Low Vitamin D Levels And Forms Of Neuropathy

Today's post from autoimmunegal.blogspot.com (see link below) refers specifically to Vitamin D deficiency and Sjogren's Syndrome (a systemic autoimmune disease in which immune cells attack and destroy the glands that produce tears and saliva. It is also often linked to rheumatic disorders). Normally the body makes its own vitamin D with exposure to the Sun. The article also talks about the links between low Vitamin D levels and neuropathy. If you have an auto-immune disease/condition, it's possible that you also have low vitamin D levels. That's by no means a certainty but recently research has shown the importance of a stable Vitamin D levels for various medical reasons. People with HIV for instance also often have vitamin D deficiencies, often due to the medications, sometimes leading to, amongst others bone density problems but also peripheral neuropathy. It seems to be one of those subjects that's gaining steam across the internet and it is clear that more research needs to be presented to show how and why vitamin D levels have an effect on auto-immune diseases. In the meantime, if your doctor is willing it will do now harm to check your D levels (along with B12 and others) if you have neuropathic problems.
 

  
Sjogren’s, Vitamin-D, Neuropathy, and Lymphoma
Friday, December 7, 2012

Those of you who follow me on twitter (@autoimmunegal) know that I am always tweeting health and medical research studies on autoimmune diseases. Yes, that may make me a little bit of a nerd, but that is OK with me. Along those lines, I recently came across an interesting study (thanks to a tweet from the Sjogren’s Society of Canada) that I thought was very important to share. This study from the Journal of Autoimmunity found a link between primary Sjogren’s Syndrome (pSS) patients with low vitamin-D levels having peripheral neuropathy and having lymphoma.

It is important to mention that this research is the first to find a relationship between low vitamin-D and the risk of lymphoma for those with Sjogren's. There have also been very few studies to date examining vitamin-D levels and their impact on Sjogren's patients. The authors write with regard to neuropathy that “vitamin-D deficiency may be a component in the pathogenesis of neuropathy in pSS.” They then conclude that their research “may warrant the need for a tighter monitoring of vitamin-D among patients with pSS." You can see the article's abstract by clicking here.

Low vitamin-D levels have been correlated with autoimmunity in some studies. In addition, vitamin-D has been found to have a protective effect in preventing the development of AI diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune thyroiditis, and Type 1 diabetes. Some studies have even shown that higher levels of vitamin-D are associated with decreased cancer risk including for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, but as is often the case with scientific research there have been conflicting studies and controversy in this area. Basically vitamin-D seems to be powerful stuff.

When I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s almost two years ago, I was found to have both low vitamin-D levels and severe neuropathy. This study might shed some light on patients like me and serves as big reminder that I best keep taking my vitamin-D supplement. I take a daily over the counter supplement and I do try to have foods high in vitamin-D a few times a week, but that doesn't always raise my vitamin-D level high enough. When my levels are low, my doctor usually prescribes a 12 week course of 50,000 IU of D3 once a week. That usually does the trick to get my vitamin-D in normal range.

The results of this study certainly gives me and others with Sjogren’s MAJOR reasons (lymphoma and neuropathy) to talk to our doctors about vitamin-D and take our supplements if they recommend it. I actually haven’t had my vitamin-D levels (a simple blood test) checked in some time so that will be added to the list to discuss for my next rheumatology appointment in a couple months. If you want to read more about vitamin-D and autoimmune diseases, check out some of the links I listed below (please feel free to add your own as this list is far from comprehensive). To learn more about lymphoma and Sjogren’s, click on this link to a recent post from Julia’s blog 'Reasonably Well' on the topic.

Were your levels of vitamin-D low when you were diagnosed with autoimmune disease? By the way, make sure to talk your doctor before making any changes to your vitamin supplements.

http://autoimmunegal.blogspot.nl/2012/12/sjogrens-vitamin-d-neuropathy-and_7.html