Vitamin D is important for lupus

Lupus (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, SLE) is the 'label' that encompasses an immune system attack on a variety of connective tissues. Its manifestation is variable; the tissues involved can be in the skin, brain, or multiple other areas. By now you won't be surprised to learn of this paper recently published in PLoS One (Public Library of Science) that shows the important role for Vitamin D in prevention and treatment of SLE. The authors' conclusion expresses three key points:

"We report on severe 25-D deficiency in a substantial percentage of SLE patients tested and demonstrate an inverse correlation with disease activity. Our results suggest that vitamin D supplementation will contribute to restoring immune homeostasis in lupus patients..."

In other words, many patients with SLE have a deficiency of vitamin D that is extremely low; disease activity goes up as vitamin D goes down; and vitamin D is a promising treatment for lupus.