Study of whether Vitamin D supplements help children with newly discovered type 1 diabetes

This study looks at children with newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetes. It asks whether Vitamin D supplements help their bodies maintain some insulin production. In children with low Vitamin D levels, the study seems to show that Vitamin D supplements do help maintain insulin production.

Type 1 diabetes (formerly called juvenile diabetes) is a disease in which the body does not make enough insulin. Having low vitamin D levels seems to increase a person's risk of getting type 1 diabetes. Vitamin D seems to modulate the immune system, and type 1 diabetes has been shown to have subtypes which are related to the immune system striking the body's own cells (autoimmune disease). Children just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes who also had low Vitamin D levels might still have some good cells left in the pancreas (where insulin is made), so Vitamin D supplements might help.

The amount of insulin produced by the pancreas can be measured by testing the C-peptide level. Another blood test, the hemoglobin A1c (glycated hemoglobin or HbA1c) can provide a measure of long-term blood sugar control (over a period of 3 months).

This was a small study which included 54 children aged 8-15 years old, with a new diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. 29 children were given 0.25 or 0.5 micrograms of alfacalcidol (a drug which is converted by the body into Vitamin D3). The remaining 25 children received a placebo (an inactive drug). The treatment was given for 6 months.  The insulin needs of the children taking alfacalcidol decreased initially, and then increased less than those of children taking a placebo.   Both groups' glycated hemoglobin levels steadily went down, and the C-peptide level was better for the group taking alfacalcidol.

This article suggests that in some children with type 1 diabetes, Vitamin D supplementation appears to be protective of the body's ability to make insulin.

This was a small study, done on children who had Vitamin D deficiency (many of them moderate to severe deficiency) who had never been treated for it.  Children who had taken Vitamin D supplements, or those with a Vitamin D rich diet, were excluded from the study, a possible source of bias not mentioned by the authors.

Ask your doctor to check your child's Vitamin D levels, and discuss whether Vitamin D supplementation may help your child.