Posted: September 29th, 2016

ew potential disease associations for Vitamin D, (Vitamin D and Type 2 Diabetes

Clinical Biochemistry
Written Assignment – new potential disease associations for Vitamin D, (Vitamin D and Type 2 Diabetes). This assignment is worth 50%
You are required to identify your own topic area for this assignment. You will do this by searching recent peer-reviewed literature and identifying a disease or condition that has recently been suggested to be linked to vitamin D. Please note that bone related conditions are excluded from this assignment, as the involvement of vitamin D is well established. We are interested in new research developments.
Once you have identified a topic i.e. ‘the involvement of vitamin D in x’, then you need to find 3 papers. These will be the focus of your assignment. These papers need to be recent (from within last 5 years), peer-reviewed research papers (not review articles). Attached
Read you papers carefully. For the assignment I would like you to write 2000 words (excluding bibliography) describing the research undertaken in those papers and then providing a conclusion in which you state how strong you think the evidence is for the involvement of vitamin D in the disease, based on the research you have described.

In the body of the assignment, Please see attached assignment.
1. Do not focus on the disease/condition or on vitamin D Formation.
2. Instead focus on the research that was undertaken.
3. Who were the participants? Patients and Methods including type of tests used.
4. How many participants were there
5. Did they use standard methodology or a novel approach?
6. Patients and Methods including type of tests used. Results:
7. What were the limitations of the studies?

8. What were the similarities or differences between the studies?
9. Did the studies reach the same conclusions?
10. Did they have differing conclusions and if so, why might that be?
11. How do these papers fit into the recent research in this area?
12. Is this a new research area of interest for the disease?
In your conclusion, please state on the basis of the evidence you have described from the
key articles, what YOU think is the current understanding for the role of vitamin D in your
chosen condition. Are you convinced that there is a link? Some questions you might like to
consider include: Is there enough evidence from the studies undertaken to show a
relationship between vitamin D and the condition? Or is more research required? What were
the limitations of the studies? How could these limitations be addressed in the future? What
else needs to happen before a (causal) link could be established? If a relationship has been
Identified, what does this mean for the patients?

Your assignment will be marked on the basis on the description of the articles and the
research that was undertaken and the conclusion you provide. Please pay attention to
referencing and to your use of language and grammar.