J Photochem Photobiol B. Epub ahead of print)

Humble MB.

Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, St. Göran, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Vitamin D receptors and vitamin D metabolizing enzymes are present in the central nervous system. Calcitriol (the active vitamin D hormone) affects numerous neurotransmitters and neurotrophic factors, relevant for mental disorders. In the case of depressive disorders, considerable evidence supports a role of suboptimal vitamin D levels. However, the data are not conclusive and further studies are necessary. Especially, the relative importance of the pineal-melatonin system versus the vitamin D-endocrine system for the pathogenesis of seasonal affective disorders is presently unresolved. Two diagnoses, schizophrenia and autism, have been hypothetically linked to developmental (prenatal) vitamin D deficiency, however, also in adult patients, low levels have been reported, supporting the notion that vitamin D deficiency may not only be a predisposing developmental factor but also relate to the adult patients’ psychiatric state. Two cases are described, whose psychiatric improvement coincided with effective treatment of vitamin D deficiency.

PMID: 20800506 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20800506

The three-year study tested blood samples from babies in Denmark and found having low vitamin D levels doubles the risk of developing the disorder.

The findings could encourage pregnant women to get more sunshine or take a vitamin D supplement.

Professor John McGrath, from the Queensland Brain Institute, says the study is further evidence of vitamin D’s link to brain development.

“Many years ago we thought it was totally implausible to prevent schizophrenia, it seemed to be such a mysterious, poorly understood group of illnesses,” he said.

“I think this new result suggests that maybe it will be possible to prevent schizophrenia.”
source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/07/3004407.htm

His studies shed light on link between Vitamin D and Cancer

UC San Diego Professor of Family and Preventive Medicine, Frank Garland, PhD, died Tuesday, August 17 in La Jolla, California, after a year-long battle with illness. Garland was also Technical Director of the Naval Health Research Center.

A San Diego native, Garland was born on June 20, 1950. He received his PhD degree in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins University and began a distinguished career in vitamin D research for cancer and disease prevention.

“Frank Garland’s untimely death is a great loss to this division where he has been a superb teacher of epidemiologic research methods in general, and the potential benefits of Vitamin D in particular,” said Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD, professor and chief of the Division of Epidemiology in the UCSD Department of Family and Preventive Medicine. “His studies and research by many other scientists now suggest that Vitamin D not only prevents some common cancers, but also reduces the risk of other common diseases. Frank will be missed as a scholar, mentor, and friend.”

Garland’s brother and co-investigator, Cedric Garland, PhD, professor of family and preventive medicine at UC San Diego said their interest in vitamin D began in July 1974. “We had just driven cross-country to attend a seminar in Baltimore. On the very first day, some cancer mortality rate maps were shared. We both immediately noticed a pattern; a pattern that launched both our careers.Our entire academic lives are based on that single moment.”

At that seminar, the Garland brothers noticed that the mortality rate maps of breast and colon cancer were twice as high in many counties of the northern tier of states than in the southwest. These geographic differences led to their theory that vitamin D and calcium were preventing adenocarcinoma of the colon and breast in the sunnier parts of the United States.

This theory broke away from the conventional belief that sunlight was a dangerous cause of skin cancer which should be completely avoided.

The Garland’s theory, first published in 1980 in the International Journal of Epidemiology, proposed that vitamin D and calcium are capable of preventing cancer, setting the course for a three-decade-long career devoted to vitamin D research.

“Over the past three decades, the Garlands’ seminal hypothesis has been largely confirmed by numerous additional studies,” said Edward Giovannucci, MD, ScD, professor of nutrition and epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health. “Improving vitamin D status remains one of the most promising natural ways to combat incidence and death from some cancers.”

Frank Garland’s descriptive study of sunlight and cancer mortality initiated two well-known studies published by members of the Garland team and other colleagues in the medical journal The Lancet. The first study was a 19-year historical cohort study in Chicago which found that people whose vitamin D and/or calcium intakes were in the top fifth of the population had half the incidence of colon cancer as those in the bottom fifth. This was the first study to find an effect of oral intake of vitamin D or calcium on cancer risk.

The second key paper by Garland and his colleagues analyzed vitamin D concentrations in volunteers in Washington County, Maryland. This cohort study collected blood from 25,000 volunteers and showed for the first time that people with high concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the serum had very low risk of colon cancer.

These Garland papers are cited in more than 95 percent of other vitamin D-related papers. The papers have led to major advances in the understanding of the role of vitamin D in cancer prevention including its role in prevention of cancer of the ovary, kidney, bladder and endometrium.

In 2006, the International Journal of Epidemiology re-published Garland’s 1980 article concerning vitamin D and cancer mortality based on his geographic observations. The republication was followed by a set of scientific commentaries on the importance of this seminal research.

“Frank’s devotion to the pursuit of scientific truth about vitamin D and realization of its potential benefit to humanity is a major factor in the emergence of vitamin D as an increasingly accepted tool for reducing incidence rates of cancer, and more recently, Type 1diabetes in children,” said Cedric Garland.

In addition to his brother, Cedric, Garland is survived by his mother, Eva Caldwell Garagliano, also of San Diego.

]]> http://www.shineonscotland.org.uk/news/2010/08/in-memorium-frank-garland-phd/feed/ 1 http://www.shineonscotland.org.uk/news/2010/08/vitamin-d-may-help-diabetes/ http://www.shineonscotland.org.uk/news/2010/08/vitamin-d-may-help-diabetes/#comments Sun, 22 Aug 2010 13:49:59 +0000 Alan McLaughlin http://www.shineonscotland.org.uk/?p=2982 Vitamin D may help diabetics

A new study is examining the role of vitamin D, often called the ’sunshine vitamin’, in lowering the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Two factors are already known: levels of vitamin D increase when the skin is exposed to sunlight, and higher vitamin D levels are associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. However, there is as yet no evidence that explains the direct causal link between the two.

To further our understanding of this relationship, researchers from the University of Glasgow, University of Bristol, University College London and St George’s, University of London hope to determine whether individuals genetically disposed to higher vitamin D levels also have a reduced risk of suffering from type 2 diabetes.

Dr Iain Frame, Director of Research at Diabetes UK, said “Currently we know that, while some of the risk factors associated with Type 2 diabetes are out of someone’s control, other risk factors, such as being overweight, can be acted on to reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The results of research into vitamin D, if shown to be effective in reducing Type 2 diabetes risk, will add to an armoury of existing preventative measures such as weight-loss, keeping active and eating a healthy balanced diet.”

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2010/Aug/vitamin-d-may-help-diabetics-97763231.html

Diabetes UK also hope that the study will establish if further research is needed to test whether vitamin D supplements can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in conjunction with exercise and diet . However, it is recommended that people shouldn’t increase their exposure to sunlight, as this can be harmful, or increase their intake of vitamin D supplements until the research is verified.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: A protective association between higher vitamin D levels and the onset of multiple sclerosis (MS) has been demonstrated; however, its role in modulating MS clinical course has been little studied. We investigated whether higher levels of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D) were associated with a lower risk of relapses in people with MS.

METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 145 participants with relapsing-remitting MS from 2002 to 2005. Serum 25-OH-D levels were measured biannually, and the hazard of relapse was assessed using survival analysis.

RESULTS: There was an inverse linear relationship between 25-OH-D levels and the hazard of relapse over the subsequent 6 months, with hazard ratio (HR) 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.85-0.97) per 10nmol/l increase in 25-OH-D level (p = 0.006). When variation due to timing of blood collection was removed by estimating 25-OH-D at the start of each season, this association persisted, with HR 0.90 (95% CI, 0.83-0.98) per 10nmol/l increase (p = 0.016). Taking into account the biological half-life of 25-OH-D, we estimated 25-OH-D at monthly intervals, resulting in a slightly enhanced association, with HR 0.88 (95% CI, 0.82-0.95) per 10nmol/l increase (p = 0.001). Adjusting for potential confounders did not alter these findings.

INTERPRETATION: In this prospective population-based cohort study, in a cohort largely on immunomodulatory therapy, higher 25-OH-D levels were associated with a reduced hazard of relapse. This occurred in a dose-dependent linear fashion, with each 10nmol/l increase in 25-OH-D resulting in up to a 12% reduction in risk of relapse. Clinically, raising 25-OH-D levels by 50nmol/l could halve the hazard of a relapse. ANN NEUROL 2010;68:193-203.

Simpson S Jr, Taylor B, Blizzard L, Ponsonby AL, Pittas F, Tremlett H, Dwyer T, Gies P, van der Mei I.

Menzies Research Institute

Sources: Ann Neurol. 2010 Aug;68(2):193-203. & Pubmed PMID: 20695012 (11/08/10)

msrc.co.uk

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK | Thu Aug 5, 2010 12:56pm EDT

A daily vitamin D supplement may help young men enjoy more sick-free days during cold and flu season, a small study suggests.

Vitamin D has been the subject of much research of late, with studies linking low vitamin D levels in the blood to higher risks of type 1 diabetes and severe asthma attacks in children and, in adults, heart disease, certain cancers and depression.

But whether vitamin D is the reason for the excess risks — and whether taking supplements can curb those risks — has yet to be shown.

The body naturally synthesizes vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight. Because rates of vitamin D insufficiency rise during the winter in many parts of the world, researchers have been interested in whether the vitamin might play a role in people’s susceptibility to colds, flu and other respiratory infections.

Some past research has indeed found that people with relatively lower vitamin D levels in their blood tend to have higher rates of respiratory infections than those with higher levels of the vitamin, said Dr. Ilkka Laaksi of the University of Tampere in Finland, the lead researcher on the new study.

Along with that evidence, recent lab research has shown that vitamin D may play an “important role” in the body’s immune defenses against respiratory pathogens, Laaksi wrote in an email to Reuters Health.

“However,” the researcher said, “there is a lack of clinical studies of the effect of vitamin D supplementation for preventing respiratory infections.”

For the current study, Laaksi’s team randomly assigned 164 male military recruits to take either 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D or inactive placebo pills every day for six months — from October to March, covering the months when people’s vitamin D stores typically decline and when respiratory infections typically peak.

At the end of the study, the researchers found no clear difference between the two groups in the average number of days missed from duty due to a respiratory infection — which included bronchitis, sinus infections, pneumonia, ear infections and sore throat.

On average, men who took vitamin D missed about two days from duty because of a respiratory infection, compared with three days in the placebo group. That difference was not significant in statistical terms.

However, men in the vitamin D group were more likely to have no days missed from work due to a respiratory illness.

Overall, 51 percent remained “healthy” throughout the six-month study, versus 36 percent of the placebo group, the researchers report.

The findings, Laaksi said, offer “some evidence” of a benefit from vitamin D against respiratory infections.

Still, the extent of the benefit was not clear. While recruits in the vitamin group were more likely to have no days missed from duty, they were no less likely to report having cold-like symptoms at some point during the study period.

Moreover, recent studies on the usefulness of vitamin D for warding off respiratory ills have come to conflicting conclusions.

A study of Japanese schoolchildren published earlier this year found that those given 1,200 IU of vitamin D each day during cold and flu season were less likely to contract influenza A. Of 167 children given the supplement, 18 developed the flu, compared with 31 of 167 children given placebo pills.

On the other hand, a recent study of 162 adults found that those who took 2,000 IU of vitamin D everyday for 12 weeks were no less likely to develop respiratory infections than those given placebo pills.

Laaksi said that larger clinical trials looking at different doses of vitamin D are still needed before the vitamin can be recommended for curbing the risk of respiratory infections.

In the U.S., health officials recommend that adults up to the age of 50 get 200 IU of vitamin D each day, while older adults should get 400 to 600 IU. The upper limit is currently set at 2,000 IU per day; higher intakes may raise the risks of side effects.

Symptoms of vitamin D toxicity are often vague and include nausea, vomiting, constipation, poor appetite and weight loss. Excessive vitamin D in the blood can also raise blood pressure or trigger heart rhythm abnormalities.

Some researchers believe that people need more vitamin D than is currently recommended, and that intakes above 2,000 IU per day are safe. However, exactly what the optimal vitamin D intake might be remains under debate.

Food sources of vitamin D include milk, breakfast cereals and orange juice fortified with vitamin D, as well as some fatty fish, like salmon and mackerel. Experts generally recommend vitamin pills for people who do not get enough of the vitamin from food.

SOURCE: link.reuters.com/dan53n Journal of Infectious Diseases, online July 15, 2010

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”.

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)

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.

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.”