eileen

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate...h/16815250.htm

Posted on Thu, Mar. 01, 2007


Dose of sunshine might prevent diseases

QUESTION: I just read that taking vitamin D may help lower the chances of getting multiple sclerosis. Doesn’t it also help to lower the chances of getting certain cancers?
— R.G., Allentown, Pa.
ANSWER: The study to which you refer (Dec. 20, 2006, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association) is very intriguing: We’ve seen for a number of years that the folks who reside in colder climates have the highest incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS).
Where a person was born and lived during the first 15 years of life strongly influences the chances of developing MS. For example, MS is the most common disease of the central nervous system among Canadians.
We’ve never really understood this association, but we now may have at least a partial explanation: a lack of adequate vitamin D from inadequate sunshine exposure.
The study found that white members of the U.S. military with the highest blood levels of vitamin D were 62 percent less likely to develop MS than folks with lower levels. Vitamin D is found in milk and oily fish, but it’s very difficult to get enough vitamin D without sunshine. Vitamin D is synthesized in our bodies via sunlight exposure on our skin. Although it’s premature to say that a low level of vitamin D can cause MS, the association is intriguing.
It’s interesting that the incidence of MS in sunny climates has increased slightly, perhaps due to increased use of sunscreen, less leisure time and more sun avoidance due to skin cancer worries.
Extra vitamin D, in a dosage of 800-1,000 units per day, may also help reduce the risk of breast, colon and ovarian cancer. The upper limit of safety for vitamin D intake is 2,000 units per day.