Vitamin D helps control gene implicated in MS

For the first time, researchers have found a direct link between vitamin D deficiency and the risk of developing multiple sclerosis in people with a genetic predisposition for the disease.

The study by a team of Canadian and British researchers suggests that too little of the "sunshine vitamin" in a mother during pregnancy and a child's early years may boost the risk of that child developing MS later in life.

The researchers found that proteins activated by vitamin D in the body bind to a particular stretch of DNA that lies next to a gene implicated in MS - called DRB1-1501 - and regulate what the gene does.

If there is a lack of vitamin D in the body, the gene may not function properly, the researchers say.