The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

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  • Recent Comments

    Does vitamin D reduce the risk of diabetes in infants?

    Vitamin D treatment during infancy might protect from the development of type 1 diabetes, according to this review of the medical literature by researchers from the Central Manchester and Manchester Children’s University Hospitals in the UK.

    First, the details.

    • Only 5 observational studies were found.
      • In observational studies, researchers report what happened, without deliberately attempting to alter the outcomes.
      • By comparison, randomized controlled studies are designed to show the impact of a treatment by randomly assigning individuals to the treatment or a control group.

    And, the results.

    • Reanalysis of the results (meta-analysis) suggested that the risk of type 1 diabetes was significantly reduced in infants supplemented with vitamin D compared to infants not supplemented.
    • There was also evidence that higher amounts of vitamin D had a greater effect on lowering the risk of type 1 diabetes.
    • Finally, there was a suggestion that the timing of supplementation might also affect development of type 1 diabetes.

    The bottom line?
    Additional research is needed to confirm these findings and determine the dose, duration, and timing of vitamin D supplementation in early childhood.

    Current vitamin D guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics focus on preventing rickets. Infants who receive less than 500 mL of vitamin D–fortified formula daily (ie, breast-fed infants) should receive 200 IU of vitamin D daily.

    4/27/08 22:53 JR

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