Early exposure could help infants.
A new study suggests that children with multiple sclerosis (MS) may experience better health outcomes if they were exposed to safe amounts of summer sunlight during infancy. The research, published in the journal Neurology, also indicates that sun exposure during pregnancy may reduce the likelihood of MS relapses in children. Dr. Gina Chang, the lead author and a neurology resident at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, noted that previous research has linked increased sun exposure with a lower risk of developing childhood MS.
The study involved 334 participants, aged 4 to 21, who developed childhood-onset MS. Their symptoms were tracked for an average of 3.3 years. Around 62% of the children experienced relapses, defined as new or returning symptoms lasting at least 24 hours and occurring at least 30 days apart from the last MS attack, without the presence of fever or infection.
Data collected from the participants’ parents showed how much sunlight the children and their mothers were exposed to during various periods of life, along with factors such as clothing choices and sunscreen use. The results indicated that infants who had at least 30 minutes of daily summer sunlight were 33% less likely to experience MS relapses. Similarly, mothers who had the same level of sun exposure during their second trimester of pregnancy were linked to a 32% reduced chance of relapse in their children.
Dr. Chang emphasized the potential long-term benefits of early-life sun exposure on the progression of childhood-onset MS. She called for further research to investigate how sun exposure at different life stages could influence the disease, with the goal of guiding recommendations for sun exposure and possibly designing clinical trials for children with MS.
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