Whether dietary supplementation with vitamin D is beneficial, in terms of preventing disease, has been controversial. However, vitamin D has been reported to increase immune cells’ production of microbe-fighting proteins. That’s why Emory doctors have been testing whether high doses of vitamin D could be helpful for critical care patients, who need to ward off infections.

The results of a small-scale clinical trial, presented in Denver this week at the American Thoracic Society meeting, suggest that high doses of vitamin D could decrease the length of hospital stays in critically ill patients with respiratory failure. Read more