Archive for the ‘Vitamin D’ Category
Chronic Pain
This week I spoke to doctors and nurses who run Pain Clinics. The obvious connection is Vertebral Fractures requiring Kyphoplasty or Vertebroplasty. If you only do the procedure, you have not solved the problem. You must treat the Osteoporosis too, preferably with the Anabolic, Forteo, if you want to avoid further fractures.
Vitamin D is the other connection. Successful treatment of chronic pain often requires enough Vitamin D3 to bring the 25-hydroxy Vitamin D level to at least 40ng/ml. This is not yet widely known. Not all clinics are testing for Vitamin D levels. They should be!
Vitamin D & MS in Sweden
Recently, I cited a study from the UK, which showed a probable link between mothers with low Vitamin D levels during pregnancy and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) years later in their children. Now a study from Sweden has been published in “Neurology” with different data, different analyses, and somewhat different conclusions.
Swedish researchers analyzed actual blood samples. They found a clear link between low Vitamin D levels and later MS in the women involved. They did not find a link to MS in their children, but acknowleged that the small study numbers limited their analysis and conclusions. Both studies indicate that low Vitamin D levels can be harmful.
Pregnancy, Vitamin D, & MS in the UK
Vitamin D3 has become a key part of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) treatment. MS is a disease more common in persons with low Vitamin D levels. MS sufferers treated with Vitamin D3 supplements maintain function longer. Now British researchers have confirmed evidence that MS is more common in those whose mothers had low Vitamin D levels while pregnant.
The Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry has published a meta-analysis of over 150,000 births in the UK looking for MS decades later. MS was significantly more common in individuals born in April and May, than in persons born in October and November. Looking at only those born further north increases the difference.