BACKGROUND: A season of birth effect in immune-mediated diseases (ID) such as MS and type 1 diabetes has been consistently reported. We aimed to investigate whether season of birth influences the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and systemic lupus erythematosus in addition to MS, and to explore the correlation between the risk of ID and predicted ultraviolet B (UVB) light exposure and vitamin D status during gestation.
METHODS: The monthly distribution of births of patients with ID from the UK (n = 115,172) was compared to that of the general population using the Cosinor test. Predicted UVB radiation and vitamin D status in different time windows during pregnancy were calculated for each month of birth and correlated with risk of ID using the Spearman’s correlation coefficient.
RESULTS
: The distributions of ID births significantly differed from that of the general population (P = 5e-12) with a peak in April (odds ratio = 1.045, 95% confidence interval = 1.024, 1.067, P <0.0001) and a trough in October (odds ratio = 0.945, 95% confidence interval = 0.925, 0.966, P <0.0001). Stratification by disease subtype showed seasonality in all ID but Crohn’s disease. The risk of ID was inversely correlated with predicted second trimester (3-6 months) UVB exposure (Spearman’s rho = -0.49, P = 0.00005) and third trimester (6-9months) vitamin D status (Spearman’s rho = -0.44, P = 0.0003).CONCLUSIONS
: The risk of different ID in the UK is significantly influenced by the season of birth, suggesting the presence of a shared seasonal risk factor or factors predisposing to ID. Gestational UVB and vitamin D exposure may be implicated in the aetiology of ID.
“Following studies in Canada, Scotland and Denmark that showed that if you were born in April/May you were at an increased risk of developing MS compared to the lower risk in November (when your mother was pregenant during smmer and had been exposed to a summer of sunshine; unfortunately not this year).”
“This study shows that it is not just MS that links with month of birth and further indicates that at some stage we are going to have make sure that pregnant woman are vitamin D replete througout pregnancy. This is perhaps where all this is happening. I am concerned that it may be too late to have a major impact once disease becomes manifest and so doing trials in MSers may show limited impact.”
“This could be abit like, if I have a sore hand I might take a paracetomol (acetaminophen in American) but give me morphine if my finger is chopped off. Trials have now been initiated in Australia that will address the effect of being Vitamin D supplementation in early MS, that is if they can find people who are not already supplementing themselves. Sales of vD supplements are soaring the world over; this is a good thing but it makes it difficult to gather the necessary evidence to convince the doubters.”
“Are you taking vD3 supplements? Are your siblings and children taking vD3 supplements? If not you should be: recommended doses < 2yrs of age 600U per day, 2-10 years of age 2,000U per day and >10 years of age 5,000U per day.”
CoI: This work was perfomed by members of team G
< = less than> = greater or more than
Junior school maths, most people will know this
All this conjecture about the essentiality of vitamin D is a moot point as far as health policy makers are concerned. The evidence is more pronounced than ever yet the UK government remains blasé on the subject.The summer of 2012 has been an exceptional occurrence in Britain. Last month, at the height of summer, we only accumulated 119 hours of sunshine. The biblical rainfall and overcast skies has been shocking, causing many of us to question what has gone wrong on this island? On the other hand I hear our American friends are basking in the most untenable summer conditions where even if one wanted to get some sunshine, then the extreme levels of heat are unbearable for most people, probably much worse for Wallerian degenerated MSers.My theory is that the poor conditions posed by an inadequate summer in Britain will result in a spike in the number of babies born this year that will go on to develop MS. Ram (Barts vitD wunderkind) et al should do a long term study to see if this happens, therefore proving that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy results in offspring MS.The conditions are set guys; let’s use it to our advantage. Hopefully by the time these babies reach adolescence remyelination therapies will absolve many of the issues MSers right now face.Likewise, one is curious to know if British babies born in 1976 (or was it 1977?), the year of a legendary heat wave, had a lower rate of MS?
Ram (Barts vitD wunderkind) et al should do a long term study to see if this happensYes we need a wunderkind as we will be well past retirement by the time we know if this summer or lack of it has any seasonal effect on MS but surely one could look at past records from the Met Office and MS susceptibility as you say what happened when it was sunny..it is that long ago I can't remeber
It is also school maths that you do not use statistics for continuous (parametric) data on data that is non continuous (non-parametric).You would be gobsmacked at how many scientists don't seem to know that.
Is vitamin D3 supplementation suitable for Mulims or vegiterians? I ask because iI've read that it's an animal protein derived from the skin and connective tissue of pigs and cows.
"Is vitamin D3 supplementation suitable for Mulims or vegiterians? I ask because iI've read that it's an animal protein derived from the skin and connective tissue of pigs and cows."You mean gelatin, which is used in the gel coating of some capsules but I'm sure alternatives are available.
Re: "Is vitamin D3 supplementation suitable for Mulims or vegiterians?"vD is not a protein, but a steroid-like hormone. It is manufactured using a chemical process. To the best of my knowledge there is no problem with Muslims taking vD supplements. However, excipients (the binders that are put into tablets) vary so you will need to make sure the tablets you purchase have no animal products.
helloFor how long an adult with MS should take 5000 iu of vitamin d daily?What blood level is appropriate for ms?what supplement is best: colecalciferol, calcitriol…??thank you very much, alvaro
"helloFor how long an adult with MS should take 5000 iu of vitamin d daily?What blood level is appropriate for ms?what supplement is best: colecalciferol, calcitriol…??"Have you tried searching the blog using vitamin D as the search term?
ok, thank you very much for your recomendation. regards, alvaro
My vD supplement says is made from sheep lanolin..does that seem OK Dr Mouse? X
Lanolin is a sheep wax that is used in many skin products it is also usedas a raw material for producing cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) so seems OK.You learn something new every day
Thankyou for checking that for me! X
Ive started taking vitamin D for severe deficiency,seems to be beneficial,you can get a nhs test in the post from birmingham city assays 25 quid I think to measure youre levels.d3 and d2