Skin benefits from vitamin D – major overview

Created March 2014

Vitamin D and the skin: Focus on a complex relationship: A review

Journal of Advanced Research, Available online 8 February 2014, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jare.2014.01.011

Wedad Z. Mostafa, Rehab A. Hegazy

The “sunshine” vitamin is a hot topic that attracted ample attention over the past decades, specially that a considerable proportion of the worldwide population are deficient in this essential nutrient. Vitamin D was primarily acknowledged for its importance in bone formation, however; increasing evidence point to its interference with the proper function of nearly every tissue in our bodies including brain, heart, muscles, immune system and skin. Thereby its deficiency has been incriminated in a long panel of diseases including cancers, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular and neurological disorders. Its involvement in the pathogenesis of different dermatological diseases is no exception and has been the subject of much research over the recent years. In the current review, we will throw light on this highly disputed vitamin that is creating a significant concern from a dermatological perspective. Furthermore, the consequences of its deficiency on the skin will be in focus.

Sections

Introduction

Sources of vitamin D

Vitamin D levels

Factors influencing vitamin D levels

Vitamin D and the skin: What's beyond its synthesis and metabolism?

Vitamin D and skin diseases

  • Skin cancer

  • Psoriasis

  • Acne and rosacea

  • Hair loss

  • Vitiligo

  • Pemphigus vulgaris and bullous pemphigoid

  • Atopic dermatitis

    Should vitamin D be scripted on every prescription?

Conclusions

image

PDF is attached at the bottom of this page

See also VitaminDWiki

Tags: Skin