Canadian researchers say they have found new links between low levels of vitamin D in children and an increased risk that they may develop multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Brenda Banwell told an international meeting of MS specialists in Montreal on Friday that low levels of vitamin D in some children may explain why doctors are seeing more kids developing MS in Canada and other parts of the world.
"What we found is the children with the lowest vitamin D levels were far more likely to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis than were children who had healthier levels of Vitamin D," she told CTV News.
Banwell and a team of scientists measured vitamin D levels from more than 100 children suffering what could be a first attack of MS.
Of those with the highest blood levels of the so-called "sunshine vitamin," only six per cent went on to develop full-blown MS within the next two years. Twenty-seven per cent developed MS among those with the lowest levels of the vitamin.
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous system. Past studies have linked the disease -- which affects about 55,000 Canadians -- to environmental and genetic factors.
Researchers say low vitamin D levels are epidemic among children, and people without enough vitamin D are at risk for bone problems. Doctors also believe that vitamin D may help keep the immune system functioning normally.
Researchers say too many Canadian children aren't getting enough of the vitamin, which may be obtained naturally from sunshine.
"Children are indoors more they are on computers more, they play outdoors far less, but the consequence is, of course, they are getting little sunlight and little vitamin D," Banwell said.
Researchers are now trying to see if boosting vitamin D levels in kids with MS could help treat the disease and put it into remission. They're also trying to see if vitamin D can prevent the onset of the disease.
Last March, eight-year-old Jordan Klug suddenly became blind in his right eye.
"I couldn't see anything out of the eye. (I was) very scared," he recalled.
Doctors told his mother that the attack may have been the first symptom of multiple sclerosis. Jordan's eyesight has since returned and doctors have put him on vitamin D supplements. They're hoping to prevent the disease from taking hold and stop future neurological attacks.
"We can got to the store and buy vitamin D and it could stop something as bad as MS. That's wonderful," Jordon's mother, Vanessa Taylor, told CTV.ca.
