Study of 30,000 Victorians reveals 40% have low vitamin D levels

Veronica Voo is first author on the paper;
she is Dr Mastura Monif's PhD student.

by Tania Ewing

A study of 30,000 Victorians reveals 40% have low vitamin D levels, with serious health consequences.

Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to poor health consequences – from weaker bones to common conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as certain cancers.  In recent years a large body of literature has found links between vitamin D deficiency and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS).

Now, a landmark study of vitamin D levels in over 30,000 Victorians attending a large Melbourne hospital between 2014 and 2017 found that only 40% of patients had levels of vitamin D that are adequate for good health. Importantly, two-thirds of men failed to have sufficient vitamin D levels.

Improving IBD patient care with virtual clinics

Dr Mark Ward, senior author on the study

Monash researchers based at The Alfred are national leaders in improved care for Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. Their recent study published in Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics outlines the remarkable improvement in both patient outcomes and quality use of therapy using a virtual clinic, compared to standard out-patient care, for the most challenging cases of IBD.

The calculus of death shows the COVID lock-down is clearly worth the cost

The Conversation article by Dr Neil Bailey, Adjunct Research Fellow, MAPrc

The calculus of death shows the COVID lock-down is clearly worth the cost.

Conversation article by Dr Neil Bailey

Will the number of lives saved as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions be outweighed by the deaths from an economic recession?

This is a vital question to answer for governments responding to the current global tragedy.

Without numbers, there’s no obvious way of working out whether the economic impacts of the lock-down could be more harmful than the virus.
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13 April - 11 May 2020 Central Clinical School recent publications

Veronica Voo, Dr Mastura Monif's PhD student, 
is first author on a study revealing that 30,000
Victorians have low Vitamin D levels.
See feature story

Recent publications as notified by PubMed during the month 13 April -11 May 2020 from Central Clinical School affiliated researchers in the following departments. This is not a comprehensive list:

• Allergy, Immunology and Respiratory Medicine
• Australian Centre for Blood Diseases
• Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Immunology and Pathology
• Infectious Diseases
• Medicine - Alfred
• Medicine - Peninsula
• Melbourne Sexual Health Centre
• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Surgery & National Trauma Research Institute

Forthcoming grant opportunities

This list of grant opportunities has been compiled from a number of local sources including emails, The Pulse, SCS and BDI newsletters. Links are to sources.

Welcome to Dr Abhay Umranikar as a/g Clinical Dean at Cabrini Health

Dr Abhay Umranikar in theatre

Welcome to Dr Abhay Umranikar, who is filling in as Cabrini's Clinical Dean while A/Prof David Brewster is involved with the COVID-19 response. (We published a story last week on David's work developing airway management guidelines for COVID-19 patients in ICUs.)

Abhay graduated from Monash in 1989 and became a Consultant Anaesthetist in 1999. Since then, he has worked in a number of hospitals in and out of Melbourne including Darwin and Alice Springs. Actively involved in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students, Abhay lectures regularly at the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Exam courses and was an examiner for the Final Fellowship Exam for 8 years.