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Scottish Vitamin D Summit Captures International Attention

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Scottish Vitamin D Summit Captures International Attention

For immediate release : July 21st 2010

Shine on Scotland campaigners and the MS Society Scotland held productive talks with the Scottish Government yesterday as planning continues for the Scottish Summit on Vitamin D and MS which will take place in Glasgow in September.

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon will open the event at which international researchers and scientists will be present to discuss the latest research on vitamin D and the implications for public health policy in Scotland.

In recent weeks more researchers from as far afield as Australia have confirmed their attendance at the summit.  International media organisations have also expressed an interest in the event which looks set to be high profile.

Looking ahead to September, Ryan McLaughlin said:

“It’s incredibly exciting that it’s now so close.  A lot of work has gone into the campaign and hopefully this summit will make a real difference.  The Scottish Government and Parliament have been very supportive of the campaign and it’s great to have reached this stage”.

Craig Wilkie, Head of Policy and Communications at MS Society Scotland also attended the meeting at St Andrews House:

“The Summit is a great opportunity to bring internationally renowned researchers to Scotland to discuss a hugely important public health issue.  The focus will be a practical one in terms of public health policy and we have the chance to learn lessons from other countries and make a significant contribution to the health of the nation”.

Hypovitaminosis D – one of the MS risk factors?

Thursday, July 15th, 2010 | Tags: , , , ,
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The role of hypovitaminosis D as a possible risk factor for multiple sclerosis is reviewed.

First, it is emphasized that hypovitaminosis D could be only one of the risk factors for multiple sclerosis and that numerous other environmental and genetic risk factors appear to interact and combine to trigger the disease.

Secondly, the classical physiological notions about vitamin D have recently been challenged and the main new findings are summarized.
This vitamin could have an important immunological role involving a number of organs and pathologies, including autoimmune diseases and multiple sclerosis. Furthermore, human requirements for this vitamin are much higher than previously thought, and in medium- or high-latitude countries, they might not be met in the majority of the general population due to a lack of sunshine and an increasingly urbanized lifestyle. Thereafter, the different types of studies that have helped to implicate hypovitaminosis D as a risk factor for multiple sclerosis are reviewed.

In experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, vitamin D has been shown to play a significant immunological role.

Diverse epidemiological studies suggest that a direct chain of causality exists in the general population between latitude, exposure to the sun, vitamin D status and the risk of multiple sclerosis. New epidemiological analyses from France support the existence of this chain of links.

Recently reported immunological findings in patients with multiple sclerosis have consistently shown that vitamin D significantly influences regulatory T lymphocyte cells, whose role is well known in the pathogenesis of the disease.

Lastly, in a number of studies on serum levels of vitamin D in multiple sclerosis, an insufficiency was observed in the great majority of patients, including at the earliest stages of the disease.
The questionable specificity and significance of such results is detailed here.

Based on a final global analysis of the cumulative significance of these different types of findings, it would appear likely that hypovitaminosis D is one of the risk factors for multiple sclerosis.

Charles Pierrot-Deseilligny1 and Jean-Claude Souberbielle2

1 Service de Neurologie 1, Hoˆ pital de la Salpeˆ trie` re, Assistance Publique Hoˆ pitaux de Paris, Universite´ Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI), Paris, France
2 Service d’explorations fonctionnelles, Hoˆ pital Necker-Enfants-Malades, Assistance Publique Hoˆ pitaux de Paris, Universite´ Rene´ Descartes (Paris V),
Paris, France

Source: Brain © The Author (2010). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain.(12/07/10)

A dose of Midday sun can be good for you: Advice U-turn after years of telling us to cover up

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , ,
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According to the old song, only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

Yet the latest thinking is that maybe everyone should give it a try.

After years of urging us to cover up, a leading charity is expected to recommend short spells exposed to the sun at its highest.

The advice, from Cancer Research UK, reflects concern that current sunbathing recommendations are unnecessarily restrictive and are leading to low levels of vitamin D.

Although the vitamin is found in some foods, most of that found in the body comes from sunlight exposure, and most of us just don’t have enough of it.

In England, half of the population is low in the ’sunshine vitamin’ when winter ends, while in Scotland the proportion is two thirds.

As part of its remit to prevent skin cancer, the charity advises trying to stay out of the sun when it is at its peak and cover the skin with clothing and generous amounts of sunscreen.

But a confidential statement being prepared by the charity acknowledges that the evidence about the benefits of vitamin D is growing.

The vitamin is vital for calcium absorption and bone health, and could help ward off Alzheimer’s.

Recent research has shown that vitamin D supplements are as good as some drugs at keeping prostate cancer under control – and it is said that taking supplements in pregnancy and childhood could wipe out 80 per cent of cases of multiple sclerosis.

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IOF releases new position statement on Vitamin D for older adults

Monday, July 5th, 2010 | Tags: , , ,
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IOF has released a new position statement on Vitamin D for older adults which makes important recommendations for vitamin D nutrition from an evidence-based perspective.

Vitamin D is important for bone and muscle development, function and preservation. For this reason it is a vital component in the maintenance of bone strength and in the prevention of falls and osteoporotic fractures.

The objective of this statement, published in the leading bone journal, Osteoporosis International (OI DOI 10 1007/s00198-010-1285-3), was to use and examine all available evidence to support new recommendations for optimal vitamin D status.

The best available clinical indicator of vitamin D status is serum 25OHD and vitamin D intake and effective sun exposure are the major determinants of this level. Serum 25OHD levels decline with ageing but the response to vitamin D3 supplementation is not affected by age or by usual calcium dietary intake.

Preventing vitamin D deficiency has a major impact on falls and osteoporotic fractures. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with decreased muscle strength in older men and women and supplementation improves lower limb strength and reduces risk of falling. Vitamin D affects fracture risk through its effect on bone metabolism and on falls risk.

Key recommendations:

  • The estimated average vitamin D requirement of older adults to reach a serum 25OHD level of 75 nmol/l (30ng/ml) is 20 to 25 µg/day (800 to 1000 IU/day).
  • Intakes may need to increase to as much as 50 µg(2000IU) per day in individuals who are obese, have osteoporosis, limited sun exposure (e.g. housebound or institutionalised), or have malabsorption.
  • For high risk individuals it is recommended to measure serum 25OHD levels and treat if deficient.

The lead author of the statement, Professor Bess Dawson-Hughes of Tufts University, US, stated that, “Global vitamin D status shows widespread insufficiency and deficiency. This high prevalence of suboptimal levels raises the possibility that many falls and fractures can be prevented with vitamin D supplementation. This is a relatively easy public health measure that could have significant positive effects on the incidence of osteoporotic fractures.”

Oliver Gillie: Time to abandon this outdated view on staying out of the sun

Monday, July 5th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Monday, 5 July 2010

Lack of sunshine and the vitamin that it makes in our skin is probably the most serious single cause of disease in the UK today.

Vitamin D deficiency is well known as the classic cause of rickets and serious bone diseases, but in the last 10 years it has also been identified as a major risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, infections, some cancers and other ills.

The cost of all this disease to the UK has been put at an astounding £27bn annually, which compares with only £5bn for the cost of disease caused by smoking.

Small amounts of vitamin D can be obtained from food but you can’t obtain more than about 10 per cent of the optimal amount this way unless you eat oily fish – skin and all – three times a day.

We depend on the sun for our vitamin D. Since our weather is so unreliable, British people suffer more than almost any other from vitamin D deficiency.

Many years of bad advice has also been a factor.

The British Isles are located far north so the winter sun is not strong enough to make any vitamin D. The prevailing westerly wind bringing cloud in from the Atlantic is also against us. The Scots are worst off because there is nothing to the west to protect them. Their vitamin D levels are lower and they have the highest incidence of multiple sclerosis in the world.

Scientists studying MS now believe that it may be prevented if women take vitamin D in pregnancy and children take regular supplements. Another devastating disease, diabetes type 1 – affecting mostly children who must inject themselves with insulin – could be prevented by the same vitamin D supplements.

Indeed it is possible that these two diseases could now be eradicated if Government had the will.

However a recommendation that pregnant women take vitamin D has been ignored over many years by obstetricians.

Standard advice is that babies are not given vitamin D until they are six months old. Nobody any longer remembers the reason for this, which is implemented nowhere else.

Everybody thinks that breast milk is a complete food – and so it might be if mothers sunbathed as often as they can. As it is, breast milk in the UK is deficient in vitamin D while artificial milk is supplemented.

This need not be a problem if mothers give vitamin D drops to their babies. Melanoma, the worst form of skin cancer, has dramatically increased during some 20 years of advice to avoid the sun and use suncream. This is quite possibly because the advice has been wrong. Suncream blocks the action of UVB (shortwave ultraviolet radiation from the sun) – so blocking synthesis of vitamin D with loss of protection against cancer – while UVA (longwave radiation), which seems to carry the main risk of melanoma, is not blocked by many creams.

We could do much, much more. The Irish Republic has already fortified semi-skimmed milk with vitamin D, Finland has fortified milk and Israel is making milk fortification mandatory. Jordan is bringing in fortification of bread.

The UK the Food Standards Agency has hummed and hawed. The United States has had fortification for 80 years. What are the English and Scots waiting for?

The one simple action open to us all is to sunbathe, carefully without burning. The sun is natural, free, and safe if you are sensible. It’s also good to take a vitamin D supplement of at least 1000 to 2000 IUs [international units of measurement] per day.

The author is a health writer and vitamin D campaigner.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/oliver-gillie-time-to-abandon-this-outdated-view-on-staying-out-of-the-sun-2018389.html

Pregnant women ‘must take vitamin D supplements’

Sunday, July 4th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , ,
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By Caroline Parkinson
Health reporter, BBC News

Pregnant women in the UK should be told to routinely take vitamin D supplements, researchers say.

The team at University College London Institute of Child Health says official bodies currently offer conflicting advice.

Writing in the British Journal of Nutrition, they say there is a “strong case” for a daily dose of vitamin D in pregnancy.

But one leading expert said more evidence was needed.

The Department of Health advises pregnant women to ensure they receive a certain level of vitamin D – 10 micrograms per day. The researchers say this in effect endorses use of supplements, because diet and the sun provide too little.

But the National Institute of health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said in its guidance that it did not support supplements.

It has instead said that women should simply “be informed” about the importance of having adequate vitamin D levels during their pregnancy and while breastfeeding – adding that some women may choose to do this via supplements.

Additionally, pregnant women on low incomes are entitled to a range of nutrients – including vitamin D – as part of the Healthy Start Scheme.

‘Unacceptably high’

The paper said the UK was the only one of 31 countries examined which did not recommend that women of reproductive age took a vitamin D supplement, and that it also fails to endorse a daily supplement for expectant mothers.

Dr Elina Hypponen, co-author of the paper, said: “The incidence of vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women in Britain is unacceptably high, especially during winter and spring.

“This is compounded by a lack of exposure to sunlight and the limitations of an average diet to meet the optimal need.

“In the most severe cases, maternal vitamin D deficiency can be life threatening to a newborn.

“We believe that the routine provision of a daily supplement throughout pregnancy would significantly decrease the number of mothers who are clearly vitamin D deficient, reducing related serious risks to their babies.”

Dr Hypponen said past evidence showed a proactive approach to supplements coincided with a much lower incidence of deficiency linked diseases such as infantile hypocalcaemia [also known as William's syndrome, which affects development], and rickets [which weakens bones].

One in four

The authors say women from some ethnic minorities are recognised to be at greater risk because their darker skin means they do not absorb as much sunlight.

But they add that the problem is also common among white women, even when they live in southern England.

Women are more likely to be vitamin D deficient than men, and a previous study found one in four pregnant mothers has been found to be vitamin D deficient during winter and spring

The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommends only women at risk of vitamin D deficiency should take a supplement.

Patrick O’Brien, a spokesman for the college, said: “There is gradually accumulating evidence that universal vitamin D supplementation in the UK might be beneficial for the whole population.

“But more research is needed on the balance of risks and benefits in women at low risk of vitamin D deficiency, and on the correct dosage to use.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/10486310.stm

MS campaigner concerned on safe sun advice

Sunday, July 4th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Ryan McLaughlin from the Shine on Scotland campaign is growing concerned about the mixed bag of advice given on sun exposure and the message being given to parents on a childs ’safe sun exposure’ by groups who are giving poor advice to parents and advising parents to ‘ lotion children up before going out ‘

In a recent message Ryan heard on the radio the message advised all parents to cover children totally up and to put on sunscreen some 20 mins before going outdoors and to adopt it as common routine –  it was then backed up by a Politician.

Now 15 yr old campaigner will work gain a general consensus from all groups concerned to issue a common ’safe sun message’ across the UK over the coming months that looks after children’s health.

Statement by Ryan Mclaughlin:

” All children need  a little sun exposure to get essential vitamin D and need to get our levels built up – even in summer months , vitamin D deficency is a major health issue across the UK and Vitamin D is needed for our future health, we simply cant ignore this problem any longer ”

Worried parents no longer know what to do and what is safe and what is not.

“The current advice being given on ’safe sun exposure’ is being exploited, parents are being told constantly by influential groups to cover children up with sunscreen and so children are robbed of essential sun exposure and vitamin D.

Children are not supposed to live in the dark so to speak and a little sun exposure is very good for us, we children need some sunlight we cant grow properly without it .

The current advice being given out is extremely worrying and the message to parents is being exploited by the sunscreen industry.

Ryan confirms new PM has received his message

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Ryan Mclaughlin confirms Prime Minister David Cameron has received his message.

Ryan Mclaughlin would like to confirm that he has received a personal letter from the UK Prime Minister and has since written back urging him for a meeting to discuss an immediate action plan for the future of each and every childs health in the UK.

15 yr old Ryan Mclaughlin has personally written to the PM in response to the letters received from the campaigners numerous calls for national action to be taken by the NHS to tackle vitamin D deficiency across the UK and the financial impact on our NHS and the savings that it could bring.

A recent scientific review said that a European wide supplementation program of vitamin D such as Ryan has already proposed in Scotland could save Europe £165 billion a year , schoolboy Ryan Mclaughlin pleads with our UK politicians to do it quickly for our children health and not for just financial reasons.

Watch this space for further updates

Vitamin D deficiency cases in Scotland quadruple in seven years

Friday, July 2nd, 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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THE number of Scots children being treated for vitamin D deficiency complaints such as rickets has almost quadrupled in seven years.

And it’s not just poor children who are suffering – there are cases from middle class families, too.

The shock findings come in a study at Glasgow’s Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Yorkhill.

It found 160 youngsters were admitted with vitamin D deficiency between 2002 and 2008.

A total of 42 cases were reported in 2008, compared to just 11 in 2002.

The researchers warned serious vitamin D deficiency in children is on the increase, leading to fractures and fits as well as bowed legs.

They say the figures are likely to be an underestimate of the true scale of the problem, which is present “across the community”.

Faisal Ahmed, lead author of the study, said the rise could be partly due to greater awareness of vitamin D deficiency.

The professor of developmental endocrinology at Glasgow University added: “The bottom line is we are seeing a lot of cases and it is most likely that these are not all the cases.”

The children were aged between two weeks to 14 years old and had bowed legs, fractures, limb pain, fits and even heart problems.

The majority of the children were admitted between the months of March and August and were from South Asian, Middle Eastern or sub-Saharan Africa ethnic backgrounds.

Professor Ahmed said there were “quite a lot” of Scots deficient in vitamin D, which is mainly created by the action of sunlight on the skin.

One plan would see vitamin D tablets handed out to families.

source

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/health-news/2010/07/02/vitamin-d-deficiency-cases-in-scotland-quadruple-in-seven-years-86908-22376764/

Researchers endorse, modify vitamin D theory of autism

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in External News Articles

24 June 2010

A Scientific American article asks, “What if Vitamin D Deficiency is a Cause of Autism?” How could vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy cause autism, a genetic disease? Indeed, five researchers at Harvard, led by Dr. Dennis Kinney, recently endorsed and then modified the vitamin D theory of autism.

Very recently, Dr. Darryl Eyles, of the University of Queensland, added his name to growing list of scientists who agree that vitamin D deficiency plays an important role in autism. Writing in Acta Paediatrica, arguably the most read pediatric journal in the world, Dr. Eyles praised the vitamin D theory of autism as being “parsimonious,” with the animal studies he has conducted over the last decade.

For the last 15 years, geneticists have tried and failed to find a common structural genetic abnormality in autism. What they have found is evidence of genetic damage; the genetic code is not properly regulated in autism, with multiple genes not being expressed, probably due to an environmental injury. As Dr. Kinney reports, vitamin D’s mechanism of action is protection of the genome with direct regulation more than 1,000 human genes.

If the gestational and early childhood vitamin D deficiency theory of autism is true, the tragedy is more poignant in that physicians could prevent the disease with adequate daily doses of vitamin D during pregnancy and early childhood. Just as important, vitamin D’s mechanism of action implies a treatment effect in autistic children.

This month, Acta Paediatrica, published yet another article on vitamin D and autism. This paper is open access; the pdf is free to download. In the paper, Dr. Cannell reviews the evidence of vitamin D’s involvement in autism, including evidence published after his original 2007 paper.

SOURCE Vitamin D Council

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