Family Life

03.08.10 | FL News Team

Vitamin D recharges the body's immune system so it can fight off viruses and infections better. That's the finding by Danish researchers who are on the hunt for new vaccines that use the body's own defenses. It's long been known that a lack of Vitamin D increases people's chances of catching the flu and even developing cancer.

 But the key part of the discovery out of Copenhagen University concerns the immune system's killer T cells. Those are the cells that attack invading germs, and when they latch onto a pathogen they immediately start scouting around for Vitamin D. If they can't find any Vitamin D handy, the killer T cell goes dormant and the disease is allowed to go unchecked. Scientists say that half the world's population suffers from Vitamin D deficiency and the problem's getting worse as more couch potatoes spend less time outdoors. The findings are publishes in the journal "Nature Immunology."