NESTLÉ RELAUNCHES NESQUIK WITH NEW ‘NO–ARTS’ RECIPE

A brand new version of family favourite NESQUIK® will hit the shelves this month with a new and improved recipe. NESQUIK will still have the same great taste loved by families nationwide but will be free from artificial ingredients.   

In response to parents’ concerns about artificial ingredients, Nestlé has renovated and improved the NESQUIK recipes so that there are now no added artificial colours, flavours, sweeteners or preservatives, in any of the Strawberry, Chocolate or Banana flavoured products. ‘No arts’ versions of the Strawberry and Chocolate flavours are available now, with new Banana arriving in early autumn. 

NESQUIK has always been a good source of vitamin D, which is essential in helping the body absorb the calcium found in milk. Both calcium and vitamin D are important to help the development of strong bones and teeth in children.

Nutritionist for Nestlé UK and Ireland Liz Read said, “We’ve worked really hard to improve the NESQUIK recipe by taking out artificial ingredients. We are giving parents extra assurances and now have a product that families will love.

“The work we’ve done with NESQUIK is a continuation of our work to remove artificial ingredients across Nestlé’s products more broadly and builds on the renovation of our confectionery products such as SMARTIES, MILKYBAR and the ROWNTREE’S brand. “

The launch of new recipe NESQUIK will be backed by a £3 million marketing campaign which sees NESQUIK milkshake powder advertised on TV for the first time in 10 years.

Through emotionally engaging communications, the campaign will connect with a new generation of families. Both TV and digital activity will continue to feature the iconic NESQUIK bunny Quicky, who has been the brand’s mascot since 1973.

Egle Augustinaviciute, NESQUIK Brand Manager said; “The creative idea at the heart of the campaign – ‘They only grow up once’– reminds consumers that NESQUIK is a fun family brand that  encourages kids to grow in imagination and learning. It also promotes NESQUIK’s health benefits, both as a source of vitamins and as an imaginative way of making milk an appealing drink choice for kids…and grown–up kids!” 

The campaign is backed by strong integrated digital support with the launch of new ‘Nesquik.co.uk’ as well as the exciting  new ‘Imagination Station’ (www.nesquik–imaginationstation.co.uk) launched in co–operation with AOL. ‘Nesquik.co.uk’ provides parents with product information as well as general nutritional information and great NESQUIK recipes, while ‘Imagination Station’ acts as an online resource for parents, with exciting playtime ideas and free activity sheets for parents to enjoy with their children.

Additionally, for the first time this year NESQUIK will participate in ‘Get Set, Go Free’, Nestlé’s cross–category family activity promotion which encourages families to get out and try new activities.

For more information: Nestlé UK Press Office
020 8667 6005
nestleukpressoffice@uk.nestle.com

Vitamin D and Parkinson’s

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

“Low vitamin D levels may increase a person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s disease,” BBC News has reported. Its website said that people with the lowest levels of vitamin D had a three-fold higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

The news is based on research that followed over 3,000 Finnish people aged 50 to 79 years over a period of 29 years. Scientists took a measurement of the participants’ blood vitamin D levels and looked at how the subsequent risk of developing Parkinson’s disease over the period related to their blood vitamin D levels.

This high-quality, preliminary study showed an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease in those patients with the lowest vitamin D levels compared to the highest. However, Finland is a northern latitude country and so all the participants had relatively low levels of vitamin D, which the body produces using sunlight. Further research is needed to follow up whether this association is found in larger cohorts of people from different latitudes, who may have higher vitamin D levels than in this study.

Where did the story come from?

The study was carried out by researchers from the national Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland and was funded by the US National Institutes of Health. The study was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Archives of Neurology.

This study was covered accurately by BBC News, which pointed out that it is still uncertain if there is a level of vitamin D that is optimal for brain health or a point where vitamin D becomes toxic for humans.

What kind of research was this?

This was a cohort study that looked at whether vitamin D levels in the blood earlier in life are associated with developing Parkinson’s disease later in life.

The researchers suggest that patients with Parkinson’s disease have been found to have lower vitamin D in cross-sectional studies. Problematically, cross-sectional studies, which only look at participants at one point in time, can only tell us about the vitamin D levels found in patients had already developed the disease.

To explore the possible relationship, the researchers wanted to see whether the vitamin D levels predicted Parkinson’s disease several decades later. This research looked at incidence in a population who had been followed for 29 years on average, and who were from northern latitudes (Finland) where exposure to the sun is limited and therefore the vitamin D they derived from the sun was usually low.

What did the research involve?

The researchers used data from the Mini-Finland Health Survey, which was carried out from 1978 to 1980 across 40 areas of Finland. They used data from 3,173 individuals who were free from Parkinson’s disease and psychotic disorders and who were aged between 50 and 79 years at the time of the survey.

The questionnaire contained data on socioeconomic background, medical history and lifestyle as well as baseline examination measurements of height, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and vitamin D levels in the blood.

Cases of Parkinson’s disease were diagnosed and verified by two separate clinicians; a standard practice in the Finnish health system. Finnish patients with Parkinson’s disease can receive free medication after applying with a certificate issued by their treating neurologist. These certificates contain the symptom history and clinical findings in the patients. A neurologist from a social insurance institution then has to agree with the diagnosis described on the certificate for medication costs to be reimbursed.

Patients were followed up for an average of 29 years from their baseline examination until their diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease or death from other causes. During this period 50 members of the cohort developed Parkinson’s disease.

The researchers used an established statistical technique called the ‘Cox proportional hazards model’ to estimate the strength of association (relative risk) between vitamin D levels and the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

What were the basic results?

The researchers found that vitamin D concentration was lower among people with Parkinson’s disease but it was also associated with age, sex, marital status, leisure time, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI, diabetes, high blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels and the season in which the measurement was taken.

After adjusting for these confounding factors the researchers found that individuals with higher vitamin D levels had a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease compared to individuals with low vitamin D. The relative risk of developing Parkinson’s disease was 67% lower for the quarter of patients with the highest vitamin D levels, compared to the quarter of patients with the lowest vitamin D.

The researchers suggest that an optimal blood vitamin D concentration is 75-80 nmol/l. People in:

• the lowest quartile had vitamin D concentrations of 8 to 28 nmol/l (men), 7 to 25 nmol/l (women).
• the highest quartile had vitamin D concentrations in the range 57 to 159 nmol/l (men), 50 to 151 nmol/l (women).

How did the researchers interpret the results?

The researchers say that a low serum vitamin D level predicts an elevated risk of Parkinson’s disease incidence. They say that although the study population as a whole had low vitamin D levels, a dose-response relationship was found; in other words, the lower the vitamin D level the higher the chance of Parkinson’s disease.

The study did not look at mechanisms underlying the association but the researchers suggest that vitamin D could act as an antioxidant, regulate neuron activity or act through detoxification mechanisms. They also say that an enzyme that makes the active form of vitamin D is found in high concentrations in the substantia nigra, the region of the brain that is affected most by Parkinson’s disease.

An editorial accompanying this research article says that some epidemiological studies have shown a latitudinal north-south gradient for Parkinson’s disease, similar to that seen for multiple sclerosis. However, it cautions that the evidence does not seen to be as strong for Parkinson’s as it is for multiple sclerosis (MS) because other studies have not confirmed the potential link.

The authors say the research study “provides the first promising human data to suggest that inadequate vitamin D status is associated with the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease”. They add that further work is needed in both basic and clinical arenas to understand the exact role, mechanisms, and optimum concentration of vitamin D in Parkinson’s disease.

Conclusion

This was a well-conducted study that looked prospectively at the role of vitamin D in the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, although there are some limitations to the study that the researchers highlight:

• There were a small number of cases of Parkinson’s disease within this cohort. The researchers suggest this may have affected the accuracy of their estimates of risk.
• The study only took a single measurement of vitamin D, which may not reflect typical variations in concentrations across the seasons and across the lifetime of each individual.
• The blood samples had been stored for a relatively long time so the possibility that the vitamin D levels changed with storage cannot be excluded.
• The study did not address whether there is a critical time in life that suboptimal vitamin D levels affect the risk of Parkinson’s disease.
• The study did not include information on dietary intake of vitamin D from vitamin D rich foods such as oily fish. Such foods may contain other nutrients that may be beneficial against Parkinson’s disease.
• The risk factors for Parkinson’s disease are not well known and therefore not all possible influencing factors may have been taken into account in the analysis.

This relatively small, preliminary study was of good quality but the researchers say that larger follow-up cohort studies are needed. Clinical trials focusing on the effect of vitamin D supplements on the incidence of Parkinson’s disease also merit follow up, they say.

It is worth noting that as this study was conducted in people who all had low levels of vitamin D. It is not known, from this study, if there is a level of vitamin D above which there is no further reduction in the risk of Parkinson’s disease. This is important as excessive amounts of vitamin D taken as supplementation in people with normal levels can cause toxicity.

Advice U-turn after years of telling us to cover up

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

According to the old song, only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

Yet the latest thinking is that maybe everyone should give it a try.

After years of urging us to cover up, a leading charity is expected to recommend short spells exposed to the sun at its highest.

The advice, from Cancer Research UK, reflects concern that current sunbathing recommendations are unnecessarily restrictive and are leading to low levels of vitamin D.

Although the vitamin is found in some foods, most of that found in the body comes from sunlight exposure, and most of us just don’t have enough of it.

In England, half of the population is low in the ’sunshine vitamin’ when winter ends, while in Scotland the proportion is two thirds.

As part of its remit to prevent skin cancer, the charity advises trying to stay out of the sun when it is at its peak and cover the skin with clothing and generous amounts of sunscreen.

But a confidential statement being prepared by the charity acknowledges that the evidence about the benefits of vitamin D is growing.

The vitamin is vital for calcium absorption and bone health, and could help ward off Alzheimer’s.

Recent research has shown that vitamin D supplements are as good as some drugs at keeping prostate cancer under control – and it is said that taking supplements in pregnancy and childhood could wipe out 80 per cent of cases of multiple sclerosis.

Read more:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1292210/Midday-sun-GOOD-cancer-charity-suggest-new-guidance.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz0t0Loq7SF

Oliver Gillie: Time to abandon this outdated view on staying out of the sun

Lack of sunshine and the vitamin that it makes in our skin is probably the most serious single cause of disease in the UK today.

Vitamin D deficiency is well known as the classic cause of rickets and serious bone diseases, but in the last 10 years it has also been identified as a major risk factor for diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, infections, some cancers and other ills.

The cost of all this disease to the UK has been put at an astounding £27bn annually, which compares with only £5bn for the cost of disease caused by smoking.

Small amounts of vitamin D can be obtained from food but you can’t obtain more than about 10 per cent of the optimal amount this way unless you eat oily fish – skin and all – three times a day.

We depend on the sun for our vitamin D. Since our weather is so unreliable, British people suffer more than almost any other from vitamin D deficiency.

Many years of bad advice has also been a factor.

The British Isles are located far north so the winter sun is not strong enough to make any vitamin D. The prevailing westerly wind bringing cloud in from the Atlantic is also against us. The Scots are worst off because there is nothing to the west to protect them. Their vitamin D levels are lower and they have the highest incidence of multiple sclerosis in the world.

Scientists studying MS now believe that it may be prevented if women take vitamin D in pregnancy and children take regular supplements. Another devastating disease, diabetes type 1 – affecting mostly children who must inject themselves with insulin – could be prevented by the same vitamin D supplements.

Indeed it is possible that these two diseases could now be eradicated if Government had the will.

However a recommendation that pregnant women take vitamin D has been ignored over many years by obstetricians.

Standard advice is that babies are not given vitamin D until they are six months old. Nobody any longer remembers the reason for this, which is implemented nowhere else.

Everybody thinks that breast milk is a complete food – and so it might be if mothers sunbathed as often as they can. As it is, breast milk in the UK is deficient in vitamin D while artificial milk is supplemented.

This need not be a problem if mothers give vitamin D drops to their babies. Melanoma, the worst form of skin cancer, has dramatically increased during some 20 years of advice to avoid the sun and use suncream. This is quite possibly because the advice has been wrong. Suncream blocks the action of UVB (shortwave ultraviolet radiation from the sun) – so blocking synthesis of vitamin D with loss of protection against cancer – while UVA (longwave radiation), which seems to carry the main risk of melanoma, is not blocked by many creams.

We could do much, much more. The Irish Republic has already fortified semi-skimmed milk with vitamin D, Finland has fortified milk and Israel is making milk fortification mandatory. Jordan is bringing in fortification of bread.

The UK the Food Standards Agency has hummed and hawed. The United States has had fortification for 80 years. What are the English and Scots waiting for?

The one simple action open to us all is to sunbathe, carefully without burning. The sun is natural, free, and safe if you are sensible. It’s also good to take a vitamin D supplement of at least 1000 to 2000 IUs [international units of measurement] per day.

The author is a health writer and vitamin D campaigner.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/oliver-gillie-time-to-abandon-this-outdated-view-on-staying-out-of-the-sun-2018389.html

MS Gene Expression is Regulated By Vitamin D

Expression of the Multiple Sclerosis-Associated MHC Class II Allele HLA-DRB1*1501 Is Regulated by Vitamin D

Abstract Top

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex trait in which allelic variation in the MHC class II region exerts the single strongest effect on genetic risk.

Epidemiological data in MS provide strong evidence that environmental factors act at a population level to influence the unusual geographical distribution of this disease.

Growing evidence implicates sunlight or vitamin D as a key environmental factor in aetiology.

We hypothesised that this environmental candidate might interact with inherited factors and sought responsive regulatory elements in the MHC class II region.

Sequence analysis localised a single MHC vitamin D response element (VDRE) to the promoter region of HLA-DRB1. Sequencing of this promoter in greater than 1,000 chromosomes from HLA-DRB1 homozygotes showed absolute conservation of this putative VDRE on HLA-DRB1*15 haplotypes. In contrast, there was striking variation among non–MS-associated haplotypes.

Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed specific recruitment of vitamin D receptor to the VDRE in the HLA-DRB1*15 promoter, confirmed by chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments using lymphoblastoid cells homozygous for HLA-DRB1*15. Transient transfection using a luciferase reporter assay showed a functional role for this VDRE. B cells transiently transfected with the HLA-DRB1*15 gene promoter showed increased expression on stimulation with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (P = 0.002) that was lost both on deletion of the VDRE or with the homologous “VDRE” sequence found in non–MS-associated HLA-DRB1 haplotypes. Flow cytometric analysis showed a specific increase in the cell surface expression of HLA-DRB1 upon addition of vitamin D only in HLA-DRB1*15 bearing lymphoblastoid cells.

This study further implicates vitamin D as a strong environmental candidate in MS by demonstrating direct functional interaction with the major locus determining genetic susceptibility. These findings support a connection between the main epidemiological and genetic features of this disease with major practical implications for studies of disease mechanism and prevention.

Author Summary Top
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a complex neurological disease with a strong genetic component. The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) on chromosome 6 exerts the strongest genetic effect on disease risk. A region at or near the HLA-DRB1 locus in the MHC influences the risk of MS. HLA-DRB1 has over 400 different alleles. The dominant haplotype of Northern Europe, marked by the presence of DRB1*1501, increases risk of MS by 3-fold. The environment also plays a key role in MS. The most striking illustration of this is the geographical distribution of the disease in populations matched for ethnicity. This has led to the proposal that sunshine, and in particular, vitamin D, is an environmental factor influencing the risk of MS. Circumstantial evidence supporting this comes from studies showing the involvement of vitamin D in immune and nervous system function. The current investigation sought to uncover any relationship between vitamin D and HLA-DRB1. It was found that vitamin D specifically interacts with HLA-DRB1*1501 to influence its expression. This study therefore provides more direct support for the already strong epidemiological evidence implicating sunlight and vitamin D in the determination of MS risk, and implies that vitamin D supplementation at critical time periods may be key to disease prevention.

Sreeram V. Ramagopalan ^1,2#, Narelle J. Maugeri^1#, Lahiru Handunnetthi^1,2, Matthew R. Lincoln^1,2, Sarah-Michelle Orton^1,2, David A. Dyment^1,2, Gabriele C. DeLuca^1,2, Blanca M. Herrera^1,2, Michael J. Chao^1,2, A. Dessa Sadovnick^3,4, George C. Ebers^1,2*, Julian C. Knight^1*

¹ Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, ²Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom, ³ Department of Medical Genetics, Division of Neurology, University of British Columbia, UBC Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, ⁴ Faculty of Medicine, Division of Neurology, University of British Columbia, UBC Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Source: Public Library of Science Genetics (20/05/10)

Vitamin D: hope on the horizon for MS prevention?

The worldwide prevalence and incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS) are on the increase. The need for strategies to prevent this devastating disease is therefore greater than ever.

As highlighted in a Review in this issue of The Lancet Neurology, vitamin D deficiency might be an important modifiable risk factor for MS. This raises the question of whether population-wide supplementation programmes might be a reasonable prevention strategy.

Vitamin D deficiency is especially common in high latitude regions, such as northern USA, Canada, northern Europe, and New Zealand, where weaker ultraviolet B rays during winter months are insufficient for people to produce enough vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency has traditionally been linked to bone diseases such as rickets; in addition to MS, links with other diseases such as type 1 diabetes, heart disease, infectious diseases, and some types of cancer are now emerging. Pregnant women, young children, and the elderly are at the greatest risk. Vitamin D deficiency might also adversely affect disease course in many disorders, including MS, although evidence for this is less robust.

The main sources of vitamin D are sunlight and diet, but many people do not get sufficient amounts, so dietary supplements are required. The current recommended daily intake of vitamin D is typically 200—400 IU/day in Europe, and in the USA and Canada, where some foods are fortified with vitamin D, the recommendation is for 200—600 IU/day. The US National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine is currently reviewing the dietary reference intakes for vitamin D and calcium and is due to report its recommendations at the end of summer 2010.

Expert recommendations for optimum serum vitamin D concentrations range from 50 nmol/L to 100 nmol/L; the total daily need for vitamin D, from sunshine, diet, and supplementation, to achieve this concentration is thought to be 1000—4000 IU/day, depending on factors such as age, geographical region, and health status. The risks of taking high doses of vitamin D are thought to be low, and the main concern of overdose is hypercalcaemia. However, given that an adult who spends 20 min in summer sunshine can produce an oral intake equivalent of about 10 000 IU/day, the suggested dose of 1000—4000 IU/day is unlikely to be toxic. Recent evidence suggests that prolonged intake of 10 000 IU/day (and even up to 40 000 IU/day) poses no risk for adults.

So far, the evidence for a protective effect of vitamin D on MS largely comes from ecological and observational studies, although evidence is accumulating on possible mechanisms linking vitamin D deficiency and autoimmunity. Large-scale, long-term randomised controlled trials on high-dose vitamin D supplementation would be needed to definitively establish a protective effect and to identify any unexpected long-term complications. But it could take decades before data on MS prevention become available.

In the meantime, because the risks seem to be low, is there already a case for widespread vitamin D supplementation?

Scotland is one such region where the prevalence and incidence of MS, and other diseases related to vitamin D deficiency, are already so high that the benefits of supplementation are likely to outweigh any potential side-effects. During an upcoming summit in Scotland, hosted by MS Society Scotland and resulting from the Shine on Scotland campaign, researchers will present the case to Scottish government officials for vitamin D supplements to be made freely available for all young children and pregnant women.

As vitamin D is an inexpensive supplement, the potential cost savings of such a programme are enormous, and in addition to MS, might have implications for numerous diseases linked to vitamin D deficiency. In Europe, if the predicted effects of raising serum vitamin D concentrations to 100 nmol/L are realised, the potential savings have been estimated to be €187 billion per year from the direct and indirect burden of disease, set against an expenditure of €10 billion on testing and public education. As well as the possible health benefits, such a supplementation programme might provide important research opportunities to understand the long-term effects of vitamin D.

Trials are needed to address the numerous questions that remain to be answered about dosing levels, potential long-term complications, and causal mechanisms, among others. In the meantime, given the low costs, low toxicity, and possible beneficial effects of supplementation programmes, steps to tackle vitamin D deficiency in high-risk populations seem warranted. Because any benefits for MS in particular will take decades to emerge, a long-term outlook is needed from policy makers, but future health and financial benefits have the potential to make this investment highly rewarding.

Source: The Lancet Neurology Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Limited. (25/05/10)

MS Society Scotland  :

Vitamin D – Renewed Hope for MS Prevention

25.05.10 

The current issue of The Lancet Neurology contains a review of evidence on vitamin D deficiency as a possible risk factor for MS, raising the question of whether supplementation programmes could be a reasonable prevention strategy. The review concludes that “given the low costs, low toxicity, and possible beneficial effects of supplementation programmes, steps to tackle vitamin D deficiency in high-risk populations seem warranted”. Scotland is specifically identified as a country where the large numbers of people living with MS, and other conditions related to vitamin D deficiency, make it likely that the benefits of supplementation would outweigh any potential side-effects.

The Lancet article mentions the Shine on Scotland campaign and the international summit on vitamin D and MS which the MS Society Scotland will be hosting in September. Leading researchers from around the word will be coming to Scotland for the summit and presenting the latest research to build the case for taking action on vitamin D as a public health issue.

Over the longer term, as the article makes clear, trials are needed to address questions about dosage levels, long-term implications and causal mechanisms but this is not viewed as an impediment to beginning a supplementation programme now or in the very near future. The potential savings are simply huge – estimates suggest that €187 billion per year could be saved across Europe by tackling vitamin D deficiency.

Commenting on the article, David McNiven, Director of MS Society Scotland, said:
“The Lancet article is very encouraging because it endorses the arguments that we have been making: that vitamin D supplementation represents a low-cost, low-risk public health intervention with potentially massive benefits. I very much look forward to welcoming internationally renowned scientists to Scotland later this year to explore the issue further. The Shine on Scotland campaign has made incredible progress in just over a year and the MS Society Scotland will continue to work with the Scottish Government and others on this important matter of public health”.

The full Lancet article can be accessed at www.thelancet.com

There is also a review article which discusses some of the areas where research is needed, for example the influence of vitamin D in MS progression. Vitamin D review article 

Shine the light on MS

Should Scotland introduce a Vitamin D supplementation programme?

When Ryan McLaughlin was 14 he found himself displaying symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis. Acutely aware of the condition as a result of his mother’s diagnosis two years previously, he was referred to Yorkhill hospital for tests. Hoping to learn of a cure, he sought answers on the internet and came across research from Oxford University, highlighting the link between Vitamin D deficiency and MS. 

“To be honest with you, I kind of discounted it at first, thinking it was a wee bit too simple,” says dad, Alan. “He went back upstairs and had another good read of the research and came back down and said would it not be just as easy to put the vitamins straight into the milk and then every child has protection. We thought that was a brilliant idea and that is really when we took notice.” With the help of the MS Society Scotland, Ryan, whose suffering turned out to be stress causing his body to mimic the symptoms of his mother’s condition, formed the Shine on Scotland campaign and took his proposals to the Scottish Parliament. His petition attracted over 1500 signatures and since then the Scottish Government has agreed to run an awareness campaign highlighting the links between Vitamin D, the so-called sunshine vitamin, and MS. 

However, his long-term aim remains that Vitamin D supplements be offered to every child and pregnant women. 

This goal was given a significant boost last week following the publication of an article in the Lancet Neurology journal. 

In addition to casting a spotlight on Scotland, the article also references the Shine on Scotland campaign and argues that as Vitamin D is an inexpensive supplement, the potential cost savings of such a programme are enormous. 

It continues: “In Europe, if the predicted effects of raising serum Vitamin D concentrations to 100 nmol/L are realised, the potential savings have been estimated to be €187 billion [c £160bn] per year from the direct and indirect burden of disease, set against an expenditure of €10 billion on testing and public education.” While it makes clear that trials are still needed to address questions about dosage levels and long-term implications, it nevertheless argues that given the high prevalence and incidence of MS in Scotland, as well as other diseases related to Vitamin D deficiency such as many types of cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes, “the benefits of supplementation are likely to outweigh any potential side-effects” and so should not be seen as an impediment to beginning a supplementation programme in the near future. 

The McLaughlin family are understandably delighted with the news and argue that a supplementation programme should be introduced without delay. 

“I think there has got to be some movement on it, one way or another now,” says Alan. 

“To go to a cohort study will take five years. 

To go to a randomised control study will probably be a ten-year process and we would be looking at probably another 15 years on top before we see a result and get proper data from it and that is too long. Children are suffering. The numbers are growing for MS for children vastly and obviously, people are being diagnosed a lot younger and that means folk are suffering now. So we can’t wait 15 to 20 years to get a result and then take action.” He continues: “A large study would cost between £10-25m. Whereas the Government literally could say we go and allow fortification for certain products at a higher dosage and share some of the burden and cost of that with the food industry and what you will have is healthier kids with a built up immune system at very little cost to the Government to implement it and hopefully, you will see an instant improvement in people’s health.” Certainly, the food industry is not waiting on the Government to make up its mind, he argues. 

“There are plans afoot already by several brands on the market to start putting Vitamin D into all sorts of foods. We’ve already seen it with powdered milk - SMA and Cow & Gate have already started putting it in. Nestle have started putting it into some of their products abroad but not in the UK. They have already brought out Vitamin D in Australia in Kit Kat bars. That will happen here as well, with the right encouragement.” There is growing international recognition of the issue, says Alan, pointing out that US President Barack Obama has recently launched a task force to look at Vitamin D deficiency and Ryan has already written to First Lady Michelle Obama, who is spearheading the ‘Let’s move’ campaign to end childhood obesity to tell her about his campaign in Scotland. 

“American groups are up in arms,” Alan says, “they really want it. North America, especially. 

Australia started campaigning last week. 

Germany kicks one off in a week’s time. 

“So it has caught on and the research is there to prove the theory. 

“I think we are way by the point where people don’t believe it anymore, it is now just about taking action and seeing how much it will help.” And there is a sense that Scotland is leading the field on this issue, argues Craig Wilkie, head of policy and communications, MS Society Scotland. 

“Partly that is because some of the most significant research has been done in the UK and has been taken up in a Scottish context throughout this campaign,” he says, “and from our perspective, the Scottish Government has been very receptive to looking at that, considering that and working with us to see what some of the implications might be.” There is certainly much to consider. In March a group of international experts, health professionals, politicians and patient representatives met in Brussels to call for action to address widespread deficiency of Vitamin D in Europe. 

“Most of the experts and health professionals there were very much of the view that this is quite a significant challenge and it was described by one of the participants as the low-lying fruit of public health - the next stage that governments could and should consider,” explains Wilkie, who attended the meeting. 

Unfortunately, the meeting tended to be a little bit focused on the academic research itself rather than some of the policies that politicians and governments might look at, he says. However, he is hopeful that the summit that is being hosted by MS Society Scotland with support from the Scottish Government later this year will provide a forum for such debate. 

The summit, which had been scheduled for April but was postponed due to the volcanic ash cloud, will now be held in Scotland in September. 

“It is quite exciting for us to be able to bring these people into the same room to look at a potentially important issue,” he says. 

“One of the things that is interesting, at least to me, about Vitamin D is that even though the research and the evidence is still emerging, and some of it is still at a reasonably early stage, I think, especially in the current climate, that it is important that the options we are looking at are relatively low cost. And even if the benefit as yet is not absolutely definitive, the potential benefit is actually quite big and at the same time, the risks seem to be very low. 

“So the combination of all those factors make it potentially quite a significant area to look at in relation to public health and one that might bring a lot of benefit for not very much investment.” Backing the Lancet article’s calls for action now on supplementation, Wilkie says he would like to see the Government giving serious consideration to a programme of supplementation for at-risk groups, such as young children, pregnant women, and certain ethnic minority groups who may tend to cover up and so do not receive the same exposure to the sun. 

However, alongside this he would also like to see more co-ordination of public health messages around how to boost levels of Vitamin D naturally. 

“By and large, the message on sunscreen and so on has been quite a successful one in public health terms. But one of the implications of that in a country like Scotland is that people are actually denying themselves the opportunity to get Vitamin D from the sun, which is the most obvious and plentiful source of it. Even ten, 15 minutes in the sun prior to putting on sunscreen can make a difference. So one of the things that we’ve been talking about with the Government is how you can try and coordinate some of those messages and look at some of the unintended consequences of certain health messages around sunscreen, for example.” While he says there is still a long way to go, he says it is remarkable what the Shine on Scotland campaign has managed to achieve in a relatively short time, which he credits in no small part to Ryan’s unstinting “enthusiasm and commitment”. 

“He is always looking for new opportunities to expand the campaign or add different dimensions to it. He is quite an extraordinary young man. So it is no surprise that he is getting things done,” Wilkie says. 

Alan is also proud of what his son has achieved. “He’s done a fantastic job with it. 

He’s got his own wee style in the way he speaks to the Government and to manage to get the whole government on side, he has done really well. 

“For the last year he has just been stuck in his room, apart from when he is doing his Taekwondo, researching and annoying politicians until they give in.” And he has been right to do so, Alan says. 

“It is not as if they are giving in for any reason other than that he’s right. The research is 40 years old now. It was only last year that Oxford University found that specific gene which proved the theory, but the Vitamin D hypothesis has been there for nearly going on 40 years. So it is about time something is done about it.”