Vitamin D supplements can help young children to 'ward off diabetes'

Vitamin D supplements 'ward off diabetes'

Extract from the Telegraph:

"Supplements of vitamin D can help young children to ward off diabetes in later life, researchers report.

The chance of developing Type 1 diabetes fell by almost a third in those who received extra doses of the vitamin.

The disease is caused when the body destroys cells in the pancreas, which regulate insulin. It often starts in early infancy and is on the rise across western Europe.

It is the most common form of diabetes among people under 40 and affects about 350,000 people in Britain, including 20,000 children.

A review of more than 6,000 cases found that children given additional vitamin D were around 30 per cent less likely to develop Type 1 diabetes than those not given it.

The higher and more regular the dose of the vitamin, the less likelihood there was of developing the disease."