This article appeared in the local newspapers yesterday. $10 mill. for a study of MS birthdays. I read somewhere that many people with MS in the northern hemisphere have birthdays in May and therefore perhaps many in the southern hemisphere are born after winter here eg me in September.
To shortcut the study, maybe we could have a straw poll on this site to see if winter pregnancies has lead to a higher incidence of MS sufferers.
Vitamin trial bid to prevent MS
March 18, 2009
MULTIPLE sclerosis researchers say vitamin D might be a key to preventing the disease - and have called for a special federal grant for a trial to prove it.
Previous studies revealed the so-called "latitude effect": a Tasmanian is seven times more likely to develop the condition than someone in northern Queensland.
This, and other evidence, suggests that sunshine or ultraviolet light has a protective effect against the disease - so vitamin D supplements from an early age could help shield those at risk.
Trevor Kilpatrick, director of neuroscience at the University of Melbourne, said he and other Australian experts were working to design a trial testing this idea, but it would cost a lot of money.
"This couldn't be funded by the normal funding bodies in Australia; it requires lobbying and buy-in at another level," he said. "It's a $10 million expense to even contemplate setting up such a study."
MS is known to vary according to the month a person is born, with the highest incidence in people born after a winter pregnancy - suggesting the protective effect of vitamin D could even begin in the womb. "The critical question now is how do we transfer that understanding into something which is of practical benefit to people?" Professor Kilpatrick said.
At a parliamentary breakfast in Canberra yesterday, the research and fund-raising umbrella group MS Research Australia put the case for an extra $5 million in Commonwealth money for MS research, saying it would be matched by an equal increase in donations from private foundations and the general community.
"This is an opportunity for the Government to help Australian MS researchers in ground-breaking discoveries which will affect millions worldwide, " said Dr John Richert, vice-president of research for the US National MS Society, who attended the event.
An estimated 18,000 Australians have MS.