Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis
Nine years ago I was invited to present a series of lectures to physicians in Sydney, Australia. On the evening before the conference I had a discussion with a local physician about multiple sclerosis and the topic of the geographic distribution of the disease came up. Weve known for more than half a century that those individuals who lived their early years in northern latitudes had a significantly increased risk of developing multiple sclerosis compared to those who lived in more southern regions. Interestingly, the Australian doctor revealed that there was a similar geographic phenomenon noted in his continent. Those Australians who spent their early years far south of the equator were also at increased risk for the disease. At that point I began to wonder if sun exposure could relate to M.S. risk, possibly because of the decreased vitamin D production in individuals living far from the equator. I quickly fashioned a Powerpoint slide that evening and added it to my presentation the next day, mostly to serve as a point of discussion about this topic. It certainly seemed plausible, especially when you recognize that vitamin D serves as an antioxidant.
So it brought a smile to my face when recently reading JAMA when I noted an article entitled, Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels and Risk of Multiple Sclerosisin which Harvard researchers found a dramatically lowered risk of MS. in individuals with the highest vitamin D levels. Their report not only describes this relationship, but also points out that administration of vitamin D prevents the development of MS. in experimental animal models. And in addition to having antioxidant activity, the report points out that vitamin D is a potent modulator of the immune system which has implications for other immune related diseases. As the authors state, Vitamin D supplementation in infancy seems to exert a strong protective effect against the autoimmune disease type 1 diabetes and vitamin D levels in early childhood could also have an impact on the risk of MS.
We now must look upon vitamin D as having a far greater role in maintaining health than simply keeping our bones strong. And the need for D starts in infancy as I describe in my book, Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten.
Thursday, July 12th, 2007 : Multiple Sclerosis, Nutritional Supplements : 7 Comments
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7 Responses to “Vitamin D and Multiple Sclerosis”
July 13th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
MS is the tip of the iceberg on the power of vitamin D. I have a bibliography of 500 papers on vitamin D and cancer risk that I would be happy to send you.
I came into contact with D. Harman in 1997 with my pioneering work on diet and risk of Alzheimer’s disease. I’m still working on the topic.
July 14th, 2007 at 3:49 am
After reading various articles on vitamin d council and articles posted at my compunding pharmacy thecompounder.com i upped my vitamin d to 4000mg pd I find it helpful for inflammation tightness/spasticity (not that anyone had mentioned that) Do you suggest in your ms protocol ? Do you use it iv ever? Have you had any experience or opinions on ldn usage Thanks
July 14th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Yes indeed, vitamin D is part of our MS protocol, and has been for years. I have used LDN (low dose naltrexone) but am not totally convinced of its efficacy.
July 15th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
How much vit D do you normally suggest to your MS pts who get very little sun? Thanks!
July 16th, 2007 at 5:16 am
We use at least 1200 units in our patients.
August 7th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Although Barbara said she takes 4000mg pd she means 4000iu/d
1000iu= 25mcg
so 1mg= 1000mcg=40,000iu (prolonged use at this level causes hypercalcemia and other adverse events)
So 4000mg would be toxic.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Norm Shealy has been recommending 50,000iu vitamin D for autoimmune disorders. It’s very high. I would dismiss it except Dr Shealy is a highly respected open minded alternative therapist. One concern is upsetting calcium metabolism with ensuing osteoporosis. Do you have any thoughts on his suggestions?
Thanks,
Alan