This is a follow-up to my earlier exciting post about the Vitamin D study taking place to determine if vitamin D can PREVENT multiple sclerosis. This article comes from ABC News Australia. Stay tuned.
MS study into link with Vitamin D
Nance Haxton reported this story on Tuesday, October 16, 2012 08:16:00
TONY EASTLEY: Multiple Sclerosis is a condition that still holds many
mysteries. Its symptoms vary widely between sufferers and the cause of
the condition is still unknown.
Researchers involved in what they say is a world first study hope to prove that a lack of vitamin D plays a key role.
The clinical trial will focus on those people newly diagnosed with MS to see if doses of Vitamin D stall or prevent its development.
Nance Haxton reports.
NANCE HAXTON: One of the most puzzling aspects of multiple sclerosis is that people who live in Tasmania are 10 times more likely to develop the condition than their counterparts in Darwin.
Sharlene Brown is one Tasmanian who hopes that this study will make sense of how she developed the disease.
SHARLENE BROWN: Oh chronic fatigue, pins and needles, the numbness from the waist down. I couldn't feel my legs but I was actually walking so it was a really bizarre symptom. Heat intolerance, eyesight going blurry in the heat.
And of course over time I have historically thought about what I used to do. I'm a bit of a bookworm, I must say I spend a lot of time inside. I often wonder whether if I'd spent more time out in the playground instead of the library, whether that would have made a difference.
NANCE HAXTON: It's long been suspected that Vitamin D, or a lack thereof, has a large part to play in the development of multiple sclerosis.
Menzies Research Institute professor Bruce Taylor says this placebo controlled trial will hopefully give scientific proof to that hypothesis.
BRUCE TAYLOR: We know that MS is not evenly distributed around the world. The further you get away from the equator in a genetically susceptible population, the great your risk of getting MS. That means about 90 per cent of your risk of getting MS can be due to your environment.
And we think, and our science all points to this, that vitamin D, derived from solar radiation, may be one of the clues.
NANCE HAXTON: Because there's still a lot of mystery surrounding MS isn't there, just even the varying symptoms that different people have?
BRUCE TAYLOR: Oh yeah well MS is one of the most difficult diseases to study. And that's why it's unfortunately been very badly studied in the past, because it has a huge what we call interpersonal and intrapersonal variation.
So one can have very bad MS for a period of time and then they can just stop having attacks.
We spent a lot of time designing the study to (inaudible) which means that if there is a significant effect of MS, we will be able to pick this is up in this study.
And this is unique - no-one else in the world is doing this. This is an Australian and New Zealand first and this is really a major scientific step forward for MS.
NANCE HAXTON: The chief executive of MS Research Australia Jeremy Wright says this study launched today at Royal Hobart Hospital has provided new hope to those battling multiple sclerosis.
JEREMY WRIGHT: We know a lot about the, if you like, the circumstantial evidence that links vitamin D deficiency and MS and we want to take that fact and act on it and see if vitamin D at the earliest stage of MS can really effect the progress of the disease, slow it or stop it.
NANCE HAXTON: Sharlene Brown celebrated her 40th birthday on the weekend. But despite being in remission from MS for more than nine years, her future health remains uncertain.
She hopes the results of this study will prevent a similar outcome for people yet to develop the condition.
SHARLENE BROWN: If you can help prevent future generations suffering from this type of illness and it can be done as simply as monitoring your vitamin D levels then that's really exciting I think for people who have it or for those people who think they might actually be in the early stages of it.
And I think that's the exciting part of the study. It could be something so simple.
TONY EASTLEY: MS sufferer Sharlene Brown ending Nance Haxton's report.
Researchers involved in what they say is a world first study hope to prove that a lack of vitamin D plays a key role.
The clinical trial will focus on those people newly diagnosed with MS to see if doses of Vitamin D stall or prevent its development.
Nance Haxton reports.
NANCE HAXTON: One of the most puzzling aspects of multiple sclerosis is that people who live in Tasmania are 10 times more likely to develop the condition than their counterparts in Darwin.
Sharlene Brown is one Tasmanian who hopes that this study will make sense of how she developed the disease.
SHARLENE BROWN: Oh chronic fatigue, pins and needles, the numbness from the waist down. I couldn't feel my legs but I was actually walking so it was a really bizarre symptom. Heat intolerance, eyesight going blurry in the heat.
And of course over time I have historically thought about what I used to do. I'm a bit of a bookworm, I must say I spend a lot of time inside. I often wonder whether if I'd spent more time out in the playground instead of the library, whether that would have made a difference.
NANCE HAXTON: It's long been suspected that Vitamin D, or a lack thereof, has a large part to play in the development of multiple sclerosis.
Menzies Research Institute professor Bruce Taylor says this placebo controlled trial will hopefully give scientific proof to that hypothesis.
BRUCE TAYLOR: We know that MS is not evenly distributed around the world. The further you get away from the equator in a genetically susceptible population, the great your risk of getting MS. That means about 90 per cent of your risk of getting MS can be due to your environment.
And we think, and our science all points to this, that vitamin D, derived from solar radiation, may be one of the clues.
NANCE HAXTON: Because there's still a lot of mystery surrounding MS isn't there, just even the varying symptoms that different people have?
BRUCE TAYLOR: Oh yeah well MS is one of the most difficult diseases to study. And that's why it's unfortunately been very badly studied in the past, because it has a huge what we call interpersonal and intrapersonal variation.
So one can have very bad MS for a period of time and then they can just stop having attacks.
We spent a lot of time designing the study to (inaudible) which means that if there is a significant effect of MS, we will be able to pick this is up in this study.
And this is unique - no-one else in the world is doing this. This is an Australian and New Zealand first and this is really a major scientific step forward for MS.
NANCE HAXTON: The chief executive of MS Research Australia Jeremy Wright says this study launched today at Royal Hobart Hospital has provided new hope to those battling multiple sclerosis.
JEREMY WRIGHT: We know a lot about the, if you like, the circumstantial evidence that links vitamin D deficiency and MS and we want to take that fact and act on it and see if vitamin D at the earliest stage of MS can really effect the progress of the disease, slow it or stop it.
NANCE HAXTON: Sharlene Brown celebrated her 40th birthday on the weekend. But despite being in remission from MS for more than nine years, her future health remains uncertain.
She hopes the results of this study will prevent a similar outcome for people yet to develop the condition.
SHARLENE BROWN: If you can help prevent future generations suffering from this type of illness and it can be done as simply as monitoring your vitamin D levels then that's really exciting I think for people who have it or for those people who think they might actually be in the early stages of it.
And I think that's the exciting part of the study. It could be something so simple.
TONY EASTLEY: MS sufferer Sharlene Brown ending Nance Haxton's report.
*****
Commentary:
What if many of our health challenges could be slowed or prevented just by maintaining a healthy Vitamin D level? Think of the savings in lives, time & money. Don't you think taking a QUALITY Vitamin D supplement is worth about $1/day? What if there was a simple way to ingest 5,000 IU of isotonic capable Vitamin D (and K2) that you simply drink first thing in the morning...
Interested in helping others lose sickness and find wellness? We are always looking for nutraceutical consultants who love helping people. Contact me at pb@orlampa.com and we can set up a simple interview to see if what we do is a match for what you are looking for.
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