A large-scale five-year study has shown vitamin D supplements reduced autoimmune disease (AD) by 22% among over-fifties in the US.
The VITAL study, conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, included 12,786 men aged ≥50 years and 13,085 women aged ≥55 years at enrolment. Participants were randomised to receive daily placebo, 2,000IU vitamin D, or 1,000mg omega-3 fatty acids, said researchers. The authors concluded omega-3 fatty acids alone did not significantly lower incidence of AD, but there was evidence of an increased effect after a longer duration of supplementation.
The effects of supplements on individual disease endpoints (rheumatoid arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, autoimmune thyroid disease, and psoriasis) were assessed, while other ADs were grouped together as an additional endpoint, ‘other autoimmune diseases’, said researchers. The authors also noted their results confirmed earlier observational studies’ findings that people with lower body mass indexes appear to benefit more from vitamin D supplementation.
According to a 2002 Naval Medical Center paper published in American Family Physician, the ocular manifestations of ADs are myriad. Among their examples keratitis is associated with rheumatoid arthritis, Reiters’ syndrome and Graves’ disease; while uveitis is a possible manifestation of dermatomyositis, Behçet's syndrome, Wegener's granulomatosis, sarcoidosis, systemic lupus erythematosus and psoriatic arthritis, among others.
For more, see www.eyeonoptics.co.nz/articles/archive/vitamin-d-deficiency-linked-to-uveitis
