Lack of sunlight linked to MS risk
Source: Agencies |
May 1, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHILDREN whose mothers had low exposure to sunlight during their first three months of pregnancy may have a higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis, a study in Australia has found.
Low vitamin D levels have long been linked to a higher risk of MS. Experts suspect an expectant mother's lack of exposure to sunlight -- the main source of vitamin D -- may affect the fetus's central nervous system.
In the study, researchers combed birth records of 1,524 MS patients born between 1920 and 1950, and found there were more of them born in November and December.
This means their first trimester occurred during the winter months.
Conversely, there were far fewer MS patients born in May and June -- meaning their first trimesters were in early summer.
The research, by the Australian National University in Canberra and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, was published in the British Medical Journal yesterday.
Low vitamin D levels have long been linked to a higher risk of MS. Experts suspect an expectant mother's lack of exposure to sunlight -- the main source of vitamin D -- may affect the fetus's central nervous system.
In the study, researchers combed birth records of 1,524 MS patients born between 1920 and 1950, and found there were more of them born in November and December.
This means their first trimester occurred during the winter months.
Conversely, there were far fewer MS patients born in May and June -- meaning their first trimesters were in early summer.
The research, by the Australian National University in Canberra and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, was published in the British Medical Journal yesterday.
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