b"Doctors NotesThe MS News column includes analysis from Ben Thrower, M.D., MS Focus senior medical advisor. He draws from the top news stories of the quarter and explains what the news means to you, the person with MS. Christine Willis, MLIS, AHIP, is the Clinical Information Librarian at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Egleston Hospital.Vitamin D affects riskI would argue, as this study does, that there of disease activity in MSis clearly a link between low vitamin D levels An international team of researchers ledand MS. This study, and others, also show a by the Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS Sanlink between how low vitamin D levels and Raffaele Scientic Institute, Milan, Italy, assessedthe future risk of MS disease activity. whether vitamin D is linked to the No-EvidenceWhether taking supplemental vitamin D of Disease Activity-3 status at two years fromoffers some degree of protection from MS disease-modifying treatment start, and whetherdisease activity is more controversial. Personally, this link is causal or the result of confoundingI believe that keeping serum vitamin D levels factors. Furthermore, they explored if a geneticabove 50 is linked to a lower risk of relapses predisposition to higher vitamin D levels affectsand new lesions on MRI. Some studies have the risk of disease activity. They found lowershown this, while others have not. In addition to baseline vitamin D was linked to decreasedthose studies that showed a positive treatment probability of NEDA-3 at two years. Particularly,effect of vitamin D in MS, there is an abundance vitamin D levels less than 20 ng/mL conferredof lab data showing vitamin D does have more than a twofold risk of disease activity.anti-inammatory effects.Genetic predisposition to higher vitamin DExcessive vitamin D could have risks, and levels was linked to delayed age at MS onset andI would suggest basing your vitamin D dose with a higher probability of NEDA-3 status.onbloodtestingandtheadviceofyour MRI conrmed causality between vitamin Dhealthcare team. Excessive vitamin D can be and the risk of disease activity. Vitamin D levelslinked to ectopic calcication such as kidney before DMT start affecting the risk of diseasestones. activity in MS. Genetic predisposition to higher vitamin D levels confers a lower risk of diseaseLiterature review suggests modanil activity and is linked to delayed MS onset.may help treat MS fatigueThe ndings were published in the JournalNumerous clinical trials have investigated of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. the efficacy of modanil in addressing fatigue Thrower -The topic of MS and vitamin D canamong people with MS. Researchers led by seem controversial at times. There are severalthe Department of Medicine, Dow University questions that arise on the subject. First, areof Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan, set out to low vitamin D levels associated with the riskassess the safety and efficacy of modanil for the of MS and how MS might progress? Second,treatment of fatigue in MS. They conducted a does taking supplemental vitamin D affectsearch, turning up seven studies for analysis. the risk of MS relapses, new lesions on MRIModafinil led to a meaningful reduction in or progression of disability. fatiguewhencomparedwithplacebo,as 45 msfocusmagazine.org"