Low vitamin D linked to higher risk of dementia

Michigan, United States, January 24: Middle aged people are commonly encouraged to take vitamin D supplements to prevent cognitive impairment. But that may become a reason to afflict you with Dementia, researchers discover.

In a large scale study of elderly people, researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan, have identified a relationship between Vitamin D, the “sunshine vitamin”, and dementia.

The study was conducted on 2,000 adults over the age of 65 who participated in the Health Survey for England in 2000. Their levels of cognitive function were assessed using the Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT). Fasting blood samples were also taken, and levels of serum 25(OH) D were measured. The researchers then used Multivariable logistic regression models to determine the relationship of serum 25(OH) D to cognitive impairment, keeping in mind factors such as age, sex, education and ethnicity.

The results revealed that those with low levels of vitamin D were twice as likely to be inflicted by dementia as compared to those with optimum levels of the vitamin.

Dr Iain Lang, part of the study said, "This is the first large-scale study to identify a relationship between vitamin D and cognitive impairment in later life." He further added that people who suffer from cognitive impairment were "at higher risk" of developing dementia.

Vitamin D is important in maintaining bone health, in absorbing calcium and phosphorus, and in helping the immune systemdefine. The problem faced by older people is that as the body ages, capacity of the skin to absorb Vitamin D from sunlight decreases. Hence they need to replenish it from other sources.

Dr Lang stated that “You can supply vitamin D very cheaply…a few pence a day. Given the growing burden of care associated with dementia, even if it reduced 10 per cent of dementia, it would make a massive difference. The amount that’s contained in a regular multi-vitamin tablet is fine.”

According to the Alzheimer’s Society, dementia affects 700,000 people in the United Kingdom, with a possibility of the figure rising to over 1 million by 2025. Two-thirds of victims are women, with nearly 60,000 deaths a year are because of dementia. The financial burden of dementia in United kingdom is estimated to be over £17 billion a year.

The team working on the project declared, “Further research is warranted to investigate whether vitamin D supplementation is a cost effective and safe way of reducing the incidence of cognitive impairment in the growing elderly population around the world.

The study shall be published in the Journal of Geriatric Psychology and Neurology.