Vitamin D deficiencies and the connection to autoimmune

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Vitamin D deficiencies and the connection to autoimmune disease in infants:Be careful - breast feeding moms: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/health/research/26rick.html?em...Physicians have known for more than a century that exclusive breast-feeding may be associated with vitamin D deficiency and rickets, and that the condition is easily prevented and treated with inexpensive vitamin drops or cod liver oil. But doctors are reluctant to say anything that might discourage breast-feedingNow some researchers are also linking vitamin D deficiency with other chronic diseases like diabetes,autoimmune disorders and even cancer, and there have been calls to include blood tests of vitamin D levels in routine checkups....The study, published in The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine in June, found that breast-feeding without supplementation was a significant risk factor.“Human milk is very low in vitamin D, absolutely — there is no question about that,” said Dr. Greer, professor of pediatrics at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and chairman of the committee on nutrition of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Historically speaking, we probably got it from the sun, but now we’re afraid of the sun and we don’t go out as much.”Mara