BOSTON, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Drinking milk during pregnancy may help reduce an infant's risk of developing multiple sclerosis as an adult, U.S. researchers said.
Dr. Fariba Mirzaei of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston said the study involved 35,794 nurses whose mothers completed a questionnaire in 2001 about their experiences and diet during pregnancy with their nurse-daughter.
Of the nurses studied, 199 women developed MS over the 16-year study period.
Researchers found that the risk of MS was lower among women born to mothers with high milk or dietary vitamin D intake in pregnancy.
"The risk of MS among daughters whose mothers consumed four glasses of milk per day was 56 percent lower than daughters whose mothers consumed less than three glasses of milk per month," Mirzaei said in a statement.
"We also found the risk of MS among daughters whose mothers were in the top 20 percent of vitamin D intake during pregnancy was 45 percent lower than daughters whose mothers were in the bottom 20 percent for vitamin D intake during pregnancy."
There is growing evidence that that vitamin D has an effect on MS and the results of this study suggest that this effect may begin in the womb, Mirzaei said.
The findings are scheduled to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd annual meeting in Toronto April 10-17.
