Independent Nurse: Journals Watch.

- Vitamin D tackles COPD

Patients with severe COPD should take vitamin D supplements, Belgian researchers say. Vitamin D deficiency was correlated with severity of lung symptoms in patients with COPD. COPD patients with two copies of a variant of the vitamin D binding gene rs7041 were at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency. Thorax Online 2010

- Flu sparks anti-inflammatory response

Influenza infection leads to systemic immunosuppression by stimulating the release of anti-inflammatory compounds, researchers have found. Dr Ruslan Medzhitov of the Yale University School of Medicine and his team identified that anti-inflammatory compounds are produced in …