Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease affecting mostly children and young adults, but can occur at any life stage, according to the National Institutes of Health. CDC data indicates that every year, 15,000 youth are newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the United States. The disease is characterized by the immune-mediated self destruction of the beta-cells in the pancreas, which produce the hormone insulin. Patients with type 1 diabetes thus are left with little or no insulin and rely on insulin shot or insulin pump to maintain blood sugar.
Vitamin D Deficiency and Risk of Type 1 Diabetes
Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of type 1 diabetes. One of the environmental factors identified is vitamin D, a hormone-like vitamin produced in the skin cells with sun exposure. Lack of sun exposure and the consequent vitamin D inadequacy increases the risk of type 1 diabetes. Harvard researchers said that a child in Finland has 400 times higher risk of developing type 1 diabetes than a child in Venezuela, a tropical country with plenty of sunshine. Children who were suspected of having rickets due to vitamin D deficiency had a two- fold increased risk of type 1 diabetes compared with the children without rickets, found in a study done in Finland and published in the November 2001 issue of "Lancet."
Type 1 Diabetes Patients Have Low Vitamin D
Serum level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D is a sensitive indicator of vitamin D status. A Sweden study published in "Diabetologia" in 2006 found that the serum level of 25-hydroxy vitamin D in young adults with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes is significantly lower than the control without the disease. And when the patients were followed for eight years, the researchers found that their 25-hydroxy vitamin D level continued to decline. Another study that appeared in Acta "Diabetologia" in 2009 found that incidence of vitamin D deficiency and family history of vitamin D deficiency was higher in children with type 1 diabetes.
Vitamin D Supplementation Early in Life Reduces the Risk of Type 1 Diabetes
In the Finland study published in "Lancet," the risk of type 1 diabetes decreased by 78 percent when the children were supplemented with 2,000 International Units of Vitamin D. The study followed 10,366 children for 30 years starting at birth. A seven-country study published in "Diabetologia" in 1999 found that vitamin D supplementation in infancy resulted in a 33 percent reduction in the risk of type 1 diabetes. In 2008, researchers in UK reviewed a total of five studies and concluded that vitamin D supplement in infancy reduces the risk of type 1 diabetes by 29 percent.
Vitamin D Intake during Pregnancy May Prevent Type 1 Diabetes
High vitamin D intake during pregnancy may also be protective. The Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young published in "Diabetic Care" in 2003 found that higher maternal intake of vitamin D through food is associated with 63 percent reduced risk in the offspring of developing islet autoimmunity, a marker for type 1 diabetes. Mothers who took cod liver oil, one of the best food sources of vitamin D, according to researchers at Boston University School of Medicine, gave birth to children who had a 70 percent lower risk of type 1 diabetes. This study appeared in the September 2000 issue of "Diabetologia."
References
- National Diabetes Information Clearing House: Diabetes Overview
- CDC: National Diabetes Fact Sheet 2007
- Lancet: Intake of vitamin D and risk of type 1 diabetes: a birth-cohort study; Hyppönen H et al.; 2001
- Pubmed.gov: Vitamin D supplement in early childhood and risk for Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus.
- Diabetic Care: In Utero Dietary Exposures and Risk of Islet Autoimmunity in Children
- Archives of Diseases in Childhood: Vitamin D supplementation in early childhood and risk of type 1 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis; Zipitis CS et al.; 2008
Member Comments