The research, led by Harvard School of Public Health investigators collaborating with Bayer HealthCare, suggests patients in the early stages of MS could stave off disease symptoms by increasing vitamin D intake. According to estimates from the World Health Organization, about 2.5 million people worldwide have MS.
“Because low vitamin D levels are common and can be easily and safely increased by oral supplementation, these findings may contribute to better outcomes for many MS patients,” lead author Alberto Ascherio, MD, DrPH, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at HSPH, said in a news release.
Past research showed a connection between low levels of vitamin D and risk of developing MS or having MS symptoms worsen, but those studies included patients with long-standing MS whose vitamin D levels partly could be a consequence, not a predictor, of disease severity, according to the researchers. The new study, which was published Jan. 20 on the website of JAMA Neurology, looked at vitamin D levels among patients at the time they first experienced disease symptoms.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from 465 patients with multiple sclerosis from 18 European countries, Israel and Canada. These patients all had enrolled in 2002 and 2003 for the Betaferon/Betaseron in Newly Emerging Multiple Sclerosis for Initial Treatment trial, which was designed to compare the effectiveness of early versus late interferon beta-1b in treating the disease.
For the new study, scientists looked at how the patients’ vitamin D levels — which were measured at the onset of their symptoms and at regular intervals during a 24-month period — correlated with their disease symptoms and progression during a five-year period.
They found early-stage patients with MS who had adequate levels of vitamin D had a 57% lower rate of new brain lesions, a 57% lower relapse rate, and a 25% lower yearly increase in lesion volume than those with lower levels of vitamin D. Loss in brain volume, which is an important predictor of disability, also was lower among patients with adequate vitamin D levels. The results suggest vitamin D has a strong protective effect on the disease process underlying MS, the researchers said.
“The benefits of vitamin D appeared to be additive to those of interferon beta-1b, a drug that is very effective in reducing MS activity,” Ascherio said in the release. “The findings of our study indicate that identifying and correcting vitamin D insufficiency should become part of the standard of care for newly diagnosed MS patients.”
Abstract: http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1815002
(Source: news.todayinot.com)
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