Vitamin D and Diabetes

Diabetes, a chronic disease, is marked by insufficient insulin production (type 1 diabetes) or the body's inability to use the insulin it produces effectively (type 2 diabetes). Insulin is an important hormone that the body requires to regulate healthy blood sugar. Hyperglycemia (elevated blood sugar) is the result of unchecked diabetesAccording to the World Health Organization, 364 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes. About 18.8 million have been clinically diagnosed as diabetics, while approximately 7 million people are still undiagnosed or pre-diabetics.The challenge is to determine whether vitamin D deficiency actually causes or increases the incidence of certain diseases or not. There is growing evidence that vitamin D deficiency could be a contributing factor in the development of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. First, the β-cell in the pancreas that secretes insulin has been shown to contain VDRs as well as the 1 alpha hydroxylase enzyme. Evidence indicates that vitamin D treatment improves glucose tolerance and insulin resistance. Overall vitamin D include improving insulin action by stimulating expression of the insulin receptor, enhancing insulin responsiveness for glucose transport and improving systemic inflammation by a direct effect on cytokines. Low vitamin D levels have also been shown to be predictive of the future development of type 2 diabetes. Studies showed that increasing vitamin D serum levels to normal led to a 55% relative reduction in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. As with most disease states and vitamin D, prospective studies related to vitamin D supplementation and diabetes are rare and limited. nother vitamin D study demonstrated that vitamin D supplementation in early childhood decreased the risk of developing type 1 diabetes by 29% compared to children who were not given vitamin D supplement. Overall studies suggest that pregnant women and nursing mothers should take supplements to make sure their vitamin D serum levels are optimal. Because vitamin D is a powerful modulator of the immune system and helps regulate cell proliferation, it seems clear that vitamin D could play a role in preventing diabetes.