Giving young children vitamin D supplements may ward off the development of type 1 diabetes in later life, research suggests. Children who took supplements were around 30 percent less likely to develop the condition than those who did not.

The study, by St Mary's Hospital for Women and Children, Manchester, appears in Archives of Disease in Childhood. Type 1diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, in which insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed by the body's own immune system, starting in early infancy

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard School of Public Health revealed those women who eat low-fat dairy products have a lower risk of high blood pressure or hypertension.

Almost 30,000 middle-aged and older women participated in the study. Their diets were examined and the researchers found that those women who had diets of two servings daily of low-fat dairy products and higher calcium and vitamin D intake from foods were protected against hypertension by almost 11 percent. The same was not found for those who take higher fat milk products or calcium and vitamin D supplements

A study is claimed to have answered the question of why influenza spreads primarily during the winter season. The findings suggested that the fu virus is more stable and is airborne longer when the air is cold and dry - the same exact conditions during winter.

The New York researchers, after struggling to find an appropriate and acceptable way of conducting the study, used guinea pigs as subjects, after the animal proved to be capable of spreading the influenza virus. The idea was taken from a paper published in the American Medical Association journal

Contrary to the earlier findings, vitamin D does not lower the overall risk of dying from cancer, a new study has found. However, higher vitamin D levels were associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer death, supporting earlier findings.

The sunshine vitamin made headlines in recent years because of research saying it may be a powerful cancer fighter. It further lead to the latest vitamin craze in a large number of people, with many of them consuming more than currently recommended amounts, either through diet or sun exposure

With fall approaching the days are growing shorter and cold weather is quickly approaching, many Americans will not be getting the necessary levels of vitamin D in the coming months, a deficiency that could put them at higher risk for such serious illnesses as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, depression and osteoporosis.

Christiane Wert Rivard a registered dietitian says, "Sunshine is a significant source of vitamin D.....The body produces vitamin D when the skin is exposed to direct sunlight. However, as we head into these colder and darker months, it's essential to increase your intake of vitamin D since time spent outside is limited