• Sunshine may shield children, young adul

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Wed Dec 8 21:30:36 2021
    Sunshine may shield children, young adults from MS
    Exposure to UV rays boost vitamin D, may protect against auto-immune
    disease

    Date:
    December 8, 2021
    Source:
    University of California - San Francisco
    Summary:
    Living in sunny locations and spending time outdoors may raise
    the risk for skin cancer, but a new study shows that in children
    and young adults, sun exposure may protect against multiple
    sclerosis. The study follows previous work by other researchers
    that has demonstrated an association between increased ultraviolet
    exposure in childhood and lower odds of adult MS.



    FULL STORY ========================================================================== Living in sunny locations and spending time outdoors may raise the
    risk for skin cancer, but a new study led by UC San Francisco and the Australian National University shows that in children and young adults,
    sun exposure may protect against multiple sclerosis. The study follows
    previous work by other researchers that has demonstrated an association
    between increased ultraviolet exposure in childhood and lower odds of
    adult MS.


    ==========================================================================
    The study included 332 participants aged between 3 to 22, who had had
    MS for an average of seven months. Their locations and amount of sun
    exposure were matched by age and sex to 534 participants without MS,
    the researchers reported in their study, which publishes in the online
    issue of Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology,
    on Dec. 8, 2021.

    In questionnaires filled in by participants with MS or their parents, 19 percent stated that they spent less than 30 minutes daily outdoors during
    the previous summer, compared to 6 percent of those who did not have
    MS. When the researchers adjusted for MS risks, like smoking and female
    sex, they found that the participants who spent an average of 30 minutes
    to one hour outdoors daily had a 52 percent lower chance of MS, compared
    to those who spent an average of less than 30 minutes outdoors daily.

    "Sun exposure is known to boost vitamin D levels," said co-senior
    author Emmanuelle Waubant, MD, PhD, professor in the UCSF Department
    of Neurology and of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences. "It also
    stimulates immune cells in the skin that have a protective role in
    diseases such as MS. Vitamin D may also change the biological function
    of the immune cells and, as such, play a role in protecting against
    autoimmune diseases." Progression Slower in Pediatric MS, Despite
    Inflammatory Onset While MS usually strikes adults between the ages of
    20 to 50, some 3 to 5 percent of the approximately one million patients
    in the United States with the condition begin experiencing symptoms in childhood. Pediatric-onset MS is initially highly inflammatory, but takes longer than adults to advance, with symptoms of secondary progression,
    such as moderate to severe weakness, poor coordination and bowel and
    bladder control, occurring on average 28 years after disease onset,
    according to experts. However, these disability landmarks are reached approximately 10 years earlier than in adult MS.

    The researchers also found an association with the intensity of sunlight
    and estimated that residents of Florida would be 21 percent less likely
    than residents of New York to have MS. They noted that sun exposure
    was "dose- dependent," the longer the exposure the lower the risk. And
    even exposure in the first year of life seemed to protect against MS,
    they said.

    Fortunately, the use of sunscreen does not appear to lessen the
    therapeutic effects of sunlight in warding off MS, noted Waubant, who
    is also director of the UCSF Regional Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis
    Center. Clinical trials are needed to determine if "increasing sun
    exposure or vitamin D supplementation can prevent the development
    of MS or alter disease course post-diagnosis," she said. Meanwhile,
    "advising regular time in the sun of at least 30 minutes daily especially during summer, using sun protection as needed, especially for first
    degree relatives of MS patients, may be a worthwhile intervention to
    reduce the incidence of MS." Limited sun exposure and/or low levels
    of vitamin D have been associated with other conditions. These include Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and other types of dementia, as well
    as schizophrenia and other auto-immune diseases like Type 1 diabetes,
    Crohn's disease and lupus.

    Senior co-author is Robyn Lucas, MBChB, PhD, of the Australian National University in Canberra. First author is Prince Sebastian, PhD, also of
    the Australian National University. For a full list of co-authors and
    potential conflicts of interest, please see the study.

    The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health
    (RO1NS071463, EW) and the National MS Society (HC0165, CC) ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
    University_of_California_-_San_Francisco. Original written by Suzanne
    Leigh. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Prince Sebastian, Nicolas Cherbuin, Lisa F Barcellos, Shelly
    Roalstad,
    Charles Casper, Janace Hart, Gregory S Aaen, Lauren Krupp, Leslie
    Benson, Mark Gorman, Meghan Candee, Tanuja Chitnis, Manu Goyal,
    Benjamin Greenberg, Soe Mar, Moses Rodriguez, Jennifer Rubin,
    Teri Schreiner, Amy Waldman, Bianca Weinstock-Guttman, Jennifer
    Graves, Emmanuelle Waubant, Robyn Lucas. Association Between Time
    Spent Outdoors and Risk of Multiple Sclerosis. Neurology, 2021;
    10.1212/WNL.0000000000013045 DOI: 10.1212/ WNL.0000000000013045 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211208161146.htm

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