ZIBO, China – A study out of Shandong Provincial Research Center in China is showing vitamin D deficiency may be associated with increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Researchers are strongly urging geriatric physicians and neurologists to find safe and cost-effective interventions that improve vitamin D status because of the potential benefits of vitamin D supplementation.
Findings are published in the Aug. 1 edition of the Nutrition Journal.
Data collected in literature identified 10 study populations, which were included in the meta-analysis. Results of the analysis showed that patients with low vitamin D status were at increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 21 percent. However, those with higher vitamin D levels were less likely to develop dementia.
The researchers are calling for more cohort studies into the relationship of vitamin D to dementia and cognitive function in older adults.
Geriatric specialist Alethea Fleming, ND, of the Vital Aging Clinic in Anacortes Wash. said routine Vitamin D screening should be done in patients over the age of 65.
“It’s well established that older patients are more vulnerable to certain nutrient deficiencies, including Vitamin D,” Fleming said. “There are few diseases where we are willing to say that having high levels of Vitamin D prevents the disease, but there are a wide range of illnesses where low Vitamin D levels seem to be a risk factor, including Alzheimer’s.”
Supplementing vitamin D is best accomplished by sun exposure, but patients older than 65 do not generate vitamin D as efficiently, and may have to rely more on vitamin supplementation and consumption of vitamin D-rich foods such as mushrooms or fish such as wild salmon and sardines.
Screening for vitamin D levels is a simple blood test. Fleming suggests doctors add it to routine annual panels for older patients.