Important New Multiple Sclerosis Study
It has long been suspected that there is an association between low levels of vitamin D and the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS). Now hugely important Canadian research has shown for the first time that the link is not a coincidence: it is a causal link. . . .
Researchers have observed for a long time that there is a strong corrrelation between low vitamin D and the development of MS. People who live in parts of the world with lots of sunshine, and who, therefore, get a lot of vitamin D, have less MS, and most people with MS are deficient in vitamin D (Neurology 1994;44:1687-92). Women with the most vitamin D have a 33% lower risk of MS, and women who supplement at least 400IU of vitamin D a day are at 41% lower risk of MS than women who don’t supplement vitamin D (Neurology 2004;62:60-5). A huge study found that as blood levels of vitamin D go up, risk of MS goes down: people with the highest blood levels of vitamin D reduce their risk of MS by nearly half (JAMA 2006;296:2832-8).
But the question always lingered: is the association a coincidence? Could people with MS have other reasons for having low vitamin D without the low vitamin D being the cause of the MS?
Important new Canadian research has offered the strongest evidence yet that the association is not a coincidence: people with MS have low levels of vitamin D because the low levels of vitamin D make you more susceptible to MS.
The researchers arrived at this conclusion in two steps. First, they looked at 34,000 people to find genetic markers of low vitamin D. Having identified the genetic markers that predispose people to low levels of vitamin D, they then looked at 38,589 people to see if there was an association between these genetic markers and MS. They found that people with any of these genetic markers–who, therefore had low levels of vitamin D–were significantly more likely to have MS. Genetically lower levels of vitamin D are storngly associated with an increased susceptibility to MS.
This potentially groundbreaking research strongly suggests that low levels of vitamin D are not just correlated with MS: low levels of vitamin D increase your susceptability to MS.
For more information on diet and vitamins for MS, see our book The Family Naturopathic Encyclopedia.
PLoS Med 2015;12:e1001866