Vitamin D deficiency possible cause of dementia?

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with the risk of dementia

08/13/2014

Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of dementia in old age, according to the latest study by an international research team led by David J. Llewellyn of the University of Exeter. The in the renowned trade magazine „Neurology“ published study comes to the conclusion that the risk of disease in severe deficiency of vitamin D is more than twice as high as in a good vitamin D supply. Dementia is therefore in a much stronger connection with the „Sunshine Vitamin“ as previously assumed.

As part of the long-term study, the scientists had accompanied more than 1,600 senior citizens over the age of 65 over a six-year period. At the beginning of the study, none of the participants had senile dementia, cardiovascular disease, or the effects of stroke, Llewellyn and colleagues report. In addition, all subjects were able to walk without aids. In the following years, however, more than ten percent of participants developed the first signs of dementia, with a very striking relationship with the lack of vitamin D was observed.

Vitamin D for a healthy mind in old age
„We had expected a correlation between low vitamin D levels and the risk of Alzheimer's and dementia, but the results were surprising - the correlation we found was actually twice as strong as we thought“, the researchers write in the journal „Neurology“. Even a slight vitamin D deficiency had increased the risk of dementia by about half compared to well-supplied subjects. Participants with severe vitamin D deficiency were even twice as likely to be at risk. The researchers also found a minimum concentration of 50 nanomoles per liter as the lower limit for maintaining a healthy mind in old age. However, since the body's own vitamin D production decreases in old age, it can sometimes be quite difficult to achieve this value. However, the body may also ingest the vitamin through other sources such as high-fat fish (salmon, eel, herring or tuna), plant foods (such as morels, boletus and avocados) or dietary supplements. Therefore, be now „Clinical studies are needed to show if diets such as fatty fish or vitamin D supplements can halt or even prevent the onset of Alzheimer's or similar dementia, "said study leader David J. Llewellyn.

Recognize and remedy vitamin D deficiency
Although the relationship between the vitamin D deficiency and the risk of dementia in the current study was quite surprisingly clear, the researchers point out that no premature conclusions can be drawn from this. The results „Do not say that a low vitamin D level will inevitably cause dementia“, Report Llewellyn and colleagues. Instead, for example, the vitamin D deficit may not be the cause but the result of dementia. However, as the vitamin D deficiency is also associated with various other diseases, it is generally to recognize this as early as possible and take appropriate countermeasures. Possible consequences of a persistent vitamin D deficiency are, for example, impaired bone formation and the development of bone softening (osteomalacia) or even bone loss (osteoporosis). Added to this is the now established, apparently drastically increased risk of dementia. (Fp)