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- Giving Up the Guns When a Family Member Has Alzheimer’s
- Care Management Program Is Reducing Need for Anti-anxiety Medication and Visits to the Hospital/Emergency Room
- Talking to a Loved One With Alzheimer’s
- 10 Powerful Ways to Commemorate Alzheimer’s Awareness Month
- Making the Most of Mealtimes for People With Alzheimer’s
- Family Members Provide 100 Hours a Month of Unpaid Care for Alzheimer’s
- Alzheimer’s Caregivers Should Be Screened for Depression
- Alzheimer’s Care Costs Far More Than Heart Disease or Cancer Care
- Obesity at Midlife May Speed Alzheimer’s Onset
- Hello from my mom
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- Daytime Sleepiness May Be Early Warning Sign of Alzheimer’s
- Alzheimer’s Disease Increases the Risk of Falls
- High Blood Sugar Tied to Memory Decline
- Blood Test for Alzheimer’s Gets Closer
- Worried About Your Memory? Alzheimer’s May Not Be to Blame
- Brain Changes of Menopause May Promote Alzheimer’s
- Predicting Who Will Get Alzheimer’s
- Personality Changes Are Not the Earliest Sign of Alzheimer’s
- Midlife Heart Problems Raise Alzheimer’s Risk
- Anemia Tied to Mild Cognitive Impairment Risk
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- New Drug Shows Promise for Alzheimer’s
- Pain Relievers Present Special Hazards in People With Alzheimer’s Disease
- Care Management Program Is Reducing Need for Anti-anxiety Medication and Visits to the Hospital/Emergency Room
- Music May Ease the Anxiety of Alzheimer’s
- Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug, Intepirdine, Disappoints in Study
- An Eye Scan for Alzheimer’s?
- Drug to treat Alzheimer’s is Ranked Highest
- Patients Often Fail to Adhere to Alzheimer’s Drug Schedules
- Could Treatments for Diabetes Help Treat Alzheimer’s?
- Pharmacists Can Aid in Alzheimer’s Care
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- 2 Hours a Week of Exercise Can Boost Brain Health
- ‘Exergames,’ Which Combine Exercise and Games, May Benefit Brain Health
- Eat Fish, Fruit, Vegetables and Nuts for Brain Health
- Beet Compound Shows Promise Against Alzheimer’s
- A Single Night of Not Sleeping Tied to Alzheimer’s Brain Changes
- Should Alzheimer’s Patients Drink Coffee?
- Can a Salad a Day Help Keep Memory Sharp?
- Fitness in Midlife Tied to Lower Dementia Risk in Old Age
- Doctor’s Orders: Exercise for the Sake of Your Brain
- Positive Beliefs About Aging May Help Fend Off Alzheimer’s
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- Alzheimer’s Rates Could Double in Coming Decades
- Combining Care Program With Medication Reduces Alzheimer’s Symptoms By 750%
- Fisher Center Scientists make two new Significant Discoveries in the battle against Alzheimer’s
- Dementia Rates Are Slowing, but Alzheimer’s Cases Continue to Rise
- Fisher Center Scientists Create a Novel Imaging Technology Allowing the 3D Visualization of Brain Defects That Cause Alzheimer’s Disease
- Negative Beliefs About Aging Could Prime the Brain for Alzheimer’s
- Recognizing Faces Is a Challenge for Those With Alzheimer’s
- Fisher Center Scientists Discover Pathway That may Lead to Alzheimer’s Disease
- Brain Scans Move Closer to Early Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
- Can Vitamin E Slow Alzheimer’s Decline?
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- Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation Earns Gold Seal of Transparency from GuideStar
- The Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation Earns Coveted 4-Star Rating from Charity Navigator for the 7th Consecutive Year
- Hear Kent Karosen, President and CEO of the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, describe his new book and the power of art therapy
- Fisher Center Scientists link a Mutation That Protects Against the Development of Alzheimer’s Disease
- Newly Inducted Into the Basketball Hall of Fame, Shaquille O’Neal, Joins the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation to Raise Funds for Groundbreaking Research in the Quest for a Cure
- Pat Summitt, legendary women’s basketball coach, dies at 64
- Celebrating the life of Nancy Reagan for her Impact on the Fight to end Alzheimer’s
- WRNN Interview
- Fisher Center’s 20th Anniversary Celebration and recent activities
- Featured on NASDAQ’s Billboard
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Vitamin D May Be Good for the Brain
April 13, 2009
Vitamin D, sometimes called the sunshine vitamin because the body makes it upon exposure to sunlight, may help protect the brain against the ravages of dementia, British researchers report. Although more research is needed, the scientists found that older people who had low blood levels of the vitamin were at increased risk for developing memory loss and other symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease late in life.
The study, which appeared in the Journal of Geriatric Psychology and Neurology, was based on data from 1,766 seniors. All were 65 or older and part of the Health Survey for England in 2000 study.
The study found that as levels of vitamin D went down, levels of cognitive impairment went up. Compared to those with optimum levels of Vitamin D, those with the lowest levels were more than twice as likely to be cognitively impaired.
About 12 percent of the participants had memory problems, and the lower their vitamin D level, the more likely they were to be in that group. Compared with those in the highest one-quarter for serum vitamin D, those in the lowest were 2.3 times as likely to be impaired, even after statistically adjusting for age, sex, education and ethnicity. Men showed the effect more strongly than women.
“This is the first large-scale study to identify a relationship between Vitamin D and cognitive impairment in later life,” said study co-author Dr. Iain Lang from the Peninsula Medical School in the U.K. “Dementia is a growing problem for health services everywhere, and people who have cognitive impairment are at higher risk of going on to develop dementia. That means identifying ways in which we can reduce levels of dementia is a key challenge for health services.”
Dr. Lang added: “For those of us who live in countries where there are dark winters without much sunlight, like the U.K., getting enough vitamin D can be a real problem, particularly for older people, who absorb less vitamin D from sunlight.”
One way to address this deficit, Dr. Lang suggested, might be to provide older adults with vitamin D supplements, though further research is needed to explore the possible link between the nutrient and its possible role in Alzheimer’s disease. “We need to investigate whether vitamin D supplementation is a cost-effective and low-risk way of reducing older people’s risks of developing cognitive impairment and dementia.”
“The cause of dementia is not vitamin D deficiency,” added lead author David Llewellyn, a research associate at Cambridge University. “It’s a very complicated disease. But while further research is needed, vitamin D supplementation is cheap, safe and convenient, and may therefore play an important role in prevention.”
Vitamin D has long been known for its bone-strengthening properties. That’s one reason it is added to milk. But a growing number of studies point to additional benefits, like lowering the risk of diabetes and certain cancers.
In addition to fortified drinks like milk, soy milk and some juices, the vitamin is also found in oily fish like salmon, mackerel, bluefish, catfish, sardines and tuna, as well as cod liver oil and fish oils. Fish oils have also been linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
By www.ALZinfo.org, The Alzheimer’s Information Site. Reviewed by William J. Netzer, Ph.D., Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University.
Source:
David J. Llewellyn, Ph.D., Kenneth Langa, M.D., Ph.D., and Iain Lang, Ph.D.: “Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentration and Cognitive Impairment.” Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology. February 4, 2009. The Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry.
