MS is a progressive disorder that causes nerve damage and affects more women than men. The immune cells of the body attack the nervous system, causing inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. The disease is most common in northern Europe, the northern United States, southern Australia and New Zealand.
The triggers for the inflammation aren’t yet known with a virus or genetic effect, or a combination of those two factors, thought to be at fault. Research also suggests that environmental factors and geography may play a role in the development of the disease.
Researchers from Umea University in Sweden analysed almost 300,000 blood samples from 164,000 people collected prospectively and during pregnancy in northern Sweden since 1975. Their task was to measure vitamin D levels to calculate the risk of MS using matched logistic regression.
Their findings, published in the journal Neurology, found that vitamin D levels were associated with a lower risk of MS. These results, the researchers conclude, confirm that high levels of vitamin D in the blood before MS develops can reduce an individual’s risk of MS.
Vitamin D is known as the “sunshine” vitamin because most of the vitamin D we get is absorbed in the skin through sunlight. The decreasing levels of vitamin D in populations where MS is most prevalent would certainly seem to confirm the findings of the Swedish team that this particular vitamin is invaluable in helping keep MS at bay.
The symptoms of MS are particularly varied and can affect any part of the body because the nerves in the brain and spinal cord may be damaged.