MS PERSPECTIVES: Vitamin D And MS

By Ed Lash

Quite a number of years ago it was noticed that there were many fewer people with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the southern part of the United States than in the northern part. Studies also indicated that this was the same in other countries; the closer to the equator, the fewer people were found to have MS in both the northern and southern hemispheres.

A short time later it was discovered that this difference in MS prevalence may be due to the sun, which lasts longer and shines stronger closer to the equator. This provides more vitamin D—often referred to as the “sunshine vitamin”—to people near the equator than those of us who live much further north or south.

Recently the National MS Society released a report about vitamin D which said, “A study supported in part by the National MS Society compared levels of vitamin D in blood serum stored from military personnel during their service, and found that those with higher levels of vitamin D were at lower risk for later developing multiple sclerosis. This study adds to the growing evidence that vitamin D may help protect against the development of MS.”

This study adds evidence to previous studies, including one that found women who took vitamin D supplements had a lower risk of developing MS. It also corroborated that African-Americans were more likely to have a vitamin D deficiency because dark skin doesn’t efficiently absorb the ultraviolet (UVB) rays that trigger vitamin D production. (Oddly enough, sub-Saharan Africans have a lower incidence of MS than peoples of other continents, perhaps, partly because the amount of sun they’re exposed to compensates for the way their skin absorbs UVB rays.)

Vitamin D is also beneficial for cutting the risk of getting certain cancers. In a ground breaking study, as reported in the September 2006 issue of the Reader’s Digest, brothers Cedric and Frank Garland of the University of California, both epidemiologists, showed that rates of colon cancer were about twice as high in the sun-starved northeastern United States as they are in the sunny south. Other cancers had similar benefits with vitamin D also, but vitamin D won’t stop some smokers from getting lung cancer or heavy drinkers from being at risk for oral or esophageal cancers.

Will Vitamin D supplements help to avoid MS and certain cancers? Let’s hope so. For general health purposes, the Institute of Medicine recommends intake levels of daily vitamin D at 5 micrograms (200 International Units) for children and 5-15 micrograms or 200-600 I for adults, depending on age. This will be re-examined starting in 2008 and the current recommendations may be increased. Before increasing the current recommended amount, however, check with your doctor. Excessive intake of supplemental vitamin D can have serious, toxic effects on the body, including excessive calcium levels in the blood, high blood pressure, nausea, poor appetite, weakness, constipation, impaired kidney function, and kidney damage.

Although MS is not a contagious disease, it is often found to affect more than one person in a family, and this is important to know. When one person in the family has MS, it’s an indication, most likely, that the family (parents, children, grandchildren, and all blood-relatives) may have a predisposition for MS. In my case I had a first cousin diagnosed with MS 15 years before I was diagnosed.

Since it has been shown that vitamin D has a protective effect for MS, if you, or any other family member or blood-relative is diagnosed with MS, information about vitamin D should be shared with other relatives to encourage them to consider increasing their intake of vitamin D.

Self-help is not intended to replace medical treatment, but should be used together with the help of appropriate professionals in a team effort.

Ed Lash is a United Spinal member who lives in Trumbull, Connecticut. You can contact him by e-mail courtesy of edlash.ms.selfhelp@juno.com.