Vitamin Information Center

Medical experts now claim that taking vitamin D supplements during early childhood may dramatically cut the odds of developing Type 1 diabetes later in life. Researches found that children given additional vitamin D were up to 80% less likely to develop Type 1 diabetes than those not given the supplement.

They also found that the higher and more regular the dose, the lower the likelihood of developing the condition. These findings came from the analysis of five studies in various countries.

One of the studies that was looked at was a Finnish sudy that followed more than 12,000 children born in 1966 in Finland. Their study showed that those who took any amount of vitamin D had a lower rate of diabetes than those who did, and those who took recommended amounts of vitamin D were at an 80% reduced risk of developing it.

Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease in which the immune system destroys its own cells. It develops when insulin-secreting cells in the pancreas are destroyed.

Researchers believe that vitamin D, which is believed to be an immuno-suppressant agent, may prevent an overly aggressive response from the immune system. Nutrition experts recommend 8.5 microgrammes a day, and 7 microgrammes a day for those age 7 months to three years.

Vitamin D supplements in early childhood may ward off the development of type 1 diabetes in later life, reveals a research review published online March 13 in the Archives of Disease in Childhood  An Autoimmune Disorder
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, in which insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed by the body’s own immune system, starting in early infancy. The disease is most common among people of European descent, with around 2 million Europeans and North Americans affected. Its incidence is rising at roughly 3% a year, and it is estimated that new cases will have risen 40% between 2000 and 2010.

A trawl of published evidence on vitamin D supplementation in children produced five suitable studies, the pooled data from which were re-analyzed.

The results showed that:

Vitamin D, Latitude & Diabetes Incidence
Levels of vitamin D, and sunlight, from which the body manufactures the vitamin, have been implicated in the risks of developing various autoimmune disorders, including multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

And there is a striking difference in the incidence of type 1 diabetes according to latitude and levels of sunlight exposure, with a child in Finland 400 times more likely to develop the disease than a child in Venezuela, say the authors.

Further evidence of vitamin D’s role comes from the fact that pancreatic beta cells and immune cells carry receptors or docking bays for the active forms of the vitamin.