Health news

Vitamin D for mum may lower baby’s MS risk

9th February 2010 - Pregnant women who get plenty of vitamin D may be protecting their child from developing multiple sclerosis (MS) in the future.

MS is a nervous system disease that attacks the material, called myelin, which covers nerve fibres. This disrupts signalling between nerves and causes nerve damage, leading to symptoms such as numbness, tingling, fatigue, loss of vision, muscle weakness and possibly, paralysis. The disease most often affects adults after the age of 20, but it can develop in children.

Around 85,000 people in the UK have MS.

The study

Growing evidence has suggested that vitamin D may lower the risk of MS. Now, researchers with the Harvard School of Public Health in the US have shown that it’s possible that this protective benefit could begin while a baby is developing in the womb.

The study involved more than 35,000 female nurses whose mothers answered questions about their diet habits during pregnancy. It revealed that women born to mothers who had the highest intake of vitamin D had a much lower risk of developing MS as an adult. Among the nurses studied, 199 developed MS over the 16-year study period.

Sources of vitamin D

Unlike the UK, most milk in the US is sold fortified with vitamin D.

"The risk of MS among daughters whose mothers consumed four glasses of [vitamin D fortified] milk per day was 56% lower than daughters whose mothers consumed less than three glasses of milk per month," Harvard researcher Dr Fariba Mirzaei, says in a news release.

"We also found the risk of MS among daughters whose mothers were in the top 20% of vitamin D intake during pregnancy was 45% lower than daughters whose mothers were in the bottom 20% for vitamin D intake during pregnancy."

Vitamin D is found in certain foods and drinks such as oily fish, eggs, fortified margarine, breakfast cereals and powdered milk. However, few foods naturally contain the vitamin.

Your body also makes vitamin D after the skin absorbs some of the sun’s rays. Sunlight is the most important source of vitamin D, but the sun in the UK is not strong enough over the winter months to provide enough vitamin D, so food sources become especially important.

Researchers will present their findings in April at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto.