Posted
on November 13, 2014
People
are always talking about Vitamin C, urging us to ward off colds
before they start by taking Vitamin C. Sometimes people talk about
adding Vitamin D to milk and getting Vitamin D from sunlight, and
sometimes they talk about the B vitamins (I've noticed that Vitamin
B12 is especially noteworthy!). I often hear parents remind kids that
there is Vitamin A in carrots, and that's why carrots are so good for
our eyes, so eat up! And I've seen several people rub Vitamin E on
their scars to make them smaller and thinner – although apparently
Vitamin E doesn't really work to do that!
But
who ever talks about Vitamin K?
And
why is it K, instead of F (which is next after Vitamin A, B, C, D,
and E)?
And
what, oh, what does Vitamin K have to do with today?
Last
question first:
Today
is the birthday of an American biochemist named Edward Doisy, and he
and Henrik Dam discovered Vitamin K and its structure.
He
even won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this
discovery!
So...what
exactly is Vitamin K?
It
is really important, because this vitamin is required to make
proteins that are required for blood coagulation (also known as blood
clotting). And blood clots are important so we don't bleed to death
from the first tiny cut we get!
There
are other uses for Vitamin K as well (for bone health, as a weapon
against fungi, and so forth).
Why
the letter “K”?
Doisy's
work on Vitamin K was informed by the work by Danish scientist Dam,
whose research was first published in a German journal. In German,
the vitamin was called Koagulationsvitamin – and eventually,
of course, people shortened that to Vitamin K.
Also
on this date:
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ahead:
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