Low Vitamin-D genes linked to MS




Vitamin D

  • Is important for healthy bones


But it is not clear if this relationship is causal – other factors might be at play.

To better understand the association, investigators at McGill University in Canada compared the prevalence of MS in a large group of Europeans with and without a genetic predisposition to low Vitamin D. This type of genetic variation is pretty random and so the assumption is that any link found should be trusted. The findings, published in the journal PLoS Medicine, indicated people with lower blood levels of a marker of Vitamin D, due to their genetic predisposition, were significantly more likely to have MS than individuals without these genes.

There are government guidelines around how much Vitamin D people should take, and taking too much can lead to side-effects. Please talk to your health professional for advice on Vitamin D.

Immunologist Prof Danny Altmann, from Imperial College London, said: “Vitamin D is relatively cheap, safe and many of us would be all the healthier if we could achieve the serum levels that our ancient ancestors presumably acquired when roaming outdoors in temperate climates, unclothed and eating a diverse diet including oily fish.

“While it may be too much to expect therapeutic Vitamin D to treat or reverse ongoing MS, this research will add to the weight of argument for routine Vitamin-D supplementation of foodstuffs as a broad, preventative, public health measure.”

The government is currently debating (LINK) whether to recommend that all people in the “not so sunny” UK consider taking extra Vitamin D.




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