M.S., the Sun, and Vitamin D

Posting Date: 01/28/2004

A major problem with generating sufficient Vitamin D, according to UV-energy researcher and widely published author Michael Stepp, is that so many humans live in high latitudes where, for climatic and other reasons, they are not exposed to sufficient natural sunlight. ?From his position as professor of Medicine at the Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Michael Holick?s research has demonstrated that, for children suffering from Vitamin D deficiency, the incidence is 27% lower in Phoenix than in Boston,? Stepp said. ?Much other research, including these two new studies, show a correlation between high latitudes and increases in diseases linked to Vitamin D deficiency.?

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?Because the number of cases of MS increases the further) you get from the equator, one hypothesis has been that sunlight exposure and high levels of vitamin D may reduce the risk of MS,? said Harvard study author Kassandra Munger, MSc, of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, MA.

Over the long run, the data in Munger?s 10-years National Institute of Health-funded study of more than 185,000 women, showed that the women who maintained the recommended level of vitamin D in their system were 40 per cent less likely to develop than those women who were otherwise Vitamin D deficient. There are an estimated 250,000 to 350,000 Americans with MS.

?Vitamin D is produced naturally by the body when exposed to UV-B sunlight,? Stepp explained, ?and appropriate exposure to either natural and artificial sources of this ultraviolet light such as tanning beds can produce the same levels of Vitamin D in the human body.?

?This research,? Stepp notes, ?adds to the growing body of knowledge that points to the benefits of moderate and responsible exposure to naturally- or artificially-produced UV-B sunlight, and of the risks that come from insufficient exposure to this critical element of sunlight. Other studies in 2002 and 2003 have linked insufficient UV-B exposure to a host of other serious health problems, from rickets to diabetes ? and have demonstrated that UV-B is not a factor in cancerous melanoma as was previously believed.?