
As Canadians brace for “vitamin D winter”—months when the sun’s angle is too low to produce the vitamin in the skin—a McGill University study explains why vitamin D deficiency early in life is associated with a higher risk of autoimmune diseases.
During childhood, the thymus helps train immune cells to distinguish between the body’s own tissues and harmful invaders. A vitamin D deficiency at that stage of life causes the thymus to age more quickly, the researchers discovered.
The study is published in the journal Science Advances.
“An aging thymus leads to a ‘leaky’ immune system,” said lead author John White, a Professor in and Chair of M...
Read More
Recent Comments