'Sunshine vitamin deficiency can cause diabetes'

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found a correlation between vitamin D3 serum levels and subsequent incidence of Type 1 diabetes.

The six-year study of blood levels of nearly 2,000 individuals suggests a preventive role for vitamin D3 in this disease.

"Previous studies proposed the existence of an association between vitamin D deficiency and risk of and Type 1 diabetes, but this is the first time that the theory has been tested in a way that provides the dose-response relationship," said Cedric Garland, professor in UCSD's Department of Family and Preventive Medicine.

The researchers thawed and analysed 1000 samples of serum from healthy people who later developed type 1 diabetes and 1000 healthy controls whose blood was drawn on or near the same date but who did not develop type 1 diabetes.

By comparing the serum concentrations of the predominant circulating form of vitamin D – 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) – investigators were able to determine the optimal serum level needed to lower an individual's risk of developing type 1 diabetes. Based mainly on results of this study, Garland estimates that the level of 25(OH)D needed to prevent half the cases of type 1 diabetes is 50 ng/ml. A consensus of all available data indicates no known risk associated with this dosage.

"While there are a few conditions that influence vitamin D metabolism,

... contd.