Robert Edgar Hope-Simpson

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Robert Edgar Hope-Simpson was a general practitioner. He showed that shingles was caused by reactivation of the chickenpox virus.

He also pioneered research into a possible relationship between influenza and Vitamin D.[1] He proposed that the cause of influenza epidemics during winter may be connected to seasonal fluctuations of vitamin D, which is produced in the skin under the influence of solar (or artificial) UV radiation. This could explain why influenza occurs mostly in winter, and during the tropical rainy season, when people stay indoors, and their vitamin D levels fall.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hope-Simpson, R. "The nature of herpes zoster: a long-term study and a new hypothesis". Proc R Soc Med 58: 9–20. PMID 14267505. 
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