多做做日光浴吧

曬太陽可防多發性硬化症

　　本報訊（記者劉霞）據英國《泰晤士報》近日報道，英國科學家稱，他們首次發現了維生素D和增加多發性硬化症幾率基因間的關系。多曬陽光補充維生素D可預防多發性硬化症，自身免疫疾病也可能會被連根拔除。

　　牛津大學臨床神經病學教授喬治．艾伯斯宣稱，基因和環境同多發性硬化症的出現直接相關。維生素D對多發性硬化症的發生相當重要。維生素D會改變某一個基因突變，阻止免疫系統的正常工作，進而將多發性硬化症的發病率提高3倍。

　　艾伯斯指出，過度暴露于陽光中有害的警告也不一定正確，陽光可促進身體產生維生素D。之前的研究也表明，■在患者很少有人出生在11月，多數出生在5月，這也暗示了懷孕期間缺乏陽光照射所帶來的影響。

　　在蘇格蘭，通過讓母親和兒童服用維生素D，已經阻止了200例多發性硬化症■在患者。

---------------我就是在接近5月的時候出生的--------------------------------------

附上原文, 因為我覺得翻譯的實在不怎麼好....

Vitamin D, genetic variant interaction alters multiple sclerosis risk

London (PTI): Researchers have found that a direct interaction between vitamin D and a common genetic variant alters the risk of developing multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks the central nervous system.

The Oxford University-led research, published in PLoS Genetics, suggests that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy and the early years may increase the risk of offspring developing multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life.

"Our study implies that taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy and the early years may reduce the risk of a child developing MS in later life," lead author, Sreeram Ramagopalan said.

"Vitamin D is a safe and relatively cheap supplement with substantial potential health benefits. There is accumulating evidence that it can reduce the risk of developing cancer and offer protection from other autoimmune diseases."

"If too little of the vitamin is available, the gene may not function properly," an expert said.

"We have known for a long time that genes and environment determine MS risk," said George Ebers of the Department of Clinical Neurology. "Here we show that the main environmental risk candidate – vitamin D – and the main gene region are directly linked and interact."

MS is the most common disabling neurological condition affecting young adults. More than 85,000 people in the UK and 2.5 million worldwide are thought to suffer from the condition, which results from the loss of nerve fibres and their protective myelin sheath in the brain and spinal cord, causing neurological damage.

The causes of MS are unclear, but both environmental and genetic factors play a role. Previous studies have shown that populations from Northern Europe have increased risk of MS risk if they live in areas receiving less sunshine.

This supports a direct link between deficiency in vitamin D, which is produced in the body through the action of sunlight, and increased risk of developing the disease.

The largest genetic effect by far comes from the region on chromosome six containing the gene variant known as DRB1*150 and from adjacent DNA sequences.

While one in 1,000 people in the UK are likely to develop MS, this number rises to around one in 300 among those carrying a single copy of the variant and one in 100 of those carrying two copies.

Now researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of British Columbia have established a direct relationship between DRB1*1501 and vitamin D.

The study funded by the UK's MS Society, the MS Society of Canada, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council, found that proteins activated by vitamin D in the body bind to a particular DNA sequence lying next to the DRB1*1501 variant, switching the gene on.

"In people with the DRB1 variant associated with MS, it seems that vitamin D may play a critical role," said Julian Knight of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford.

Professor Ebers and colleagues believe that vitamin D deficiency in mothers or even in a previous generation may lead to altered expression of DRB1*1501 in offspring.

不過, 怪了, 西方人不是都喜歡曬太陽的嗎, 怎麼患病的比例還是這麼高?

多做做日光浴吧