Marc Joseph Nutrition - Blog

In a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that Caucasians with the highest vitamin D levels (25-hydroxyvitamin D > 99.1 nmol/L) had a 62% lower risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) than those people with the lowest vitamin D levels (< 66.3 nmol/L). The inverse relationship between MS and vitamin D level was especially strong for people younger than 20 years.

This study adds to a fairly substantial body of earlier research that suggests vitamin D may play an important role in MS. Here’s a good overview article on the topic, as well as a map showing how MS cases seem to vary by latitude.

I’ve posted several times in the past about the importance of vitamin D in helping to prevent the development of various conditions:

• Epidemic Influenza and Vitamin D
• Vitamin D Deficiency Increases Risk of Nursing Home Admission
• Vitamin D Could Reduce Pancreatic Cancer Risk
• Vitamin D Deficiency During Pregnancy

Making sure that your vitamin D levels (25-hydroxyvitamin D) are at least in the high end of the normal range (45-50 ng/mL or 112-125 nmol/L) year-round is a smart step for ensuring better health.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 20th, 2006 at 9:39 pm and is filed under Neurologic Disorders - Other, Vitamins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.