New Study Suggests Link Between Lack Of Vitamin D And MS

A new study suggests that the lack of vitamin D or the ‘sunshine vitamin’ might be tied to MS.

According to the results of a new study, low levels of vitamin D might possibly be linked and act as a potential prediction method for multiple sclerosis or MS.

Vitamin D is one of the most important nutrients for the human body in that it is essential for the health of its bones. Sometimes also called ‘the sunshine vitamin’, it is produced by the skin in response to its exposure to sunshine. It can also come from foods that are naturally rich in it.

Vitamin D, a Useful Tool in Spotting or Preventing MS?

Multiple sclerosis, a neurological condition, affects the nerves and causes the immune system to stop working properly. In doing so, it disrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and affects the motor functions.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston researchers are behind a new study on the matter. This analyzes the disease’s connection to the so-called sunshine vitamin. Research was based on a repository of blood samples from over 800,000 living in Finland and which took part in a prenatal testing.

An average nine years later, 1,092 women were identified to have developed MS. Information from them was compared to that from 2,123 participants that were disease-free.

Based on this, the study team noted that some 58 percent of the patients that had the disease also presented a vitamin D deficit. This lack of the sunshine vitamin was somewhat lower in the other group, with only 52 percent of them presenting a deficit.

A deficit of vitamin D was determined as having fewer than 30 nanomoles/liter or nmol/L. Adequate levels were defined as being 50 nmol/L or higher.

The researchers established that each 50 nmol/L increase in the vitamin levels in the blood could lead to a 39 percent lowering of the risks of developing the disease later in life. Women with a vitamin D deficit also reportedly presented a 43 percent higher risk of having MS than participants with lower or adequate levels.

“More research is needed on the optimal dose of vitamin D for reducing the risk of MS,” said Kassandra Munger, the study author. “But striving to achieve vitamin D sufficiency over the course of a person’s life will likely have multiple health benefits.”

Still, researchers point out that more, larger and more diverse studies are needed to analyze this possible relationship between multiple sclerosis and a vitamin D deficit.

Current research findings are available in a paper in the journal Neurology.

Image Source: Pixabay

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Roxanne Briean

I am a geek, a gamer and a writer. I have always been fascinated with the online community. At the moment I work as a full-time writer and study interior design. When I'm not scouring the net in search of interesting new gadgets and software I spend my time in MOBAs or drawing.