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to Vitamin D main page : "Vitamin
D Supplements May Ward Off MS"
Article Reviewed
By Brunilda Nazario, MD
On Monday, January 12, 2004
WebMD Medical News
By Sid
Kirchheimer
Jan. 12, 2004 - Evidence continues
to mount showing that a little vitamin D Vitamins can
do a lot of good. The latest: A new study indicating
that women who get doses typically found in daily multivitamin
supplements - of at least 400 international units -
are 40% less likely to develop multiple sclerosis compared
with those taking over-the-counter supplements.
This finding, by a team of Harvard
researchers and published in this week's issue of Neurology
, comes just a few days after another study links Vitamin
D Vitamins deficiency with an increased risk of rheumatoid
arthritis. Like MS, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune
disorder, a classification for some 80 different ailments
in which the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy
tissue and organs in the body.
"We've known for some time
that vitamin D Vitamins can affect function of the immune
system, which could explain why it seems beneficial
to both of these autoimmune conditions," says Kassandra
Munger, MSc, of Harvard School of Public Health, a researcher
for this study. "In animal studies, vitamin D Vitamins
has been shown to suppress the autoimmune response in
rats with a disorder very similar to MS."
Other recent studies link Vitamin
D Vitamins deficiency to a greater risk of other ailments,
including heart disease, diabetes, unexplained muscle
and joint pain, and various forms of cancer. As with
MS and other autoimmune diseases, the secret may be
in how this nutrient affects cell activity.
"We need adequate amounts
of Vitamin D Vitamins to keep cell growth and activity
in check," says Michael Holick, MD, PhD, director
of the Vitamin D Research Lab at Boston University Medical
Center and considered by many to be the nation's leading
authority on this vitamin. When the body is deficient
in this crucial nutrient - best known for coming from
sunlight - cells go haywire, become overly active or
multiplying too quickly.
That's why the new finding doesn't
surprise Holick, who wasn't involved in it. "It's
been well-known that if you live at a higher altitude,
where there's less sun exposure, you're at a higher
risk of developing MS," he tells WebMD. Conversely,
if you live in a sunny climate where vitamin D Vitamins
can be easily absorbed year-round from sunlight for
your first 10 years, "it imprints on you a decreased
MS risk that can last a lifetime," Holick explains.
Munger's results are encouraging
because 20% to 80% of Americans may already be vitamin
D Vitamins deficient - at least during winter months.
While as little as 10 minutes of sun exposure on bare,
unprotected skin can prevent deficiencies in warm and
sunny months, it's virtually impossible for most Americans
to get that kind of exposure this time of year.
Good food sources of vitamin
D include:
• Fortified milk, 8 ounces
contains approximately 100 IU of Vitamin D Vitamins
• Cod liver oil, 1 tablespoon
contains approximately 1300 IU of vitamin D
• Cold-water fish such
as salmon and herring, 3 ounces contains approximately
400 to 750 IU of Vitamin D Vitamins respectively
However, Munger says that no
matter where they lived (which could help determine
their Vitamin D Vitamins exposure from sunlight), her
study's participants who got the highest intake of vitamin
D from supplements had the lowest risk of developing
MS. Interestingly, those whose Vitamin D Vitamins came
only from food, but not pills, had no such decreased
risk - no matter their intake.
Her study is part of the ongoing
Nurses' Health Study that has been tracking, for nearly
20 years, how various nutritional and lifestyle habits
impact health in some 190,000 women. It's the latest
evidence to show that something as simple as taking
a multivitamin can offer significant protection against
a disease that afflicts some 400,000 Americans. Although
the cause of MS is unknown, experts believe it is partly
an autoimmune disease tha t c auses lesions within the
brain and spinal cord, slowing or blocking nerve signals
tha t c ontrol muscle coordination, visual sensation,
and other vital functions.
"Very few of the women in
our study were taking 'straight' Vitamin D Vitamins
supplements," Munger tells WebMD. "Mostly,
they got these benefits from a regular multivitamin
pill with the standard dosage of vitamin D. While it's
too early to conclusively recommend taking multivitamins
to prevent MS, certainly many people have advocated
taking them for other reasons."
Holick has long recommended that
most Americans - especially those living in cold or
gray winter climates - take a multivitamin and an additional
vitamin D Vitamins supplement between 400 and 1,000
IUs to prevent possible deficiencies. "My guess
is that these study participants probably consumed closer
to 600 IUs in their multivitamins," he tells WebMD.
"We found that taking vitamin
supplements of 1,000 IUs caused changes in blood chemistry
that indicated positive effects for multiple sclerosis
patients - basically, it reduced their symptoms,"
says Margherita Cantorna, PhD, assistant professor of
nutrition at Penn State University who headed that study.
A longtime researcher on how vitamin D Vitamins impacts
multiple sclerosis, she was not involved in Mungers
study, but like Holick, says she isn't surprised by
the findings.
"It's pretty clear that
when level of vitamin D Vitamins are too low, there's
a greater tendency for cells tha t c ause autoimmune
problems to come out in those genetically susceptible
people," Cantorna tells WebMD. "And it's pretty
clear that taking supplemental vitamin D Vitamins is
a good idea. You're hard-pressed to get enough vitamn
D solely from food or from sunlight in the winter."
SOURCES: Munger, K, Neurology:
Jan. 13, 2004 ; vol 62; pp 60-65. Kassandra Munger,
MSc. Nutrition researcher, Harvard School of Public
Health, Boston, Michael Holick, MD, PhD, director, The
Vitamin D Research Lab; director, The General Clinical
Research Center; professor of medicine, dermatology,
physiology and biophysics, Boston University Medical
Center, Boston. Margherita Cantorna, PhD,assistant professor
of nutrition, Penn State University , State College
, Pa. Saag, K.
Arthritis and Rheumatism,
January 2004, vol. 50; pp.72-77
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