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The Hindu
24-07-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
Consilient evidence links lack of vitamin D to neurodevelopmental issues
From bones to immune cells, vitamin D is everywhere, guiding growth and shaping defence. But could it also have an effect on the mind? A major new study suggests so. Published in The Lancet Psychiatry, the study drew from the extraordinary depth of Danish health data to establish whether neonatal vitamin D levels might contribute to psychological and neurodevelopmental conditions. What the study found Researchers at Aarhus University in collaboration with the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen used dried blood spot samples from 88,764 individuals born between 1981 and 2005 — part of a universal neonatal screening programme that stores nearly all newborns' blood in the Danish Neonatal Screening Biobank. From these samples, the team measured levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, or 25(OH)D, which is the standard marker of vitamin D status, and vitamin D-binding protein, which carries vitamin D in the blood and prolongs its activity. Using nationwide Danish health registries, the researchers tracked which individuals developed major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder or anorexia nervosa — and asked whether their vitamin D levels at birth were linked to these outcomes. The results were striking. Babies with higher vitamin D levels were less likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, ADHD or autism. Newborns with levels about 12.6 nmol/l higher than average had an 18% lower risk of schizophrenia, 11% lower risk of ADHD, and 7% lower risk of autism. Vitamin D-binding protein levels were also linked to schizophrenia risk. To understand the broader public health impact, the researchers modelled a scenario in which every baby had vitamin D levels in the top 60% of the sample. In that case, they estimated that 15% of schizophrenia cases, 9% of ADHD cases, and 5% of autism cases might have been prevented. These effects appeared early, with children who had higher vitamin D levels showing lower risk from a young age. The lack of association with depression or bipolar disorder, the authors suggested, may reflect both the later onset of these conditions in life and the possibility that neonatal vitamin D plays a more central role in early neurodevelopmental pathways than in mood disorders. Testing plausible causality Observational studies, especially in nutrition, often face two big problems. One is reverse causation, where what looks like a cause is actually an early effect. For example, early brain changes might influence how the body handles vitamin D, making it look like vitamin D is the cause when it's actually an effect. The second is confounding, where a third factor like a mother's diet or immune health influences both vitamin D levels and the child's risk of mental illness. To check for these biases, the researchers turned to genetics. They started with the polygenic risk score (PRS), which looks at many small inherited differences that alter a person's vitamin D levels and generates a score. They found that individuals with higher PRS scores for vitamin D were less likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia, ADHD or autism. PRS also helped rule out reverse causation since a child's later psychiatric diagnosis can't influence the vitamin D genes they were born with. However, PRS couldn't fully resolve confounding: where some variants might still influence other traits beyond vitamin D. Perhaps a gene variant perturbing vitamin D levels also alters neurodevelopment? As Upasana Bhattacharyya, a scientist at Northwell Health in New York, explained: 'While PRS can suggest a biological link, they mainly capture variants that are associated with a trait — not necessarily ones that cause it.' She added that PRS typically uses variations that are related to many other functions as well, thereby establishing associations without directionality. To test for a more direct effect, the researchers turned to Mendelian randomisation, a method that uses genetic variants that have a stronger effect on vitamin D levels. If people who inherit variants that raise (only) vitamin D levels consistently have a lower risk of schizophrenia, ADHD or autism, it will be stronger evidence of a causal relationship between vitamin D levels and the risk of developing these conditions. The researchers used two levels of Mendelian randomisation. First, they tested whether genetic predictors of vitamin D were associated with lower risk of psychiatric conditions. Then they examined two specific genetic variants in the GC gene, which regulates levels of vitamin D-binding protein in the blood. Together, they suggested that higher vitamin D levels may play a protective role, particularly in lowering the risk of ADHD and possibly schizophrenia and autism. What the findings don't mean While the study used powerful genetic tools to test for causality, the authors have cautioned that some important uncertainties remain. Some gene variants might influence both vitamin D and brain development independently, a phenomenon known as pleiotropy. And because vitamin D was measured only at birth, the study couldn't pinpoint which periods in pregnancy were more critical. Second, if deficiency begins in the womb, it makes sense for intervention to begin there, too. However, a 2024 randomised controlled trial in Denmark found that high-dose vitamin D supplementation (2800 IU/day) starting at pregnancy week 24 had no significant effect on the risk of autism or ADHD in children. But such results also depend on timing, dosage, and whether mothers were actually deficient to begin with. In short, while vitamin D may not be the sole or dominant factor shaping neurodevelopment, it remains a plausible piece of a larger, complex puzzle. Another key limitation was that nearly all participants were of European ancestry. In a smaller non-European group, the results were less consistent — possibly due to lower vitamin D levels, smaller sample size, and/or genetic diversity. For these reasons, the researchers concluded that while their findings support a causal link, they can't yet prove it outright. India's vitamin D problem Sunlight is abundant in India but vitamin-D deficiency is rampant, and the findings carry especial weight here. A study conducted at AIIMS Rishikesh between 2017 and 2018 found that 74% of infants and 85.5% of their mothers were deficient in vitamin D, with nearly half experiencing severe deficiency. Another study from Bengaluru observed that 92.1% of newborns were deficient. During pregnancy, the mother's body undergoes a complex set of hormonal and metabolic changes to supply calcium for the developing foetal skeleton. These changes intensify in the third trimester as the skeleton grows rapidly. To meet this need, the mother's intestines absorb more calcium, her kidneys excrete more, and her levels of active vitamin D rise to roughly twice their pre-pregnancy levels. Despite these adaptations, maternal vitamin D levels don't rise unless sunlight exposure or dietary intake improves. This is why even well-nourished pregnancies in India can result in deficiency. Sunlight alone isn't always enough. Evidence from Indian hospitals has also shown that a mother's vitamin D status directly shapes her baby's. A 2024 study conducted in the Bundelkhand region of India found a strong positive correlation between mothers' and their infants' vitamin D levels and interpreted it to mean babies born to vitamin D-deficient mothers were very likely to be deficient themselves. This reinforces the idea that vitamin D insufficiency is not just an individual issue: it is a biological legacy passed from one generation to the next, shaping not just bones but, as the Danish study suggests, brains too. These findings align with clinical experience in India. According to Anuradha Kapur, principal director of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at a Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi, timely supplementation in deficient mothers can remarkably improve both maternal and neonatal levels. In her practice, she said high-dose therapy — typically of 60,000 IU per week in the third trimester — has been effective and safe, with clear benefits in infant growth and immunity. A small Indian trial last year echoed these findings: babies born to supplemented mothers had significantly better vitamin D levels at birth. By six months, none had developed severe deficiency, compared to more than half in the control group. Caution rather than alarm The Danish study adds to growing evidence that early-life exposure, including nutrition, can shape long-term mental health. Vitamin D is no magic bullet, but through the right window, it might tilt the odds. Dr. Kapur noted that routine vitamin D screening during pregnancy remains uncommon across much of the country. While some obstetricians in urban areas do test high-risk pregnancies, cost and lack of awareness continue to limit uptake in rural and semi-urban settings. As a result, many deficiencies go undiagnosed, especially when symptoms are subtle or overlooked during pregnancy. She argued that India needs to shift from reactive treatment to preventive care. The growing evidence of vitamin D's role in neurodevelopment, she said, strengthens the case for routine antenatal supplementation, ideally beginning as early as the first or second trimester. 'This is not about alarm,' Dr. Kapur said, 'but about recognising that early brain development is shaped by access to nutrients — and vitamin D is one such modifiable element we can and must intervene on.' Anirban Mukhopadhyay is a geneticist by training and science communicator from Delhi.
Euronews
23-07-2025
- Health
- Euronews
Bacteria strain that evades antibiotics is spreading in Europe
A new strain of bacteria that can cause serious infections in children but evades standard treatments is spreading in Europe. MRSA (meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a type of bacteria that has evolved to the point where first-choice antibiotics no longer work against it, making it harder to treat. It can cause serious health problems if it gets inside the body, causing more than 100,000 deaths worldwide in 2019. A new strain of MRSA was identified in Germany and the Netherlands nearly a decade ago – and it has since spread to at least nine other European countries, according to new research by Denmark's Statens Serum Institut (SSI). The scientists began to worry that the strain might be circulating in Denmark after 32 children and family members developed ulcers that were caused by a specific type of staph bacteria in summer 2023. A year later, they identified another outbreak from the same bacteria elsewhere in the country. They suspected Denmark was not the only place affected by the new strain, which they call a 'clone' of another type of MRSA because they have some genetic similarities. When they analysed samples across Europe, they found the bacteria in 11 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. 'This clone, which was first found in Germany and the Netherlands in 2014, is a new subtype' of the bacteria, Andreas Petersen, a MRSA researcher at SSI who led the study, said in a statement. The researchers published their findings in the journal Eurosurveillance. The strain is genetically similar to another form of MRSA that appears to cause impetigo, a bacterial skin infection that causes red sores to form and burst around the nose and mouth. Most common among children aged two to five, impetigo is highly contagious and can spread easily within families. Outbreaks usually occur in late summer and early autumn. Impetigo usually isn't dangerous, but rare complications include kidney damage and cellulitis, an infection that can be life-threatening if it spreads to the lymph nodes and bloodstream. Fusidic acid, an antibiotic cream, is commonly used to treat impetigo infections, but it does not work well against the MRSA strain. That is why doctors across Europe need to know if it may be spreading in their communities, the researchers said. 'We believe that it is a combination of these virulence factors [or genes] as well as the resistance to fusidin that has helped make this new type so successful,' Petersen said. MRSA is just one of many health threats emerging due to antibiotic resistance. Infections from so-called superbugs could kill more than 39 million people worldwide over the next 25 years, according to a landmark study published last year. Antibiotic resistance also takes a toll on the health system. Together, the 11 countries where the new MRSA strain has been identified spent nearly $13.3 billion (€11.4 billion) treating hospital patients with drug-resistant infections in 2022, according to recent estimates from the Center for Global Development. The Danish researchers believe the new strain may be spreading undetected in other parts of Europe as well. It has already been found outside of hospitals and nursing homes, which have strict protocols in place to contain MRSA, Petersen said. 'The spread of MRSA in the community is more difficult to monitor and combat,' he added.
Euronews
16-07-2025
- Health
- Euronews
Why myths around vaccines and autism are so persistent
Another major study has confirmed that routine childhood vaccines do not cause autism. The theory emerged three decades ago and caught fire after a study was published – and later retracted – in a major medical journal in 1998. While the theory has since been discredited in many studies from around the world, the myth still persists. Today, anti-vaccine activists often point to aluminium, which is used in trace amounts in many childhood jabs to increase their effectiveness, to argue that the vaccines are unsafe. Danish researchers investigated this in the latest study, which was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and included more than one million children born in Denmark between 1997 and 2018. It found that aluminium-containing vaccines do not raise the risk of health issues such as autism spectrum disorder, asthma, or autoimmune disorders. Dr Niklas Andersson, one of the study's authors and a vaccine researcher at Denmark's Statens Serum Institut (SSI), described the results as 'reassuring'. 'We have not found anything that indicates that the very small amount of aluminium used in the childhood vaccination programme increases the risk of 50 different health conditions in childhood," Andersson said in a statement. The researchers said the findings should be used to dispel misinformation about vaccines, which have become a political flashpoint in recent years, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health authorities blame these falsehoods for driving an increase in the number of parents who opt out of routine vaccines, leaving an opening for preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough to make a comeback in Europe and elsewhere. Since 2010, vaccine coverage has fallen for at least one jab in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Why the myth sticks around The theory that vaccines cause autism gained ground in the early 2000s, after the British doctor Andrew Wakefield published an article in The Lancet, a leading medical journal, in 1998 speculating that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine may cause autism. The study was full of methodological flaws and falsified data, and was later retracted. Wakefield, who made money from lawsuits filed against vaccine manufacturers, was also stripped of his medical license. But his ideas were compelling to parents who noticed that their children received the MMR vaccine around the same time they began showing signs of autism. Later studies went on to show that this was effectively a coincidence. While all vaccines come with some risk of side effects, routine childhood jabs are safe and effective – and do not raise the risk of autism, these studies concluded. The myth has stuck around, though, partly because much is still unknown about what actually causes autism, and because diagnoses have risen since the turn of the century. Scientists believe the uptick is due partly to increased awareness around autism and a wider definition of the disorder. They have also been researching whether environmental factors, such as prenatal exposure to air pollution or certain pesticides, may play a role. In April, US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr pledged to identify what causes autism by September as part of a massive research project. Kennedy said scientists would assess the food system, the environment, parenting approaches, and vaccines, in a move widely panned by independent researchers. Anders Hviid, a vaccine researcher at SSI, said large studies like the recent Danish report 'are part of the bulwark against the politicisation of health knowledge, which can damage trust in vaccines'. 'It is absolutely crucial that we clearly separate real science from politically motivated campaigns – otherwise we risk that it is Danish children who pay the price,' Hviid said.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Statens Serum Institut Large Danish Study Finds No Link Between Vaccines and Autism or 49 Other Health Conditions
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, July 15, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new Danish study finds no association between aluminum in childhood vaccines and 50 different health conditions, including autism, asthma, and autoimmune diseases. The findings reaffirm the safety of Denmark's childhood vaccination program. An extensive new Danish register-based study - the largest of its kind - supports the safety of the national childhood immunization program. Analyzing data from over 1 million children, the study found no increased risk of autism, asthma, or autoimmune diseases in vaccinated children. "Our results are reassuring. By analyzing data from more than one million Danish children, we found absolutely no indication that the very small amount of aluminum used in the childhood vaccination program increases the risk of 50 different health outcomes during childhood," says Anders Hviid, Head of Department at Statens Serum Institut (SSI) and principal investigator on the study. Aluminum, used as an adjuvant to enhance the immune response, has been a component in some vaccines since the 1930s. Researchers from SSI used Denmark's unique national health registers to follow children born between 1997 and 2018, investigating the associations between aluminum-containing vaccines and a total of 50 health outcomes - including asthma, allergies, autoimmune conditions, and neurodevelopmental disorders. "This is the first study of this scale and with such comprehensive analyses, and it confirms the strong safety profile of the vaccines we've used for decades in Denmark," says Anders Hviid. The results are being published at a time of heightened international debate about vaccine safety which makes the Danish study highly relevant. "In an era marked by widespread misinformation about vaccines, it is crucial to rely on solid scientific evidence. Large, population-based register studies like this one - tracking more than a million children over many years - are a bulwark against the politicization of health science which undermines public trust in vaccines. It is absolutely essential to distinguish real science from politically motivated campaigns - otherwise, it is the children who will end up paying the price," says Anders Hviid. Reference: Andersson NW, Bech Svalgaard I, Hoffmann SS, et al. Aluminum-adsorbed vaccines and chronic diseases in childhood. A nationwide cohort study. Ann Intern Med. 15 July 2025. [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.7326/ANNALS-25-00997 Fact Box: Researchers from Statens Serum Institut (SSI) used Denmark's unique health registers to analyze data from more than 1 million Danish children born between 1997 and 2018 to investigate potential long-term health effects of aluminum-containing vaccines. The study examined 50 different conditions and found no statistical association between aluminum content in vaccines and increased risk of developing autism, autoimmune diseases, asthma, or allergic conditions such as hay fever and food allergies. The study has just been published in the prestigious medical journal Annals of Internal Statens Serum Institut (SSI) View source version on Contacts Anders Hviid, aii@ Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Business Wire
15-07-2025
- Health
- Business Wire
Statens Serum Institut Large Danish Study Finds No Link Between Vaccines and Autism or 49 Other Health Conditions
COPENHAGEN, Denmark--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new Danish study finds no association between aluminum in childhood vaccines and 50 different health conditions, including autism, asthma, and autoimmune diseases. The findings reaffirm the safety of Denmark's childhood vaccination program. An extensive new Danish register-based study - the largest of its kind - supports the safety of the national childhood immunization program. Analyzing data from over 1 million children, the study found no increased risk of autism, asthma, or autoimmune diseases in vaccinated children. 'Our results are reassuring. By analyzing data from more than one million Danish children, we found absolutely no indication that the very small amount of aluminum used in the childhood vaccination program increases the risk of 50 different health outcomes during childhood,' says Anders Hviid, Head of Department at Statens Serum Institut (SSI) and principal investigator on the study. Aluminum, used as an adjuvant to enhance the immune response, has been a component in some vaccines since the 1930s. Researchers from SSI used Denmark's unique national health registers to follow children born between 1997 and 2018, investigating the associations between aluminum-containing vaccines and a total of 50 health outcomes - including asthma, allergies, autoimmune conditions, and neurodevelopmental disorders. 'This is the first study of this scale and with such comprehensive analyses, and it confirms the strong safety profile of the vaccines we've used for decades in Denmark,' says Anders Hviid. The results are being published at a time of heightened international debate about vaccine safety which makes the Danish study highly relevant. 'In an era marked by widespread misinformation about vaccines, it is crucial to rely on solid scientific evidence. Large, population-based register studies like this one - tracking more than a million children over many years - are a bulwark against the politicization of health science which undermines public trust in vaccines. It is absolutely essential to distinguish real science from politically motivated campaigns - otherwise, it is the children who will end up paying the price,' says Anders Hviid. Reference: Andersson NW, Bech Svalgaard I, Hoffmann SS, et al. Aluminum-adsorbed vaccines and chronic diseases in childhood. A nationwide cohort study. Ann Intern Med. 15 July 2025. [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.7326/ANNALS-25-00997 Fact Box: Researchers from Statens Serum Institut (SSI) used Denmark's unique health registers to analyze data from more than 1 million Danish children born between 1997 and 2018 to investigate potential long-term health effects of aluminum-containing vaccines. The study examined 50 different conditions and found no statistical association between aluminum content in vaccines and increased risk of developing autism, autoimmune diseases, asthma, or allergic conditions such as hay fever and food allergies. The study has just been published in the prestigious medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine. Source: Statens Serum Institut (SSI)
