MS, children and vitamin D
In one study, published June 2009, researchers from the University of Toronto tested the vitamin D blood levels of 125 children who had exhibited symptoms indicating some form of damage to the myelin sheath.
Children who develop multiple sclerosis have substantially lower levels of vitamin D than children who do not develop the disease, according to a series of studies presented at an international conference on multiple sclerosis in Montreal.
Full article: Vitamin D Deficiency Causes Multiple Sclerosis in Children
- "Three-quarters of our subjects were below the optimal levels for vitamin D," lead researcher Heather Hanwell said
- "Seventeen of 19 children who had been diagnosed with MS had vitamin D levels below the target level," researcher Brenda Banwell said
- "There is a very consistent pattern of latitude and multiple sclerosis," said epidemiologist and multiple sclerosis researcher Cedric Garland of the University of California-San Diego
- "In Canada for six months of the year the sun is not intense enough for us to manufacture vitamin D in our skin"...
- "People have been looking for things in the environment that might account for why Canada has such a high MS risk, and this is one of those factors"...
Further explanation:
- It remains unclear exactly how vitamin D might influence multiple sclerosis risk, but researchers believe it may have to do with the immune system. New research continues to illuminate the role that vitamin D plays in the immune system, providing protection against cancer, tuberculosis and autoimmune diseases
And:
- Vitamin D acts as an immune modulator... On our immune cells there are what are known as receptors, a docking mechanism, for vitamin D. In MS, there are many lines of evidence that immune cells are not regulated properly
- Researchers called vitamin D research one of the most promising areas of research into causes and potential cures for multiple sclerosis
Final words:
- To prove that vitamin D is effective as a multiple sclerosis treatment or preventive - as well as to figure out what dose would be needed - researchers would first have to conduct large-scale clinical trials
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So we got it:
Vitamin D Deficiency Causes Multiple Sclerosis in Children
But why:
- only vitamin D deficiency?
- only in children?
I realize - this was the area of the research - the researchers performed a so-called scientific investigation.
What I really can't understand (and agree with) - they didn't perform any exploration into area of other possible multiple sclerosis (MS) causes. OK, they don't mention it.
All the authors of this article are trying to do is to treat a set of symptoms, officially called Multiple Sclerosis, presupposing the only cause (lack of vitamin D), without even guessing any other.
I described some most probable causes of multiple sclerosis and all other autoimmune disorders in a chapter MS Triggers.
It's really so simple: if there is other MS trigger - not vitamin D deficiency, increasing amount of this particular vitamin will not reduce MS symptoms and can even complicate a situation.
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Importance of vitamin D is well documented in important medical researches:
- A meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials has found that supplemental vitamin D significantly reduces mortality from all causes
- Vitamin D's final metabolic product targets more than 200 human genes in a wide variety of tissues
- Not only are such deficiencies common, but vitamin D deficiency is implicated in most of the diseases of civilization
- Since vitamin D deficiency is both endemic and is associated with numerous diseases, it is one of the most important medical problems in modern society
- Steps should be taken to keep patients with chronic diseases associated with vitamin D deficiency
Get your vitamin D !
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