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Association of vitamin D deficiency with cognitive impairment in older women. Cross-sectional study. Annweiler C, Schott AM, Allali G, Bridenbaugh SA, Kressig RW, Allain P, Herrmann FR, Beauchet O. Neurology. 2009 Sep 30. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19794127 doi:10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181beecd3 Conclusions: 25-Hydroxyvitamin D deficiency was associated with cognitive impairment in this cohort of community-dwelling older women.

Childhood sun exposure influences risk of multiple sclerosis in monozygotic twins. Islam T, Gauderman WJ, Cozen W, Mack TM. Neurology. 2007 Jul 24;69(4):381-8. PMID: 17646631 Conclusion: Early sun avoidance seems to precede the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). This protective effect is independent of genetic susceptibility to MS.

"Dr. Jodie Burton is the acting principal investigator (PI) of the dose-escalation trial of oral vitamin D3 with calcium supplementation in patients with multiple sclerosis with Dr. O'Connor. She started the trial as his fellow, while doing an additional 2 years of training in MS specifically after she received her neurology certification. She completed her fellowship training in 2007. Now she is staff doing clinical research and continuing with the vitamin D trial. As of August 2009, she will be Assistant Professor in Neurology in the Department of Clinical Neuroscience in Calgary and at the University of Calgary. She will be part of the MS team there with Dr. Luanne Metz and the MS group. Please scroll down for an abstract of the trial: A Phase I/II dose-escalation trial of oral vitamin D3 with calcium supplementation in patients with multiple sclerosis." Conclusions: High-dose VD3 (~10 000 IU/day, possibly higher) in MS is safe and tolerable, with evidence of clinical improvement."

A few researchers are turning their attention to the sunshine vitamin as a culprit, prompted by the experience of immigrants that have moved from their equatorial country to two northern latitude locations As evidence of widespread vitamin D deficiency grows, some scientists are wondering whether the sunshine vitamin-once only considered important in bone health-may actually play a role in one of neurology's most vexing conditions: autism. The idea, although not yet tested or widely held, comes out of preliminary studies in Sweden and Minnesota. Last summer, Swedish researchers published a study in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology that found the prevalence of autism and related disorders was three to four times higher among Somali immigrants than non-Somalis in Stockholm. The study reviewed the records of 2,437 children, born between 1988 and 1998 in Stockholm, in response to parents and teachers who had raised concerns about whether children with a Somali background were overrepresented in the total group of children with autism

PLYMOUTH medical researchers have discovered a link between lack of the 'sunshine vitamin' and the onset of dementia.\n\nTeams from the city's Peninsula Medical School and the universities of Cambridge and Michigan have for the first time found a relationship between lower Vitamin D levels and cognitive impairment in older people.\n\nThe results of their large-scale study are to be published in the Journal of Geriatric Psychology and Neurology.

Vitamin D treatment in multiple sclerosis. Myhr KM. J Neurol Sci. 2009 Jun 22. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19549608 doi:10.1016/j.jns.2009.05.002 Epidemiological evidence combined with clinical and laboratory analyses, and experimental animal models, suggest a possible influence of vitamin D on MS susceptibility as well as clinical disease activity. Supplement with vitamin D may reduce the risk of developing MS. An intervention may also reduce the risk of conversion from a first clinical event suggestive of MS to clinical definite MS, as well as reduce the relapse rate among patients with relapsing remitting MS. More studies are, however, needed to determine optimal dose and serum level for vitamin D, as well as target populations and optimal timing for intervention.

A longitudinal study of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and intact parathyroid hormone levels indicate the importance of vitamin D and calcium homeostasis regulation in multiple sclerosis. Soilu-Hänninen M, Laaksonen M, Laitinen I, Erälinna JP, Lilius EM, Mononen I. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2008 Feb;79(2):152-7. Epub 2007 Jun 19. PMID: 17578859 doi:10.1136/jnnp.2006.105320 Conclusions: The endocrine circuitry regulating serum calcium may be altered in MS. There is an inverse relationship between serum vitamin D level and MS clinical activity. The role of vitamin D in MS must be explored further.