My DH, who has had memory issues and other problems for years, was diagnosed initially with MCI, then AD, four years ago. He's been on Radadyne, B12, medications for cholesterol, blood pressure. Lately, he is having trouble walking any distance. I mentioned that to the neurologist at a visit last week. He ordered blood tests to test B12 levels and also, vitamin D levels. His office called yesterday to say that DH has a severe D deficiency and wants to start him on a high dose of Vitamin D. Has anyone else had any problems with this? Maryd
Maryd, i havent had a vit D loss yet, but manganese, potassium, magnesium and others have cropped up and they all cause some sort of loss. its a good idea to give an all round vit like centrum silver or such daily for this purpose. now i have blood CBC done at least 2/yr to check all this cause it seems to change alot. we are now stable so far but in oct we go for checkup and willl have another done just to see . hope the vit d does the trick. divvi
I know vitamin B, especially B12 can be deficient in AD patients, but I hadn't heard about a vitamin D deficiency. Now that Sid is in the drug trial, he gets blood tests every 6 or 7 weeks, so if anything were to show up, we'd hear about it.
From what my doctor has told me, a vitamin D deficiency is very common in the general population, because we spend so much time either indoors or covered in sunscreen. As we age, we need to supplement even more, because our bodies don’t work with Vitamin D as well as they used to.
After being diagnosed with a vitamin D deficiency myself, I started seeing a lot more information about this. One study said that anybody who has chronic pain should be tested for this. Before diagnosis, my skin felt like it was burning all the time, and even a minor bump anywhere was extremely painful. After diagnosis and treatment, my skin went back to normal.
When I think about how little sun our loved ones get when they are in day care or nursing homes, this could be a real problem for many. It may also explain why some older people are so sensitive to touch.
our neuro just flat out said get your DH ouside into the sun for 10min a day. he was a horrid palid sallow skin color after all the utis..i started having him sit under the umbrella while i water the plants and his tone is much better now. he was always having skin stuff burned off at dermatologist and we havent been in several yrs (after discussing it back and forth as to the benefits at this point), but the difference it made in his color is worth the 10min daily. even my chihuahuas are upset if they cant lay in the warm sunshine a few min daily..so it must be a much needed effort most of us are avoiding. divvi
Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentration and Cognitive Impairment
David J. Llewellyn, PhD*, Kenneth Langa, MD, PhD, and Iain Lang, PhD
Abstract Vitamin D may be of interest in the prevention of cognitive impairment, though previous findings are inconclusive. Participants were 1766 adults aged 65 years and older from the Health Survey for England 2000, a nationally representative population-based study. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the Abbreviated Mental Test Score. The cross-sectional relation of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D quartiles to cognitive impairment was modeled using logistic regression. In all, 212 participants (12%) were cognitively impaired. Odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for cognitive impairment in the first (8-30 nmol/L), second (31-44 nmol/L), and third (45-65 nmol/L) quartiles of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D compared with the fourth (66-170 nmol/L) were 2.3 (1.4-3.8), 1.4 (0.8-2.4), and 1.1 (0.6-1.9), after adjustment for age, sex, education, ethnicity, season of testing, and additional risk factors for cognitive impairment (P for linear trend = .001). Our data suggest low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D is associated with increased odds of cognitive impairment.
Vit D has been thought to help in many diseases now. We take 1000mg daily and probably should take more now that we are back in the depressing NW. When buying vitamins try to find ones that come in capsule form vs the hard tablets (not always possible). Or get a liquid vitamin - that is what we take. I have tried the vinegar test on many pills and they don't even dissolve after 24 hours.
Some manufacturers claim that many brands of vitamin tablets are so hard that they go through the body undissolved, and quote nurses who find vitamin pills in the bedpans of their patients. While this can happen, here's a simple "acid test" you can apply to find out if your multi—or any other pill!—dissolves properly:
1. Place approximately one cup of white vinegar in a small bowl and warm it to 98 degrees or so by placing it inside a larger bowl of water that you "top up" several times with warm water from the tap. (The goal is to keep the vinegar reasonably close to 98 degrees for half an hour.)
2. Drop your multi-vitamin (or other pill) into the vinegar, and jostle it about every five minutes or so by gently shaking or swirling the cup. While you can also stir the mix with a wooden stick or toothpick, be careful not to touch the tablet itself.
3. The tablet should dissolve within 30 minutes. (This is the USP standard for all pharmaceutical tablets.) If it doesn't dissolve within a full hour, it's not doing you much good. Get another brand!
I haven't done this with everything I take, but I need to cause it is very fascinating to see what happens. Melaleuca vitamins are the only one I have seen work real fast - within five minutes they had dissolved in water only. Wish I could afford them.
THANKS Charlotte ! ....... silly me, I never even thought about *goggling* the subject :)
Anyway, I'll do this test tomorrow - it will be interesting to see if what we've been taking has absorbed and been therapeudic or just passed through. I wonder if one should try this test with prescribed medications? Has anyone tried that?
I'll go and check out Metaleuca vitamins ...... never heard of them ............. they are pretty expensive eh?