Reduced Risk of MS Could Come From Sunshine

sunshine vitamin

The risk of some diseases could be reduced with more exposure to sunshine and increased levels of vitamin D. One such disease is MS or Multiple Sclerosis which according to an Australian study showed remarkable results from people who had regular access to sunshine or who lived in sunnier climates.

Similar studies have also shown that people who live closer to the equator are less likely to contract MS which might be due to higher vitamin D levels.  Evidently, further research is required on the effects of vitamin D on the human body though it has been known that vitamin D may affect the human gene and the action of cells.

The research undertaken by the Australian National University looked at 216 MS sufferers who had just been ‘diagnosed’ between 2003 ands 2006 and their levels of sunshine compared to a comparison group of 400 people with similar ages and gender who had no signs of MS.  The results on average showed that the MS group had lower exposure to sunshine and had less sun damage than the comparison group.  The MS group also had 5 – 10 % lower levels of vitamin D.

According to some experts, having little exposure to sunlight and storing low levels of Vitamin D within the body should not be seen as the direct cause MS and warned that high and sustained levels of strong sunlight is associated with skin cancer. Additionally, there is no need to store up on vitamin D though the head of the research project Robyn Lucas did says that small and frequent amounts of sun exposure are possible for maintaining health.

Posted by Maria Gomez on Tuesday, February 8th, 2011. Filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry