Summit in Scotland shines on Australian trial

There is mounting evidence that vitamin D deficiency could play a role in the development of multiple sclerosis and that low vitamin D levels increase risk of MS relapse, but there are still many unanswered questions that need to be addressed with more research.

This week, 21 September, a Global Summit is being held in Glasgow to discuss the putative links between vitamin D and the disease. The summit will be attended by researchers leading the field in vitamin D and MS.

This is, in part, thanks to the efforts of a 15 year old boy who created a campaign for awareness upon seeing the way his mother suffered with MS.

Ryan McLaughlin and his campaign “Shine on Scotland” call for vitamin D supplements to be provided to all children and pregnant women.

A/Prof Helmut Butzkueven from the University of Melbourne will represent Australian MS researchers at this meeting. A/Prof Butzkueven will be presenting details of a proposed MS Research Australia Prevention Trial of vitamin D in people with the earliest signs of MS. This trial will be the first of its kind; no study to date has determined if vitamin D can reduce the risk of developing MS after an initial symptom, or reduce the risk of relapse. The need for evidence is great, however there is no commercial interest in the study given vitamins are so cheap and readily available.

If found to be effective, oral vitamin D supplementation would represent a low cost treatment that is virtually free of side effects. On the other hand, many drugs can have adverse effects when used in high dose, and the proposed trial will therefore test different doses of vitamin D.

As A/Prof Butzkueven states “This information would be extremely valuable because of the widespread use of vitamin D by patients who have been formally diagnosed with MS. Its efficacy and safety needs to be established in a randomised, placebo-controlled trial”

courtesy of msra.org.au

Media Coverage

• ABC Radio National – 23/9/10 [click for link]