Women with Low Vitamin D at Future Risk for Multiple Sclerosis

Growing epidemiologic evidence supports an association between vitamin D levels and multiple sclerosis (MS) risk and severity. Providing further data, the Finnish Maternity Cohort included 1.8 million serum samples from 800,000 women, provided as part of routine prenatal testing. Included for study were 1092 women diagnosed with MS who had at least one prediagnosis sample. Cases were matched to 2123 controls. Mean age at diagnosis was 37 years, and mean age of sample collection was 28.

Women with deficient 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (<30 nmol/L) had a 43% increased risk for MS compared with women whose levels were ≥50 nmol/L. Women with insufficient levels (30 to 50 nmol/L) had a 27% increased risk compared with women whose levels were ≥50 n…