Neuropathy Caused By This Vitamin Deficiency

Neuropathy is often blamed on diabetes, chemotherapy drugs, and a few other factors.

Which doesn’t quite make sense because most people exposed to those factors don’t end up developing neuropathy. Which means there must be another factor involved.

A new study in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network reveals this hidden, added factor as lacking one specific vitamin.

Their study, spearheaded by scientists at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy, delved into data from 1,191 women participating in the SWOG S0221 trial. This trial was a comprehensive evaluation of various paclitaxel-based chemotherapy regimens for early-stage breast cancer. paclitaxel is known to cause neuropathy, so this was a handy population to research.

The team focused on identifying the relationship between vitamin D levels prior to chemotherapy and the risk of developing severe peripheral neuropathy once it started.

They measured vitamin D levels in blood samples taken before treatment. They defined vitamin D insufficiency as having levels of 20 nanograms per milliliter or less. They then monitored the development of grade 3 or higher sensory chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy—a severe form of the condition—among the participants.

The results were telling:

1. Of those with insufficient vitamin D levels at the start of the study, 20.7% developed severe peripheral neuropathy, compared to just 14.2% of women with adequate vitamin D levels.

2. This means that the vitamin D deficient group had a 57% greater risk of developing neuropathy.

When the scientists adjusted their results to make sure that factors like age, body mass index, and chemotherapy schedule weren’t unduly influencing the findings, those with low vitamin D levels were 65% more likely to develop peripheral neuropathy.

The study went beyond human data, exploring the direct effects of vitamin D on neuropathy using a mouse model. Mice fed a vitamin D-deficient diet showed increased sensitivity to pain and a heightened response to paclitaxel, supporting the human study findings.

While they did not study vitamin D supplementation explicitly, they assumed there would be a good chance that sufficient intake, such as supplements, would protect against neuropathy in this high-risk group.

But if you already suffer neuropathy, taking vitamin D is not enough. Fortunately, thousands of readers have already reversed their neuropathy using the simple, natural steps explained here…