Neurologists at the University at Buffalo, in a new study, have shown that low vitamin D levels may be associated with more advanced physical disability and cognitive impairment in persons with multiple sclerosis.

Reported at the American Academy of Neurology meeting, held earlier this month, the study results indicated that: The majority of MS patients and healthy controls had insufficient vitamin D levels.

It was also reported that clinical evaluation and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images show low blood levels of total vitamin D and certain active vitamin D byproducts are associated with increased disability, brain atrophy and brain lesion load in MS patients.

A potential association exists between cognitive impairment in MS patients and low vitamin D levels.

236 MS patients, 208 diagnosed with the relapsing-remitting type and 28 with secondary progressive, a more destructive form of MS and 22 persons without MS were involved in the MRI study.

All participants provided blood serum samples, which were analyzed for total vitamin D (D2 and D3) levels as well as levels of active vitamin D byproducts. MRI scans performed within three months of blood sampling were available for 163 of the MS patients.

It was further shown by the results that only seven percent of persons with secondary-progressive MS showed sufficient vitamin D, compared to 18.3 percent of patients with the less severe relapsing-remitting type. (With Inputs from Agencies)