BACKGROUND Vitamin deficiency is a cause of health related problems in elderly people. The aims were to study associations between vitamin B6 (B6) and diseases (primarily functional gastrointestinal disorders) in elderly people in nursing homes, the prevalence of B6 deficiency and factors associated with B6 deficiency. METHODS This cross-sectional study included residents in nursing homes. De...

Introduction In India, both Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) and fluorosis (due to consumption of excess fluoride), are the two most prevalent endemic diseases which coexist in certain regions in the country. Though goiter—an enlarged thyroid gland—is commonly recognized as a visible sign of iodine deficiency, the health effects of iodine deficiency reach far beyond those of goiter, and the si...

Immune Deficiency Foundation, the national nonprofit organization devoted to research and education for the primary immune deficiency diseases, publishes other materials for physicians and healthcare professionals (eg. Physician’s Primer and Guide for Nurses) and for patients (eg.Patient and Family Handbook, Our Immune System, and Newsletter). For Information about our programs, patient groups ...

Severe ocular diseases may result in partial or complete limbal cell deficiency. Besides conservative options, treatment options include conjunctival replacement procedures and limbal autografting. Limbal allografts are an option in patients with bilateral limbal cell deficiency. In many of these cases, a keratoprosthesis (KPro) is the last option to restore functional vision in patients with s...

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient and a secosteroid hormone that regulates many physiologic processes beyond calcium and bone homeostasis. These "extraskeletal" effects are impacted by the circulating levels of the storage form of vitamin D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3. Levels of vitamin D can be detected after completing a simple 25(OH)D blood test. Vitamin D deficiency (< 30 ng/mL) is associated wi...

BACKGROUND Immunoglobulin (Ig) A deficiency is a primary immunodeficiency in which autoimmunity is frequently observed. Thirty to fifty percent of patients with spontaneous chronic urticaria have autoantibodies that are able to cross-link FcεRI on mast cells and basophils. METHODS We investigated whether spontaneous chronic urticaria in patients with IgA deficiency meets the criteria for auto...

Copyright © 2007 Massachusetts Medical Society. Once foods were fortified with vitamin d and rickets appeared to have been conquered, many health care professionals thought the major health problems resulting from vitamin D deficiency had been resolved. However, rickets can be considered the tip of the vitamin D–deficiency iceberg. In fact, vitamin D deficiency remains common in children and ad...

Five hundred sixty-five million years ago, when the world was empty and barren because animal life had not colonized land yet, a common ancestor that we share with sea squirts (Ascidians) inhabited the seas. One of the genes that we still share with sea squirts today is a gene for mannose-binding lectin (MBL), signifying that this gene has existed for 1565 million years [1, 2] and, thus, has be...

Reduced telomere length has been associated with aging and age-related diseases. Latent infection with the Cytomegalovirus (CMV) induces telomere shortening in the infected cells. Latent CMV infection may cause reduced telomere length via GABP transcription factor deficiency, according to the Microcompetition Theory. Microcompetition and viral-induced transcription factor deficiency is importan...

We have found that children with complete interferon gamma (IFNgamma) receptor deficiency, unlike patients with other genetic defects predisposing them to mycobacterial diseases, have very high levels of IFNgamma in their plasma. This unexpected observation provides a simple and accurate diagnostic method for complete IFNgamma receptor deficiency in children with clinical disease caused by baci...