The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    Correlating latitude and vitamin D with multiple sclerosis

    A recent review of the role of vitamin D in the prevention and treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) concluded it was not possible to make firm conclusions because the studies included small numbers of people with lots of confounding variables.

    Fair enough, but here is an epidemiological report that makes interesting reading and advances the vitamin D theory. [My additions are in brackets.]

    British and Irish immigrants (adults and children) to Australia had a 75% reduction in their risk of developing MS compared to their native countrymen. Furthermore, their reduction in MS risk lessened with increasing latitude [ie, settling further from the equator increased the MS risk].

    Identifying this unknown protective factor could suggest how to prevent MS in susceptible people living at higher latitudes. An important new clue in this work is that this factor must benefit both children and adults.

    The authors conclude, “sunlight intensity, and consequently the vitamin D supply, varies substantially and decreases systematically with increasing latitude and sunlight exposure could benefit all age groups.”

    To read more, go here.

    Illustration: Brain Explorer

    8/11/06 14:39 JR

    Leave a Comment

    You must be logged in to post a comment.