Bone health has always been the primary health condition associated with Vitamin D, and for good reason. However, it is almost becoming the norm for scientists to examine nutritional pillars like Vitamin D and find within them a range of health benefits hitherto unknown and/or unappreciated. In the case of Vitamin D, a pair of scientists from the Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospitals in the U.K. have recently completed a meta-analysis of five observational studies encompassing 6,455 human subjects in the study of supplemental Vitamin D. Of particular interest was the fact that these subjects were all infants under the age of one year, and that the effect of Vitamin D supplementation was measured not in terms of bone health, but rather in the prevention of type-1 diabetes.
The scientists found that those infants given supplemental Vitamin D very early in life had a nearly 30% lower chance of developing type-1 diabetes, which is the less-common but more severe form of the disease whereupon victims cannot produce insulin due to pancreatic cell damage. The scientists also discovered that this effect might be dose and timing – dependent, with the prevention rate rising among children given higher doses of Vitamin D and among those given Vitamin D supplementation within the first 6 months of life.
This study serves as an interesting adjunct to the growing amount of research surrounding Vitamin D and its role in the immune system and cancer. This is especially noteworthy considering that cancer contains a highly significant autoimmune element, and type-1 diabetes is a disease of the autoimmune system. This has led the scientists of this study to speculate that Vitamin D may protect insulin-producing pancreatic beta-cells from damage caused by cytokines generated by the (auto)immune response.
Source: C.S. Zipitis and A.K. Akobeng. "Vitamin D supplementation in early childhood and risk of type 1 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis." Archives of Disease in Childhood 2008; Mar 13; [Epub ahead of print]
For more information, see Vitamin D3 and D3-5000
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