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But many MS experts are skeptical. ''I can't see how anyone can claim this is what is causing MS," Calabresi tells WebMD. In the ongoing Buffalo research, more than half of MS patients were found to have the condition. But so did more than 20% of the healthy patients, Calabresi says.

''If you measure vitamin D during an acute [MS] attack, the vitamin D levels go way down," Weiner says. When a patient is in remission, the levels are closer to normal, says Weiner

good find X ...

I trust Dr. W studies have been reproduced by other researchers ....
including healthy controls .....as to eliminate any placebo effect ...

I think you know where I'm going with this

See how easy it is to dissent ?

Again .... good find ..... you are one of the best information researchers here at TIMS ......... I'll be thinking about this all day . This is a major find.

Past sun exposure and vitamin D supplementation have been associated with a reduction in the risk of MS. We measured the serum concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) at the time of MS diagnosis in 40 MS patients and 40 controls. We found no difference in the serum levels of 25(OH)D between MS patients and controls when all samples or samples obtained during winter months were compared, but MS patients had significantly lower serum 25(OH)D concentrations in June to September than the controls. The vitamin D stores were adequate for bone metabolism (> 37 nmol/L) in 70% of MS patients throughout the year and within the hypovitaminosis level (< 37 nmol/L) in 30% of MS patients at some time of the year. During MS-relapses, 25(OH)D levels were lower than in remission, but mostly within the reference range observed in relation with normal bone metabolism. We conclude that the vitamin D stores in most MS patients are adequate for their normal bone metabolism. However, lower vitamin D levels during MS relapses than in remission suggest that vitamin D could be involved in the regulation of the clinical disease activity of MS.

OBJECTIVES: To compare regulation of vitamin D and calcium homeostasis between patients with MS and healthy controls. To study the correlation of parameters of vitamin D metabolism with MS activity. METHODS: We measured 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcium, phosphate, magnesium, chloride, alkaline phosphatase, albumin and thyroid stimulating hormone in serum every 3 months and at the time of relapse over 1 year in 23 patients with MS and in 23 healthy controls. MRI burden of disease and T2 activity were assessed every 6 months. RESULTS: Vitamin D deficiency (S-25(OH)D < or = 37 nmol/l) was common, affecting half of the patients and controls at some time in the year. Seasonal variation of 25(OH)D was similar in patients and controls, but 25(OH)D serum levels were lower and intact PTH (iPTH) serum levels were higher during MS relapses than in remission. All 21 relapses during the study occurred at serum iPTH levels > 20 ng/l (2.2 pmol/l), whereas 38% of patients in remission had iPTH levels < or = 20 ng/l. Patients with MS had a relative hypocalcaemia and a blunted PTH response in the winter. There was no correlation between serum 25(OH)D and MRI parameters. CONCLUSIONS: The endocrine circuitry regulating serum calcium may be altered in MS. There is an inverse relationship between serum vitamin D level and MS clinical activity. The role of vitamin D in MS must be explored further.