Sunday, September 23, 2007

While Doing Research on an Entirely Different Subject....

I stumbled across an incredibly interesting article about vitamin D and autism. I became quite thoroughly distracted from my original task as I read this long, but fascinating, 11 page article, then felt compelled to search for other research and information on the theories expressed within it, despite the pile of work on my (virtual) desk that needs attention. In my travels I found this article, posted on the Autism Today site, and this one in the Telegraph, among many others.

While the connection has yet to be proven, I found the evidence compelling enough to agree with the author of this theory, John Jacob Cannell MD, in his concluding point:

"That is, what do we do while we wait for all the hundreds of studies that need to be done to see if the vitamin D theory is correct? The studies will take years. If we do nothing but just wait, we are continuing an unplanned naturalistic experiment on pregnant women, the brains of their unborn children, and upon autistic individuals. A risk/benefit analysis tells us the risk of doing nothing is potentially great while the risk of treating vitamin D deficiency is minimal, simply good medicine, and the better choice."

I am filing this one in my "can't hurt" file. Correcting vitamin D deficiency can do no harm, especially since a lack of this nutrient can contribute to a stunning array of other health issues, including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and chronic pain, to name just a few.

Well, back to my neglected to do list.....

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