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Call for vitamin D programme to help fight MS

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 | Tags: breaking news, fortified milk, Holyrood, MS, MS Society Scotland, Multiple Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis Campaign, nhs scotland, Ryan McLaughlin, Scottish government, scottish news, Scottish Parliament, Shine on Scotland, The Times Online, uk news, us and world news, Vitamin D, vitamin d campaign, Vitamin D deficiency
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ryantimesonline Scientists studying the high incidence of multiple sclerosis in Scotland have urged the Holyrood Government to introduce a nationwide programme of vitamin D supplements for pregnant women and children to help combat the disease.

Under the heading Vitamin D: hope on the horizon for MS prevention? the June issue of The Lancet Neurology insists the benefits of supplementation outweigh any potential side effects and concludes “given the low costs, low toxicity … steps to tackle vitamin D deficiency in high-risk populations seem warranted.”

Vitamin D is sometimes known as the “sunshine drug”. The new research specifically identifies Scotland among a number of high-latitude countries — with long, dark winters — that have a higher than average incidence of MS. Around 10,500 people in Scotland have the disease which is the country’s most common disabling neurological condition, typically affecting sufferers from their late 20s and 30s.

The Lancet’s intervention follows a succession of studies which have demonstrated the link between Vitamin D deficiency and a number of health conditions, including rickets, type 1 (or early onset) diabetes, heart disease, infectious diseases and some forms of cancer.

The authors of the report concede that the link between Vitamin D deficiency and MS is not definitively proved, but add that assembling data on MS prevention could take decades. They argue that dietary supplement were likely to provide wider health benefits that would quickly result in a reduction in government health spending.

Welcoming the findings, David McNiven of the MS Society Scotland said his organisation would continue to support the Shine on Scotland campaign, lobbying for Vitamin D Supplements.

“The Lancet article is very encouraging because it endorses the arguments that we have been making: that vitamin D supplementation represents a low-cost, low-risk public health intervention with potentially massive benefits,” said Mr McNiven.

The new research leaves little doubt of the wider benefits of supplementation. The authors write: “If the predicted effects of raising serum vitamin D concentrations … are realised, the potential savings have been estimated to be £160 billion from the direct and indirect burden of the disease, set against an expenditure of £8.5 billion on testing and public education.”

The paper concludes: “Because any benefits for MS in particular will take decades to emerge, a long-term outlook is needed from policymakers, but future health and financial benefits have the potential to make this investment highly rewarding.”

Last year, researchers in North America suggested that high doses of vitamin D could dramatically cut the relapse rate in people with multiple sclerosis. According to scientists in Canada, more than a third of sufferers taking high levels of supplementation did not fall ill during the period of the trial, representing a marked change in the pattern of their disease.

Like Scotland, Canada has a high rate of MS and there is growing evidence that this is connected to a cloudy climate, where weaker ultraviolet B rays during the winter months are insufficient for people to produce enough Vitamin D.

Neurologists at the University of Toronto, studied 25 people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. During the year of treatment 40 per cent of patients on the low dose of vitamin D (1,000 international units daily) experienced a relapse compared to only 16 per cent of those in the high dose (14,000 IU daily) group.

People taking the high dose of vitamin D suffered 41 per cent fewer relapses than the year before the study began, compared with 17 per cent of those taking typical doses. Dr Burton found that those taking high doses of vitamin D did not suffer any significant side effects.

The MS Society Scotland has organised an international summit in September, where the link between vitamin D deficiency and the disease will be discussed. They hope to persuade Scottish ministers to take action on vitamin D as a pressing public health issue.

article published by The Times

UK Milk Has No Effect On Vitamin D Levels

Sunday, February 14th, 2010 | Tags: dept of health, drinking milk, fortified milk, MS, MS Society Scotland, Multiple Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis Campaign, nhs scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, Oliver Gillie, oxford university, petitions committee, Ryan McLaughlin, Scottish Parliament, Shine on Scotland, The Times Online, uk, Vitamin D, vitamin d campaign, vitamin d levels
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Recent media reports have covered research announced ahead of the American Academy of Neurology’s (AAN) Annual Meeting in April which suggested that milk during pregnancy may lower a baby’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life.

The theory from the researchers in Boston, announced in an AAN press release, was based on a survey of American mothers.

It was claimed that MS risk was lower among women born to mothers with high milk or dietary vitamin D intake in pregnancy.

Unfortunately UK media reports focussed on the milk link ; however it is in fact the case that there are only trace elements of vitamin D in milk consumed in this country.

Unlike America, most of Britain’s milk is not fortified with vitamin D and so whatever quantity of milk is ingested, vitamin D levels in the body are likely to remain unaffected.

MS Society Scotland and 14 year old Ryan Mclaughlin announced last week that Scotland will host a international conference on April 27 to discuss the role of vitamin D. The event, to take place in Glasgow, will be opened by Nicola Sturgeon, the Health Secretary. Leading researchers into links between vitamin D deficiency and multiple sclerosis are expected to attend.

Source
Multiple Scleroris Society

Schoolboy’s petition prompts move on MS link to vitamin D

Saturday, February 13th, 2010 | Tags: anniesland, Bill Butler MSP, child of the year award, Deputy First Minister, drumchapel, fortified milk, glasgow, JK Rowling, kirsten mclaughlin, ms society, MS Society Scotland, msp, Multiple Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis Campaign, Nicola Sturgeon, oxford university, petitions committee, prof george ebers, Ryan McLaughlin, Scottish Parliament, Shine on Scotland, The Times Online, Vitamin D, vitamin d campaign, vitamins
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An international conference is to be held in Scotland to discuss the health effects of vitamin D — thanks to the efforts of a 14-year-old schoolboy.

Ryan McLaughlin, from Glasgow, petitioned the Scottish Parliament questioning possible links between vitamin D and multiple sclerosis after discovering that the disease — from which his mother suffers — could be prevalent in Scotland because of vitamin D deficiency caused by a lack of sunlight.

The petition called on ministers to produce guidelines on vitamin D supplements for children and pregnant women, and launch an awareness campaign. As a result of his efforts, the Scottish government recognised “an urgent need” to provide information to health professionals and mothers, and is to launch a campaign.

Ministers also agreed to host a conference on April 27 to discuss the role of vitamin D. The event, to take place in Glasgow, will be opened by Nicola Sturgeon, the Health Secretary. Leading researchers into links between vitamin D deficiency and multiple sclerosis are expected to attend.

Yesterday, as the Public Petitions Committee agreed to close Ryan’s petition, members congratulated him for his achievement. Bill Butler, Ryan’s local MSP, hailed the schoolboy’s effort, saying that “a very great deal of progress” had been made.

The Glasgow Anniesland representative praised the way “Ryan and the McLaughlin family have persuaded the government; and the government has listened to the very sensible suggestions contained in the petition.

“The government has agreed to a co-ordinated programme of action with NHS Scotland to produce guidance on vitamin D, to educate women on its importance, to consider different messages for different groups of people, and to ensure that health professionals are giving correct and consistent advice to pregnant women and new mothers. Not only should the McLaughlin family be congratulated, but also the government for listening.”

He described that as a significant success. An image of Ryan is now featured on promotional literature for the petitions committee. Speaking about the campaign, Ryan said: “After an amazing year in raising both vitamin D and MS awareness, I now have the commitments that I wanted from the Scottish government.

“I applaud the positive action taken by the Scottish government and the support from Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Shona Robison, Health and Sports Minister.”

A spokeswoman for the Scottish government said: “We’re keen to learn all we can about any possible links between vitamin D and multiple sclerosis and are keeping a very close eye on all the emerging evidence.”

• Breast cancer is diagnosed more often in the spring and autumn, and less often in the summer, leading researchers to suggest that its season-ality may be connected to vitamin D deficiency. Researchers at the University of South Carolina, who examined 2,921,714 breast cancer cases, also found that the seasonality was increasingly prominent the further away from the equator that the women lived. This implies that lack of sunshine, and therefore vitamin D, was a factor.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article7021318.ece

Should we all be taking vitamin D?

Monday, February 1st, 2010 | Tags: Alzheimer's, cancer research uk, colon cancer, Deputy First Minister, diabets, fortified bread, fortified milk, JK Rowling, kirsten mclaughlin, lung disease, MS Society Scotland, Multiple Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis Campaign, Nicola Sturgeon, Oliver Gillie, petitions committee, rheumatoid arthritis, rickets, Ryan McLaughlin, scotland, Scottish Parliament, Shine on Scotland, The Times Online, Vitamin D, vitamin d campaign, vitamins
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Dr Mark Porter: Should we all be taking vitamin D?

From The Times

February 1, 2010

New research showing that vitamin D may protect against cancer of the colon is the latest in a long line of studies suggesting that there is far more to this vitamin than its traditional role in helping to maintain healthy bones. And although this new study involved more than 500,000 people from ten different European countries, it is pertinent to the UK because so many of us have low levels of vitamin D — especially at this time of year.

So should more of us be considering supplements?

Vitamin D is required to help the body make proper use of calcium — the basic building block of bones — which is why interest in it has traditionally centred on rickets, a condition that results from severe deficiency. But we now understand that it does far more than maintain the skeleton, and that milder degrees of deficiency may predispose to a range of other illnesses including diabetes, lung disease, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis, various cancers, and even Alzheimer’s disease.

The vitamin is manufactured in the skin when we’re exposed to sunlight but our northern latitude and short summers mean that for six months of the year UV levels are so low that most of us don’t make enough of the vitamin to meet basic requirements.

The problem is compounded by the use of sunscreens, which further reduce natural UV exposure during the summer months when vitamin D stores are replenished, and the popularity of supplements containing vitamin A (it is thought that as many as 1 in 5 of the population take one), which antagonise some of the D’s actions.

As well as manufacturing the vitamin in our skin, we also take it in from our diet. It occurs naturally in oily fish, such as tuna and herring, and liver, milk and eggs. In most industrialised countries it is added to margarine, some powdered milks, bread and breakfast cereals.

The scale of the potential problem is nicely outlined by researchers from the University of Sheffield, who looked at vitamin D levels in the cord blood of babies born at the hospital at the end of spring — the time when their mothers’ vitamin D stores were likely to be at their lowest. Seven out of ten of the babies had lower than ideal levels of vitamin D, 90 per cent of whom were white, dispelling the myth that deficiency is principally a problem in ethnic minorities with darker skin (the extra pigment reduces UV penetration even further).

Meanwhile in Finland researchers tracking a group of people born in the Sixties turned up evidence suggesting a link between low levels of vitamin D and Type 1 diabetes later in life. Children brought up in the gloomy winters of Finland are more than a hundred times more likely to develop the condition than their peers in sunny Venezuela. Since then UK research has shown that children given vitamin D supplements are around a third less likely to develop diabetes.

Vitamin D is a steroid and there are receptors on almost every cell in the body. Its link with diabetes could be explained by an action on receptors in the pancreas and on the various cells in the immune system, but there are similar vitamin D specific targets in almost every other organ, including the brain, heart, muscles, kidneys and, of course, the skeleton. Little wonder then that there is growing interest in the role of the vitamin in diseases, ranging from MS to Alzheimer’s.

Should we all be taking a supplement? It’s too early to tell whether mass supplementation is the way forward, but it is now widely agreed that the following key groups are those most likely to benefit:

Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
Children under 5 (particularly breastfed infants)
The over-fifties
Vegetarians who don’t eat oily fish
Anyone who is housebound or who covers up when outside
Those who are dark-skinned — particularly Asians.

The standard dose for an adult is 10mcg day and trials looking at the safety of long-term supplementation have reported no adverse effects at intakes of more than double that. Much higher doses (50mcg a day or more) can weaken bones and increase the risk of calcium deposits (such as kidney stones) forming elsewhere.

During the summer most people will manufacture enough vitamin D by exposing their face and arms to the sun for an hour across the week. You don’t have to sunbathe, just accumulate around ten minutes of exposure while going about your normal business — assuming you are not wearing a sunscreen, or a moisturiser that contains one.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/expert_advice/article7008426.ece

Vitamin D can reduce number of falls and fractures in elderly

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 | Tags: Campaign, Deputy First Minister, Holyrood, MS Society Scotland, Multiple Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis Campaign, Nicola Sturgeon, Oliver Gillie, petitions committee, Ryan McLaughlin, Scottish Parliament, Shine on Scotland, The Times Online, Vitamin D, vitamin d campaign, vitamins
Posted in Uncategorized

Story by Melanie Reid

Elderly people who take a daily dose of vitamin D can boost their muscle strength and reduce the risk of falls by 19 per cent, according to a new study.

Researchers also found that a supplement of between 700 to 1,000 international units (IUs) a day can cut the risk of hip fracture by 18 per cent and other fractures by 20 per cent.

The study, by the Centre on Aging and Mobility at the University of Zurich and published in the British Medical Journal, comes as Bupa, the private health care provider, recommended for the first time that people should take a vitamin D supplement to reduce the risk of several cancers.

The benefits, which occur as a result of the vitamin’s positive effects on muscles, were significant within two to five months of starting supplementation and extended beyond 12 months of treatment.

Researchers said that one in three people aged over 65 fall each year. “Vitamin D has direct effects on muscle strength modulated by specific vitamin D receptors present in human muscle tissue,” the study said.

“In several trials of older individuals at risk for vitamin D deficiency, vitamin D supplementation improved strength, function and balance in a dose-related pattern. Most importantly, these benefits translated into a reduction in falls. An important risk factor for falls is muscle weakness, which is a prominent feature of the clinical syndrome of vitamin D deficiency and could plausibly mediate fracture risk through increasing susceptibility to falls.”

The Times, which has highlighted the links between high levels of vitamin D deficiency in Scotland and poor health — due to low levels of sunshine — has collated other new research which points to the vitamin’s positive role with regard to falls and fractures.

A five-month trial at the Institute for Aging Research in Boston, the United States, found that nursing home residents who took at least 800 IUs of vitamin D a day were 72 per cent less likely to fall than those taking a placebo.

The researchers concluded that adequate supplementation could reduce the number of falls experienced by this high-risk group.

Other research in Boston found that elderly patients with hip fractures who were given 2,000 IUs of vitamin D experienced 60 per cent fewer complications and 90 per cent fewer infections than hip fracture patients who received a placebo in a double blind randomised trial. They were also 40 per cent less likely to be readmitted to hospital, according to research by Beth Dawson-Hughes of Tufts University, Boston.

Although the amount of vitamin D that needs to be taken to be effective remains a matter of debate, Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, director of the centre in Zurich, suggested that the best results were found in people who took between 1,800 and 4,000 IUs a day.

In its newly issued advice, Bupa recommended taking 1,500 to 2,000 IUs per day.

The research was published as the Scottish government responds to evidence surrounding vitamin D deficiency. NHS Health Scotland has announced that there is “an urgent need” to provide information to all health professionals who work with pregnant women and young children about current guidance on vitamin D supplementation.

The study results are also a victory for Ryan McLaughlin, 14, from Glasgow, whose mother suffers from multiple sclerosis. Ryan, who started the campaign “Sunshine on Scotland”, has petitioned the Scottish Parliament over the need to raise awareness of the dangers of vitamin D deficiency.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6969046.ece

Israel – All 3% milk to be fortified with Vitamin D

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 | Tags: canada, Daily Record, Deputy First Minister, fortified milk, Israel, jerusalem, JK Rowling, MS, MS Society Scotland, Multiple Sclerosis Campaign, Nicola Sturgeon, Oliver Gillie, Ryan McLaughlin, school milk fortification, school milk programme, scotland, Scottish Parliament, Shine on Scotland, The Times Online, Vitamin D, vitamin d campaign
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New Health Ministry nutrition dept. head Dr. Ziva Stahl.

Photo: Judy Siegel-itzkovich

In a few months, dairies will be required to fortify 3%-fat Milk and vitamin D - which has been scientifically proven to reduce the risk of a wide variety of diseases from osteoporosis to ovarian cancer and dementia – at no extra cost to the consumer, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

The Health Ministry has finally taken action through an official standard formilk that will insert the vital but very cheap vitamin into bags, cartons and glass bottles of 3% milk, which is the most widely consumed. At present, only 1% fat milk has to be fortified withvitamin D.

Milk has been fortified for decades in the US and many other countries.

The dairy companies have long opposed forced fortification of 3% milkbecause they market “specialty” milks with vitamin D plus calcium – for which they can charge more, since these products are not subject to government price controls.

Forcing them to add the vitamin while charging the same price will cause them to lose income.

However, Health Ministry Nutrition Department head Dr. Ziva Stahl said that forcing dairy companies to fortify all their products – including soft white cheeses and yogurts – with the vitamin is quite a way off, as this will require a different standard.

The companies oppose adding vitamin D to cheeses and yogurts even more than to ordinary milk because it would require some complicated technological changes that will add to their costs, said Stahl, who is a clinical dietitian.

Doctors and other experts have long thought that Israelis, living in a country that is sunny almost all year, would have no shortage of vitamin D, as the sun’s ultraviolet rays induce cells in the skin to produce it.

But recent screening of blood by Maccabi Health Services has found this to be mostly untrue. The vast majority of blood tested for medical reasons was screened by the health fund for a few weeks and found to be deficient in vitamin D.

Nowadays Israelis are more likely to keep out of the sun and use sunscreen to reduce the risk of skin cancer; moreover, the observant of all religions dress modestly the year, while children tend to stay indoors in front of their computer or TV screens rather than play outside, thus reducing their exposure to sunlight.

The health funds do not check blood for vitamin D unless doctors specifically request it.

Stahl said the ministry, which recommends that all women of childbearing age take folic acid pills to minimize the risk of having infants with neural-tube disorders, is also considering the possibility of adding folic acid to all flour used in Israel.

Story by the Jerusalem post

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1261364529466&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Vitamin D might be just as important as vaccine to prevent effects of H1N1 swine flu, say researchers

Thursday, November 26th, 2009 | Tags: Campaign, canada, child of the year award, Daily Record, H1N1, JK Rowling, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis Campaign, petitions committee, Ryan McLaughlin, scotland, Shine on Scotland, swine flu, The Times Online, Toronto, Vitamin D, vitamins
Posted in Uncategorized

TORONTO, Nov. 26

The world’s leading vitamin D experts say that raising your levels of “the sunshine vitamin” this winter might be the best way to help your body naturally raise its resistance to all forms of the flu virus – including the H1N1 swine flu virus.

That’s the message vitamin D advocate Dr. William Grant wants you to take to the bank.

“I’m a little hesitant to say it will reduce your risk of being infected, but it certainly will reduce your risk of dying from the complications, such as pneumonia, if you are infected,” says Grant, founder of the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center – a vitamin D research and advocacy group.

Grant is concerned that epidemic vitamin D deficiency in Canada — 97 percent of Canadians are vitamin D deficient in the winter due to Canada’s northerly latitudes and relatively weak sunlight 4-6 months of the year — means that Canadians could be more susceptible to flu virus in the winter.

Grant points to research suggesting:

    -  Higher vitamin D levels assist the body's innate immune system. Some
       studies suggest taking 2,000 IU of vitamin D/day will decrease your
       risk of seasonal flu.
    -  The groups most affected by the H1N1 swine flu virus have been those
       most likely to be vitamin D deficient: pregnant women, obese people,
       those with Type II diabetes and children with neurological disorders.
    -  Many of the deaths associated with the H1N1 virus have been pneumonia
       related, which means anything that would assist your body's innate
       immune system would make you less likely to be affected.

The worldwide vitamin D research community now recommends getting your vitamin D levels checked with a calcidiol test and maintaining vitamin D levels of 40-60 ng/ml.

 

November is Vitamin D Awareness Month in Canada.

The Times Covers Ryan’s Fight

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009 | Tags: MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Multiple Sclerosis Campaign, Ryan McLaughlin, Shine on Scotland, The Times Online, Vitamin D
Posted in External News Articles

The Times have today ran an article covering Ryan’s fight – read it here.

Schoolboy petitions MSP’s over vitamin D link to MS

kirsten-ryan-the-times A Times investigation into the links between vitamin D deficiency and multiple sclerosis led a 14-year-old boy whose mother has the disease to petition Holyrood to provide a vitamin supplement to all children and pregnant women.

Ryan McLaughlin, from Glasgow, decided he had to do something after he read an exclusive report in The Times showing there was a direct interaction between vitamin D and a common genetic variant, which increased the possibility of MS being inherited.

His mother, Kirsten, 34, became ill with MS three years ago and earlier this year Ryan underwent tests after he showed symptoms of the disease.

His campaign, Shine on Scotland, has started an e-petition and has already won the backing of J.K. Rowling. “I am really honoured to support Ryan in his fantastic campaign,” the author said. “Ryan’s mother has MS as did my own mother. I only wish I had the gumption at 14 to do what Ryan is doing and get such an important issue raised in the Parliament.”

In addition to asking the Scottish government to provide vitamin D for children and pregnant women — in pills or in fortified milk or bread — Shine on Scotland is seeking clarification on the recommended daily allowance of the vitamin and a campaign to inform the public about its benefits in relation to MS.

The Times revealed in February that scientists at Oxford University had found what appears to be a genetic vulnerability to MS, apparently initiated by a lack of vitamin D. The World Health Organisation said that vitamin D supplements should be tested in Scotland “sooner rather than later”.

Ryan, who like his mother is a Taekwondo champion, said: “If everyone supports us by signing the e-petition, I am confident that we can bring about real change for future generations and help to prevent thousands of new cases of MS.”

Ryan’s father, Alan, 34, said that the family had been planning to move to Australia when his wife fell ill. She suffered nine relapses in 13 months and at one point could barely walk. Emigration became impossible but while on a holiday to Australia, Mrs McLaughlin’s health improved in the sunshine.

The family read the report in The Times linking vitamin D deficiency to the high incidence of MS and contacted Professor George Ebers at the University of Oxford, who forwarded them his research findings. Mr McLaughlin said: “Ryan and I sat and studied it. At the time he was waiting for tests for MS, because he was having trouble with his eyes and with spasms.

“He’d been watching J. K. Rowling being interviewed about her mother and he said to me, ‘Dad, you know the line in the film Braveheart about how you have just one chance to make a difference — well, I want to do something about MS so that people in future don’t have to suffer like Mum does every day’.”

The family gathered support from various charities and four weeks ago began their campaign. Ryan, who was found to be clear of MS after an MRI scan, made a poignant YouTube video and the e-petition was started.

Ryan has received messages of support from Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Health Secretary, and Kathleen McDermott, the Bafta Award-winning actress.

On June 16, he will lead 500 children on a march to the Scottish Parliament to lodge his petition.

The Times Online « Shine on Scotland