Most MS Patients Don't Wait For Their Doctors To Tell Them To Take Vitamin D

Most people who have multiple sclerosis, however, don't wait for their doctors to suggest that they take supplemental vitamin D. The typical MS patient is a woman, in the middle of her life, living in an English-speaking country, and well informed about her condition. A survey published in 2015 found that 81 percent of American MS patients took vitamin D, although only 20 percent took 5000 IU per day or more, as some researchers now recommend. Researchers also found that people who take higher doses of vitamin D (more than 2000 IU per day) were also more likely to get intentional sun exposure so their bodies can make vitamin D, and that MS patients who don't take vitamin D were also the least likely to spend planned time in the sun for their health.

What effect does vitamin D supplementation have on quality of life in MS? A study of 1592 people in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres in 57 countries (but primarily in the US, UK, and Australia) found that:

• Vitamin D supplementation in any amount improved physical and mental health and energy levels. Taking 2000 to 5000 IU per day, however, was almost as beneficial as taking more than 5000 IU per day.
• Living in a northerly (or, in the Southern Hemisphere, southerly) location had a greater effect on energy levels than on objective physical or mental health.
• Living more than 40° north or south of the equator exacerbated symptoms. Just a few hundred miles (or kilometers) closer to the equator would be enough to make a difference in physical and mental health and in energy levels.
• Intentional sun exposure is strongly beneficial both for relieving physical symptoms and for increasing energy levels.
• Remission from symptoms lasted, on average, about six months longer in people with MS who took at least 2000 IU of vitamin D per day. There was very little difference in time in remission between the group that took 2000 to 5000 IU of vitamin D per day and the group that took more than 5000 IU per day.
• Location makes a measurable difference in length of remission in relapsing-remitting MS. Every 1 degree further from the equator corresponds to an approximately 1 percent shorter time in remission. 
• A high level of disability was least common in people with MS who took between 2000 and 5000 IU of vitamin D per day. Researchers do not know, however, whether people with MS tended to increase their dosage of vitamin D when symptoms became severe.

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Other studies have found that:

• Giving vitamin D (specifically, giving vitamin D-rich cod liver oil) to teenagers in families with members who have multiple sclerosis reduced their rates of the disease as adults.
• Giving women who have MS 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 per week during pregnancy reduced relapses during pregnancy and six months after the birth of the child.