A study led by researchers from the University of California, San Diego ( UCSD ) School of Medicine has found a correlation between vitamin D3 serum levels and subsequent incidence of type 1 diabetes.
The six-year study of blood levels of nearly 2,000 individuals suggests a preventive role for vitamin D3 in this disease. The research appears in the Diabetologia, a publication of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes ( EASD ).

This study used samples from millions of blood serum specimens frozen by the Department of Defense Serum Registry for disease surveillance. The researchers thawed and analyzed 1000 samples of serum from healthy people who later developed type 1 diabetes and 1000 healthy controls whose blood was drawn on or near the same date but who did not develop type 1 diabetes.
By comparing the serum concentrations of the predominant circulating form of vitamin D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D [ 25(OH)D ], researchers were able to determine the optimal serum level needed to lower an individual’s risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

Based mainly on results of this study, researchers estimate that the level of 25(OH)D needed to prevent half the cases of type 1 diabetes is 50 ng/ml; 4000 IU per day of vitamin D3 will be needed to achieve the effective levels. A consensus of all available data indicates no known risk associated with this dosage.
Patients need to measure the serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D before increasing vitamin D3 intake.

This beneficial effect is present at these intakes only for vitamin D3. Reliance should not be placed on different forms of vitamin D, and mega doses should be avoided, as most of the benefits for prevention of disease are for doses less than 10,000 IU/day. ( Xagena )

Source: University of California San Diego, 2012

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