(Newswire.net — December 13, 2013) Portland, OR — A better option may have just shown up as a team of biochemists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison discovered a promising new vitamin D based treatment that can halt and in some cases even reverse the advance of MS.
The treatment has only been tested on mice so far. Researchers gave MS symptom mice a single dose of calcitriol, the active hormone form of vitamin D, foolowed by ongoing vitamin D supplements through diet. This protocol was previously discussed and published by the Journal of Neuroimmunology.
While it is still unclear what really triggers MS, studies have linked the risk of developing the disease to lower levels of vitamin D. The current study compared various vitamin D based treatments to the standard MS drug therapies.
In each case, vitamin D treatments won! Mice that received the treatments showe fewer physical symptoms of the disease. Vitamin D is useful for a variety of of ailments as well.
The researchers first compared the effectiveness of a single calcitriol dose to a dose of a current MS drug based on a glucocorticoid. Calcitriol won exhibiting a nine day remission in 92% of mice as opposed to a six day remission in 58% of mice.
Then the team tried a weekly dose of calcitriol. It was found that this dosage reversed the disease and sustained the remission indefinately.
However calcitriol does carry some strong side effects.
“It’s a biological sledgehammer that can raise blood calcium levels,” according to Professor Colleen Hayes.
One final regimin was just a single dose of calcitriol, followed by a vitamin d supplement in the diet. This “was a runaway success, as 100% of the mice responded,” Hayes said.
While the initial findings are exciting, Hayes cautioned “I think chances are good because we have such a broad foundation of data showing protective effects of vitamin D in humans.”
Sounds hopeful!