If this is not your name, click here.
| | If this is not your name, click here. | | |
| | Contact Us | Order Now | Journals | Bookstore | Register a colleague | | |
| |  Low Vitamin D Levels Associated With Greater Risk of Relapse in Childhood-Onset Multiple Sclerosis SAN FRANCISCO -- January 22, 2010 -- Low vitamin D blood levels are associated with a significantly higher risk of relapse attacks in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who develop the disease during childhood, according to a study published online in the Annals of Neurology. “We have known for some time that vitamin D insufficiency is a risk factor for developing MS, but this is the first study to assess whether vitamin D levels influence the disease course of those who already have MS,” said lead author Ellen Mowry, MD, Multiple Sclerosis Center, at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), San Francisco, California. The study demonstrates that an increase in vitamin D levels by 10 nanograms per milliliter of blood (ng/mL) corresponds with a 34% decrease in the rate of subsequent relapses. In other words, raising the vitamin D level of a person with MS by 15 ng/mL, which requires about 2,000 international units of vitamin D supplementation a day, could theoretically cut a patient’s relapse rate in half, explained Dr. Mowry. “Although we do not yet know if vitamin D supplementation will be beneficial for MS patients, the fact that there is a clear association between vitamin D levels and relapse rate provides strong rationale for conducting a clinical trial to measure the potential impact of supplementation,” she said. “This is an exciting finding because it indicates that it is very possible for vitamin D supplementation to have a profound impact on the course of this disease,” said senior author Emmanuelle Waubant, MD, Regional Pediatric MS Center at UCSF Children’s Hospital. Dr. Waubant said she expects similar findings in adult patients with MS. For the study, the researchers measured vitamin D levels through blood samples from 110 patients whose MS symptoms began at age 18 or younger. The patients were seen at either UCSF Children’s Hospital or the State University of New York Stony Brook’s Regional Pediatric MS Center of Excellence in New York. After providing the initial blood sample, patients were followed for an average of 1.7 years, during which the researchers recorded the total number of relapses each patient experienced. During the follow-up period, the researchers assessed the patients’ relapse rates and vitamin D levels after controlling for such factors as age, gender, race, ethnicity, use of MS treatments, and the duration of follow-up care.
SOURCE: University of California at San Francisco
|
