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Alternative and Complementary Medicine

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University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Vitamin D

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Full-Text Articles in Chemistry

Vitamin D: Controversy Cancer And Beyond, Cristian J. Rosales, Debasish Bandyopadhyay Oct 2018

Vitamin D: Controversy Cancer And Beyond, Cristian J. Rosales, Debasish Bandyopadhyay

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Vitamins are an essential part to wellbeing. This was not something always known however, as the Germ theory was the accepted thesis of the 18th century. It was found that certain accessory factors helped mitigate and even cure these diseases such as beriberi, scurvy, and rickets. Accessory factors, later coined vitamins by Casimir Funk, are an essential constituent of the human diet. Vitamin D is technically not a vitamin but functions as a steroid hormone whose most well-known purpose is calcification of the human skeleton. This helps prevent osteomalacia in adults and rickets, a serious problem in children due to …