Getting natural sunlight helps increase vitamin D levels
Vitamin D deficiency is common in HIV positive individuals, and adequate vitamin D may be important for their health and well-being. Research appearing in the Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Disease (2010 Jan 19; [Epub ahead of print]) found that in 115 men who were HIV positive, 20% had insufficient vitamin D, 36% were deficient in vitamin D and 4% were severely deficient. Such deficiency may affect the health of these patients. A study involving 884 pregnant women infected with HIV was published in PLoS One (2010; 5(1): e8770) looked at vitamin D status and the progression of their disease. The women were monitored for 69.5 months and was found that vitamin D status was inversely associated with disease progression. Poor vitamin D status was associated with anemia as well. The subjects with poor vitamin D status had a 46% increase in the risk of developing anemia. Those in the highest quintile of vitamin D status had a 42% reduced risk of mortality.
