Nihil novi sub sole

Keywords:
Physical Exercise; Vitamin D

Dear Editor,

In their brilliant review, Fernandes and Barreto discussed the association between physical activity and vitamin D.¹ They gave some interesting historical information. They also wrote that researchers “indicating the practice of physical activity in outdoor settings (…) do not mention the importance of vitamin D” and in another study “do not mention physical activity with the sun exposure.” We could not agree with this. At the beginning of the 19^th century, Jędrzej Śniadecki, a professor of pharmacy and chairman of medicine in Vilno, capital of Lithuania, published a work entitled “On the Physical Upbringing of Children.” He presented the methods of child upbringing to shape their bodies properly, taking care of both the physical and mental development. In the second edition of this work, in 1822, he proposed for the first time sunbathing as a method of rickets treatment. It later appeared as treatment with vitamin D.^2,3 Śniadecki was a professor of chemistry but also a family doctor, and, working in the northern part of Europe, he knew very well how harmful the lack of the sunlight could be.

References

• ¹
  Fernandes MR, Barreto WDR Junior. Association between physical activity and vitamin D: a narrative literature review. Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2017; 63(6):550-6.
• ²
  Rutkowski B, Ostrowski J. Jedrzej Sniadecki (1768-1838) and his flirtation with nephrology. J Nephrol. 2013; 26(Suppl. 22):40-4.
• ³
  Smogorzewski MJ. Science on the kidney in early 19th-century Europe, based on the work of Jedrzej Sniadecki and Jons J. Berzelius. J Nephrol. 2013; 26(Suppl. 22):45-9.he editor

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  Jan 2018

History

• Received
  8 Jan 2018
• Accepted
  13 Jan 2018