Vitamin D and the Lung : Humana Press : 9781617798870 : 1617798878 : 24 May 2012 : Vitamin D deficiency is a worldwide problem and many associations with diseases are being discovered. Recently, there has been an interest in the role that vitamin D plays in the inception and progression of lung disease. Vitamin D and the Lung: Mechanisms and Disease Associations delivers a concise, evidence-based review of the evidence for a role of vitamin D in various lung disorders. Divided into three sections, the first section of the book delivers a review of how vitamin D deficiency emerged in human populations, and gives a perspective on how humans evolved to maximize the efficiency of production of vitamin D. The second section of the book reviews aspects of vitamin D mechanisms on different immune cells, lung tissue, and genetics that have potential impact on lung disease. The third section follows with chapters on associations of vitamin D with the risk for viral infections, asthma and allerg