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Member
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Maryland outside WASH DC
Posts: 258
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Maryland outside WASH DC
Posts: 258
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1000 IU Vit D3 positive effects for MSers
Here is one study done at Penn Stata Univ funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation which back in 2001 showed how Vit D3 supplements can help blood chemistry. This is from their public press release at that time.
jackD
Quote:
Study points to positive results from vitamin D supplements for MS sufferers
University Park, Pa. --- A small study conducted by researchers at Penn State
and Helen Hayes Hospital in New York has shown that a daily dose of vitamin D –
1000 IU or two and a half times the recommended dose for adults -- causes
changes in blood chemistry that indicate positive effects for multiple sclerosis
patients.
Dr. Margherita Cantorna, assistant professor of nutrition, says the study has
not been in progress long enough to observe changes in the clinical symptoms of
the disease in the patients who participated. However, blood samples drawn after
just 6 months of Vitamin D supplementation, show an increase in transforming
growth factor beta-1 (TGF-Beta) which is associated with the remission and
suppression of the immune response which produces symptoms in MS patients. In
addition, the researchers found a decrease in interleuken-2 which is associated
with the cells that induce MS.
Cantorna's student, Brett Mahon, a doctoral candidate in nutrition, detailed the
study results today (April 3) at the Experimental Biology 2001 conference in
Orlando, Fla. The paper, "Altered Cytokine Profile in Patients with Multiple
Sclerosis Following Vitamin D Supplementation," is co-authored by Dr. Felicia
Cosman, medical director, Clinical Research Center, S. A. Gordon and J. Cruz,
all of Helen Hayes Hospital, and Cantorna. Mahon is first author.
As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Cantorna and
others had shown, in experiments with mice, that vitamin D supplementation could
completely prevent the development of MS in susceptible animals. After Cantorna
joined the faculty at Penn State, she learned of Dr. Cosman's research program
which centers on investigating whether a low level vitamin D deficiency in MS
patients might account for the incidence of brittle bones.
Cantorna asked Cosman for blood samples from the participating patients to see
if the same changes she had observed in mice also occur in humans who receive
vitamin D supplementation. She found that the results were, in fact, similar at
the blood chemistry level. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which
the victim's own immune system attacks the spinal cord and brain. The disease
afflicts about 350,000 people in the United States alone and its cause is
thought to be a complex interaction of genetics and environmental forces that
are not completely understood.
Cantorna and others hypothesize that one crucial environmental factor involved
in the development of the disease is the amount of sunlight a person receives.
Exposure to sunlight catalyzes the production of vitamin D in the skin. In low
sunlight, the skin produces significantly less vitamin D.
In support of a connection among sunlight, vitamin D and multiple sclerosis,
Cantorna points out that the incidence of the disease is nearly zero near the
equator and increases with latitude in both hemispheres. In addition,
Switzerland has high MS rates at low altitudes and low MS rates at high
altitudes. Ultraviolet light is more intense at higher altitudes, resulting in
the skin manufacturing more vitamin D.
Other evidence of an MS/vitamin D link comes from Norway where MS rates are
higher inland than on the coast where larger quantities of fish are consumed
which are rich in vitamin D.
While Cantorna's research and MS's geographical distribution suggest a
connection between vitamin D and MS, she cautions that the vitamin's exact role
is still unclear.
"I think that if you are an MS patient, it would be best to continue to follow
your personal physician's advice," says the College of Health and Human
Development faculty member. Since vitamin D can be toxic in high doses, it would
not be a good idea to begin taking vitamin D pills available over-the-counter in
large amounts.
"On the other hand, since adequate amounts of vitamin D are difficult to get
from diet and because MS patients often have to stay out of the sun, you might
want to consider taking a vitamin D supplement at the current recommended daily
requirement level. There are potential benefits for bone health and for the
immune system as well."
The project was supported by two grants from the National Multiple Sclerosis
Foundation -- one to Cantorna and the other to Cosman.
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Last edited by Chemar; 06-20-2008 at 04:38 PM.
Reason: adding correct quote tags
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