Vitamins science News

Surprising findings by Queen’s researchers have shed new light on how the “sunshine vitamin” D – increasingly used to treat and prevent cancer and other diseases – is broken down by our bodies.

The effectiveness of vitamin D therapy is partly dependent on how quickly it will be broken down,” says Biochemistry professor Glenville Jones, an expert in the field of vitamin D metabolism. “By studying the enzyme responsible for breaking down the vitamin, we hope to develop a way to prevent this from happenin...full story

Blocking the function of an enzyme in the brain with a specific kind of vitamin E can prevent nerve cells from dying after a stroke, new research suggests.

In a study using mouse brain cells, scientists found that the tocotrienol form of vitamin E, an alternative to the popular drugstore supplement, stopped the enzyme from releasing fatty acids that eventually kill neurons.
The Ohio State University researchers have been studying how this form of vitamin E protects the brain in animal and cell models for a decade, and intend to pursue tests of its potential to both prevent.....full story

Applying vitamin A to the skin appears to improve the wrinkles associated with natural aging and may help to promote the production of skin-building compounds, according to a new report.

The wrinkles and brown spots associated with aging appear first and most prominently on skin exposed to the sun, according to background information in the article.
"Human skin not exposed to the sun also ages but less dramatically," the authors write. "In intrinsic, natural or chronological aging, skin loses its youthful appearance by becoming thinner, laxer....full story

External links
sciencedaily: News