This link is at its strongest in the case of older people, researchers say

Aug 7, 2014 20:53 GMT  ·  By
Vitamin D supplements might help reduce dementia and Alzheimer's disease risk
   Vitamin D supplements might help reduce dementia and Alzheimer's disease risk

According to a recent investigation whose findings were published in yesterday's issue of the journal Neurology, people who are vitamin D deficient are more likely to be diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease at some point in their lives.

What's more, evidence indicates that this link between vitamin D deficiency and increased dementia or Alzheimer’s disease risk is at its strongest in the case of older people, specialists with the University of Exeter and fellow researchers say.

As detailed on the University of Exeter's website, the scientists now saying that vitamin D deficiency makes older people more vulnerable to said disorders base their claim on data obtained while keeping tabs on the overall health condition of 1,658 adults.

These people were at least 65 years old and did not suffer from any major health issues at the beginning of the study. To see how their bodies responded to vitamin D deficiency, the specialists behind this research project monitored them for six consecutive years.

It was thus discovered that those who were moderately deficient in vitamin D were 53% more likely to develop dementia than healthy individuals. Folks suffering from severe vitamin D deficiency, on the other hand, were a whopping 125% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia.

As far as Alzheimer’s disease risk was concerned, the moderately deficient group was found to be 69% more vulnerable to this condition. In the case of adults experiencing severe vitamin D deficiency, the risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease was found to be 122% higher.

Commenting on these findings, Dr. David Llewellyn said, “We expected to find an association between low Vitamin D levels and the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, but the results were surprising – we actually found that the association was twice as strong as we anticipated.”

Writing in the journal Neurology, the University of Exeter specialist and fellow researchers argued that, in light of these findings, it might not be such a bad idea if further studies into the link between vitamin D deficiency and increased dementia or Alzheimer’s disease were to be carried out.

As Dr. David Llewellyn put it, “Clinical trials are now needed to establish whether eating foods such as oily fish or taking vitamin D supplements can delay or even prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. We need to be cautious at this early stage and our latest results do not demonstrate that low vitamin D levels cause dementia.”

“That said, our findings are very encouraging, and even if a small number of people could benefit, this would have enormous public health implications given the devastating and costly nature of dementia,” the specialist and study leader added.