Some great news for patients with diabetes and/or multiple sclerosis (MS). The former is well-known to cause peripheral neuropathy (PN) and the latter’s defining characteristics is a progressive demyelination, which leads to both central and peripheral symptoms, including pain, burning, muscle weakness, tremors, cognitive decline, etc. Both PN and MS are considered incurable once set in motion and there is little doctors claim can be done except (as usual) “manage the symptoms”. The study below demonstrates that not only is a potential treatment available, but it is dirt cheap, widely available and works in low doses not known to cause side effects in humans even with prolonged use. That miracle treatment appears to be vitamin D (the D3 form to be specific). Administering the human-equivalent dose (HED) dose of 70 IU / kg daily, for just 4 weeks ameliorated the peripheral neuropathy caused by artificially-induced demyelination. The demyelination was essentially fully reversed as well.
“…Our literature search revealed that the regenerative role of vitamin D in the VIPN model has not been investigated. However, the application of either vitamin D2 or vitamin D3 at higher (500 IU/kg/day) and lower (100 IU/kg/day) doses were found to have neuroprotective or neuroregenerative effects on experimental peripheral nerve injury models [10-12]. It was observed that vitamin D3 was more effective, delivering considerable electrophysiological and locomotor recovery when administered at higher doses [12].”
“…Withdrawal responses to mechanical allodynia and pinch tests were significantly higher in the vitamin D3-treated group (P < 0.05). The electrophysiological analysis also supported these results. Electron microscopic evaluation revealed that the remyelinated nerve fibers in the vitamin D3-treated group (Group 3) had thick myelin sheaths and normal axonal morphology.”
“…Our study demonstrated that vitamin D3 could promote functional and structural recovery in a rat model of vincristine-induced peripheral neuropathy (VIPN). Further studies should be conducted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms by which vitamin D3 exerts its regenerative effects in VIPN, using alternative administration protocols.”
