Canadian researchers have found links between the “sunshine” vitamin deficiency and multiple sclerosis in children. The study was conducted on children showing the first signs of the disease i.e. eye or sight problems. It was found that those with insufficient amounts of the vitamin are far more likely to develop a full-blown case of MS than those who have lower levels.

The study shows a possible link between Vitamin D supplement taken every day from infancy and prevention or slower progression of the auto-immune disease. Till date no definitive cause had been deciphered for the incurable disease. Brenda Banwell, one of the authors of the study, said she was finding vitamin D insufficiency as a risk factor. She said: “People have been looking for things in the environment that might account for why Canada has such a high MS risk, and this is one of those factors.”

Researchers feel that large-scale clinical trials would be required to confirm their study claims. It is only after that vitamin D can be used as a treatment. It is also important to determine the dosage of the vitamin needed for preventing the disease. Medical researchers have been studying the so-called “sunshine vitamin” for a possible link to MS because of the increased prevalence of the disease in high-latitude area.“There is a very consistent pattern of latitude and multiple sclerosis,” said Cedric Garland, an epidemiologist at the University of California in San Diego.