A study published in Neurology recalls the protective effect of vitamins D against multiple sclerosis. Exposure to the sun, in particular, would delay the onset of the disease.
A bit of sunshine and meals based on oily fish. These are two factors that delay the onset of multiple sclerosis, according to researchers at the University Hospital of Copenhagen.
Their study, published in the journal Neurology, shows that in young adults affected by the disease, it does not always occur at the same age. This lag in the appearance of the first symptoms could be explained by differences in weight, exposure to the sun or consumption of foods rich in vitamin D, such as oily fish.
In France, multiple sclerosis affects 80,000 people, with an average age of thirty. This autoimmune disease affects the central nervous system, causing “lesions that cause motor, sensory and cognitive disturbances”, according to Inserm.
Salmon and sun
In this study, the researchers looked at the case of 1161 Danish patients with multiple sclerosis. They submitted a questionnaire to them on their morphology, their habits of exposure to the sun during the summer, and whether they ate fatty fish, such as salmon, on a regular basis. They also had to submit to a blood test.
Their responses divided the participants into two groups. In the first, patients who had exposed themselves to the sun every day in adolescence and who benefited at that time from a significant intake of vitamin D, in particular thanks to their diet. In the second, those who on the contrary had not been exposed daily or had meals poor in vitamins.
Result: for more than 80% of people in the first group, the disease started up to two years after people in the second group.
The role of weight
The researchers also looked at the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and the age at onset of the disease. They conclude in their publication that weight is also a risk factor. 18% of overweight people (with a BMI over 25) developed the disease a year and a half before their “normal” peers.
The mechanisms behind the onset of multiple sclerosis are still little known to researchers. But this study reinforces the idea, already diffused by various works, that the contribution in vitamin D thanks to the sun or the food, would have a protective effect. In any case, it delays the appearance of the first signs of the disease in those affected.
It would nevertheless be necessary to study the weight of other environmental factors and to measure more precisely the time of exposure to the sun to arrive at more definitive results.
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