Two new studies have linked vitamin D to the successful prevention and treatment of tuberculosis (TB).
The first study determined that vitamin D is key to the molecular mechanism that the body employs to fight tuberculosis. White blood cells convert vitamin D into an active form that helps make a protein that kills tuberculosis bacteria.
In the second study, Indonesian scientists compared the effect of vitamin D versus a placebo on almost 70 tuberculosis patients for some nine months. Treating tuberculosis patients with 10,000 units of vitamin D daily versus the much smaller amount (400 units) usually advocated by conventional medicine led to a 100 percent cure rate.These findings could lead to the use of the vitamin as a means to prevent and cure the disease.