin diseases, including eczema, the lack of cathelicidin is associated with infection.

Research on voluntary patients (14 people with atopic dermatitis and 14 who did not) received vitamin D3 4000 Ius daily for 21 consecutive days. Skin lesions were biopsied before and after the 21-day period. The researchers found that patients taking oral vitamin D helped overcome skin defects in the production of cathelicidin.

"The results of this study show that the substances in Vitamin D can help patients with cathelicidin-producing dermatitis to help excrete better," Hata said.

However, the researchers also noted that it is only a small and further study to assess the long-term effects of vitamin D supplement compounds, and should consider whether vitamins can be used as Whether or not a preventive agent for patients with atopic dermatitis.

In this study, scientists also found that, in the past few years, a deficiency of Vitamin D has caused an increase in the level of cancer, diabetes and some other diseases.

Studying this work are Paul Kotol, BS, Michelle Jackson, MD, Meggie Nguyen, BS, Aimee Paik, MD, Don Udall, MD, Kimi Kanada, BS, Kenshi Yamasaki, MD, Ph.D., and Doru Alexandrescu , MD, all of the Department of Dermatology at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego).