Autism is a common condition and has proved to be a challenge for many medical professionals. However, a groundbreaking study shows that Vitamin D supplementation reduces autism symptoms among children. One of the reasons for that is because vitamin D helps in neurodevelopment and gene regulation. It's worth noting that over 2700 genes contain vitamin D receptors. Likewise, vitamin plays a crucial role in regulating the expression of more than 200 genes. Research shows that inadequate vitamin D during pregnancy has many adverse effects on the baby, with an increased risk of autism.
Vitamin D deficiency leads to many health concerns and correcting it has proved useful for autistic children. For instance, when children take enough vitamin D and enough cofactors, 25% of them show dramatic improvement in their autistic conditions, and 50% show significant improvements while only 25% don't show a change. It's worth noting that autism is a highly genetic condition, and a customized autism treatment may be the best solution. You may wonder how vitamin D is helpful. What role does it play? Take a look!
Anti-inflammatory properties
There's an argument that autism is a disease of neuro-inflammation. Luckily, vitamin D has anti-inflammatory properties. According to research, the vitamin inhibits the synthesis and biological actions of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins, which tend to be prevalent in autism. It also facilities anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting nuclear factor-kappa B, which contributes to abnormal signaling in autistic brains.
Autoimmunity
There are more than a hundred autoimmune diseases, and autism is one of them. According to a recent study, most of these disorders are connected with a lack of adequate vitamin D. There has been some evidence to indicate that the vitamin D steroid system helps establish and maintain immunological self-tolerance. As such, vitamin D could help reduce autoantibodies in autism, but there's no concrete evidence to back up the research yet. Vitamin D has anti-autoimmune effects, which could play a crucial role in treating diseases such as autism.
Increasing neurotrophins
Neurotrophins play a crucial role in the development, function, and survival of nerve and brain cells. If you wonder where vitamin D comes in, it upregulates neurotrophins such as the nerve growth factor and the glial-derived neurotrophic factor. The argument is, increased neurotrophins could help damaged brain develop well for children who have autism. The search for the genetic basis of autism has been far from fruitful so far. It's worth noting that the vitamin D system plays a crucial role in brain development. Low activity of vitamin D enzymes and maternal or early childhood vitamin D deficiency could contribute to persistent autism symptoms. Vitamin D can help children with autism, although most parents don't understand where to source it. While various foods contain vitamin D, the best source is from direct sunlight. Adequate doses of vitamin D could also help prevent autism, while higher doses can be useful in treating the condition. Autism is a genetic condition, and there's no specific treatment for it. However, Vitamin D has various properties that could help prevent or treat autistic children.
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