Use of cod liver oil during the first year of life is associated with lower risk of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes: a large, population-based, case-control study.
Stene LC, Joner G; Norwegian Childhood Diabetes Study Group.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Dec;78(6):1128-34.
PMID: 14668274
Conclusion: Cod liver oil may reduce the risk of type 1 diabetes, perhaps through the antiinflammatory effects of long-chain n-3 fatty acids.
Maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and childhood bone mass at age 9 years: a longitudinal study.
Javaid MK, Crozier SR, Harvey NC, Gale CR, Dennison EM, Boucher BJ, Arden NK, Godfrey KM, Cooper C; Princess Anne Hospital Study Group.
Lancet. 2006 Jan 7;367(9504):36-43. Erratum in: Lancet. 2006 May 6;367(9521):1486.
PMID: 16399151
doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)67922-1
Interpretation
Maternal vitamin D insufficiency is common during pregnancy and is associated with reduced bone-mineral accrual in the offspring during childhood; this association is mediated partly through the concentration of umbilical venous calcium. Vitamin D supplementation of pregnant women, especially during winter months, could lead to longlasting reductions in the risk of osteoporotic fracture in their offspring.
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.
Vitamin D supplement in early childhood and risk for Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. The EURODIAB Substudy 2 Study Group.
[No authors listed]
Diabetologia. 1999 Jan;42(1):51-4.
PMID: 10027578
DOI: 10.1007/s001250051112
In conclusion, this large multicentre trial covering many different European settings consistently showed a protective effect of vitamin D supplementation in infancy. The findings indicate that activated vitamin D might contribute to immune modulation and thereby protect or arrest an ongoing immune process initiated in susceptible people by early environmental
exposures.
It seems not a single day passes that I don't learn something new about this unique hormone (mis)named "vitamin D." \nFrom its humble beginnings recognized only as the factor responsible for bone maturation (with deficiency leading to childhood rickets), vitamin D now commands a recognized role in almost every conceivable aspect of health and disease. \n