Vitamin D supplements may protect against MS
Women who take vitamin D supplements may have a lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis than women who do not take supplements, according to recent research.
Investigators studied data collected from the US Nurses Health Study
and Nurses Health Study II, which involved almost 190,000 women. They
looked at the women’s diets and use of multivitamin supplements
at baseline and every four years, as well as the levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin
D in the women’s blood. Results were adjusted for known MS risk
factors such as age, smoking and latitude of residence at birth. Of the
187,563 women included in the study, 173 women developed the disease.
The researchers found that women with the highest intake of vitamin D
supplements (at least 400 IU per day) were 40 per cent less likely to
develop MS than women who did not use supplements. Women who had a high
intake of vitamin D from a combination of food and supplements also had
a lower risk of developing MS, but those who had a high intake of vitamin
D from diet alone were not found to be any less at risk of developing
the disease.
However, the researchers acknowledge that because supplemental vitamin
D intake used by women in the study was mainly from multivitamins, the
effects of vitamin D can not easily be isolated from the effects of other
vitamins in the formulations. Furthermore, they point out the difficulty
of separating the contribution of diet and the effects of sunlight on
circulating levels of vitamin D.
The researchers suggest that future studies should measure the levels
of vitamin D in the blood before the onset of MS, and that it may be
important to assess whether supplementation with the vitamin slows the
progression of the disease (Neurology 2004;62:60).
Sunlight and MS More data emerged this week to support the association
between exposure to sunlight and development of MS. Researchers from
the Institute of Health Sciences in Oxford say that a minimum level
of exposure to the sun per year may provide protection from the disease.
They studied records of people with MS and other neurological disease
and found that prevalence of skin cancers associated with prolonged,
continuous exposure to sunshine was lower than average in people
with MS (Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2004; 58:142).
|
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal