Red/ ginger hair

[whyRwehere]

So, I recently read that redheads can produce their own Vit D (without sun). I don't know how that works, but am now wondering how many redheads have MS. So, if you or someone you know has red hair and ms, give a shout here.....

[Moragh]

I have dark auburn hair. Lots of redheads in my family ranging from ginger, strawberry blonds and different shades of auburn. I've not heard of redheads producing D without the sun. Looking back on my life I have spent more time outside than inside. As kids we never wore sun screen and if you were sunburned you kept your shirt on. If anything Mom put Coppertone oil on us so we wouldn't burn. If you can imagine that one. Nobody else in my family or extended family has MS.

[whyRwehere]

From what I gather online, which isn't much and I haven't seen any papers, they actually need some light,even if it is low, to produce the vit D...

[CureOrBust]

So, I recently read that redheads can produce their own Vit D (without sun). I don't know how that works, but am now wondering how many redheads have MS. So, if you or someone you know has red hair and ms, give a shout here.....

Simply pure postulation, however, isn't Scotland renown for both high incidence of MS and also high occurrence of red hair?

[Moragh]

WhyRwehere I had a poke around regarding red hair and MS I never really thought of it before. Not much there in terms of information. I did find this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_hair. Interesting in terms of genetics. I would consider myself fair skinned however, I might burn at first but I eventually do tan. I do supplement with D.

CureOrBust Yes Scotland has a very high incidence of MS and so does Ireland. I'm a first generation Canadian. My Father was from Scotland and my Mom from Ireland. I guess I had double trouble. Both countries share a very deep intertwined history with one another.

[lyndacarol]

From what I gather online, which isn't much and I haven't seen any papers, they actually need some light,even if it is low, to produce the vit D...

I don't know of any papers either, but I wonder if the topic of hair color and vitamin D is addressed by the author Nina Jablonski in Living Color: The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color (maybe she has written papers), which I found mentioned in this interesting article: America Is Getting the Science of Sun Exposure Wrong

http://nautil.us/issue/14/mutation/amer ... sure-wrong

"To survive in far northern Europe, humans paled, adapting to lower light and changing seasons with a different type of melanin, called pheomelanin, associated with fair skin and blonde and red hair with minimal protective value, but allowing more UV to penetrate to make vitamin D."

Apparently, red hair and freckles are linked to the MC1R gene.

“People’s skin adapted to the place where they live,” says Nina Jablonski, distinguished professor of anthropology at Pennsylvania State University and author of Living Color: The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color.