Upstate doctor’s research on vitamin D and MS published in Journal of Neurological Sciences
October 5, 2015
GREENVILLE, SC – The Journal of Neurological Sciences recently published an article by Greenville Health System neurologist Dr. Jagannadha R. Avasarala that looks at the connection between vitamin D and lowering the risk of multiple sclerosis (MS).
Dr. Avasarala reports that there is increasing evidence that vitamin D can be protective against the development of MS, but it may also be beneficial for the clinical course of the disease. However, this principle does not apply equally across racial backgrounds.
According to Dr. Avasarala, maintaining adequate levels of vitamin D may have a protective effect and lower the risk of MS. For patients with MS, maintaining an adequate level of vitamin D is probably associated with lessening the frequency and severity of their symptoms. However, what remains unclear is whether this is true across all racial/ethnic backgrounds.
In African-Americans this effect is not only absent but curiously enough, low levels of vitamin D do not matter since the bioavailability of this molecule in this population is normal, he wrote.
“It is this paradox that led to this brief report and we suggest more research and database construction based on race/ethnicity be done, as a first step to understand the biological mechanisms that confer or negate the effect of vitamin D levels in MS,” he said.
Dr. Avasarala proposes vitamin D levels in MS patients need not be universal and must be tailored based on age and ethnicity; Caucasians probably benefit from high premorbid as well as ‘during disease’ 25-OH vitamin D levels since the impact on MS could be potentially significant for disease burden and healthcare dollars; new assays or strategies for identification of vitamin D deficiency in African-Americans are specifically required so as to avoid erroneous treatment plans; and dedicated databases based on ethnicity and race need to be created.
About Greenville Health System
Greenville Health System (GHS) — an academic health system that is the largest not-for-profit healthcare delivery system in South Carolina — is committed to medical excellence through research, patient care and education. GHS offers patients an innovative network of clinical integration, expertise and technologies through its eight medical campuses, tertiary medical center, research and education facilities, community hospitals, physician practices and numerous specialty services throughout the Upstate. The 1,358-bed system is home to 15 medical residency and fellowship programs. GHS is also home to the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, a joint effort of USC and GHS. Visit ghs.org for more information.
