Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Scientists and drug firms say that a fresh approach is needed to produce new drugs that hit where it hurts. Millions of people across the world suffer from chronic pain - such as nerve, joint or muscle pain that lasts weeks, months or in some cases even years - and many fail to get adequate relief, partly because doctors have a relatively scant grasp of what causes it.
Japanese schoolchildren who took vitamin D supplements as part of a study showed less of a reaction to seasonal flu. Those who took the supplements were three times less likely to report cold and flu symptoms than those who went without. The idea came from a previous study looking at whether vitamin D could help prevent the bone disease osteoporosis.
