I awakened this morning to one to the morning shows, but not the Today Show which I normally watch. It was reported that a study found that those deficient in vitamin D were the ones to get dementia. I haven't researched the study yet, but believe me, I couldn't get a vitamin D into my mouth fast enough after breakfast. Two years ago my primary care physician told me everything looked good from my blood work, but I needed to take vitamin D in addition to the vitamin D in my calcium tabs. I plan on not missing a day of vitamin D from here on out. Hope this helps somebody.
Congratulations to Joan for the recognition you deserve.
Kitty, there's a new study out conducted in the UK about very low levels of vitamin D might cause dementia. More study is needed. Women are typically vitamin D deficient. My husband's doctor also prescribed vitamin D for him a few years back because of deficiency, not because of dementia.
I know there were studies about 4-5 years ago about the possible link but nothing was conclusive at that time.
There are a number of studies that Vitamin D is good for you in a number of ways, that we cannot make enough D for ourselves and our ability to make Vit D declines as we age. It is a good idea to have a blood test to a doctor can recommend an appropriate dose of Vit D. Too much is harmful.
Be sure to take Vitamin D3. There are different types of Vitamin D and only D3 is helpful.
The study in questions finds a correlation between Vit D deficiency and Alzheimers. The nature of the study leads the authors to believe that Vit D might cause Dementia and they are very confident that Alz is not causing the Vit D deficiency (I am not technically astute to confirm this statement). The authors said the next step is to do a study to see if taking Vit D will prevent Alz or other dementias. They are not yet claiming that is the case.
As an aside, Vitamin D is not a Vitamin. By definition a vitamin is a substance that we need but our bodies cannot produce. When it was discovered it was not realized that we produced vitamin D, thus it was declared to be a vitamin. To call it something else now would be way too confusing.
Hi Kitty! I've been taking D3 for a couple of years. DH was taking it too - but only about 2 years before he died. We had the blood test and it determined that my level was fine but his was very low. I'm not on a high dose.
The study, if the one this morning I read, is talking about over 65 people. The study showed those on Vit D supplement had a lower rate of dementia. I did not see where it said prevent. It said higher Vit D3 Levels = better cognitive abilities.
D3 is showing to be very important, but I do not think it will ever be shown to prevent dementia. Maybe delay symptoms until something else takes their life, but not prevent.
Hi Vickie! Your comment would support what Charlotte said. I don't think I can change the title of my discussion Charlotte, but I stand corrected if so. I would still take it for better cognitive abilities. I still need to research this, but it sounds like Charlotte found the study I heard about on the morning show yesterday morning.
I had old friends of ours post to me on Facebook that I need to give husband Vitamin D3 cause that is his problem. I know the guy and am sure it was more jokingly than serious. But I did explain to him that was for people like him that are over 65 so he needs to be taking it. Hb has younger onset. Also explained it may only delay symptoms not prevent.
Low levels of Vitamin D are substantially associated with developing Alzheimer’s and dementia in older people, according to the best study conducted so far.
An international team of scientists used data from 1,685 elderly Americans who were followed for around five years (Littlejohns et al., 2014).
None had dementia problems at the start of the study, but after an average of five years, 171 had developed dementia, 102 of which were Alzheimer’s disease.
The study, published in the journal Neurology, found that amongst those who had dementia, those low in Vitamin D were 53% more likely to develop the disease.
Amongst those who were severely deficient, the risk increased by 125%.
Vitamin D and the risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease Thomas J. Littlejohns, MSc, William E. Henley, PhD, Iain A. Lang, PhD, Cedric Annweiler, MD, PhD, Olivier Beauchet, MD, PhD, Paulo H.M. Chaves, MD, PhD, Linda Fried, MD, MPH, Bryan R. Kestenbaum, MD, MS, Lewis H. Kuller, MD, DrPH, Kenneth M. Langa, MD, PhD, Oscar L. Lopez, MD, Katarina Kos, MD, PhD, Maya Soni, PhD* and David J. Llewellyn, PhD* +SHOW AFFILIATIONS| + SHOW FULL DISCLOSURES Correspondence to Dr. Llewellyn: david.llewellyn@exeter.ac.uk Published online before print August 6, 2014, doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000755 Neurology 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000755 Free via Open Access: OA AbstractFull Text (PDF) Also available: Data Supplement ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine whether low vitamin D concentrations are associated with an increased risk of incident all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease.
Methods: One thousand six hundred fifty-eight elderly ambulatory adults free from dementia, cardiovascular disease, and stroke who participated in the US population–based Cardiovascular Health Study between 1992–1993 and 1999 were included. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry from blood samples collected in 1992–1993. Incident all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease status were assessed during follow-up using National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke/Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association criteria.
Results: During a mean follow-up of 5.6 years, 171 participants developed all-cause dementia, including 102 cases of Alzheimer disease. Using Cox proportional hazards models, the multivariate adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence interval [CI]) for incident all-cause dementia in participants who were severely 25(OH)D deficient (<25 nmol/L) and deficient (≥25 to <50 nmol/L) were 2.25 (95% CI: 1.23–4.13) and 1.53 (95% CI: 1.06–2.21) compared to participants with sufficient concentrations (≥50 nmol/L). The multivariate adjusted hazard ratios for incident Alzheimer disease in participants who were severely 25(OH)D deficient and deficient compared to participants with sufficient concentrations were 2.22 (95% CI: 1.02–4.83) and 1.69 (95% CI: 1.06–2.69). In multivariate adjusted penalized smoothing spline plots, the risk of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease markedly increased below a threshold of 50 nmol/L.
Conclusion: Our results confirm that vitamin D deficiency is associated with a substantially increased risk of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer disease. This adds to the ongoing debate about the role of vitamin D in nonskeletal conditions.
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My mom developed symptoms earlier than her mom or sisters. I believe the reason was poor nutrition and depression triggered it earlier than probably would have happened. So, yes nutrition may play an important role in how early symptoms show up for older (over 65) people. They may still get it but chances are greater they may die from something else before dementia takes their life.
Unfortunately for younger onset - a whole other disease.
There's no certain way to prevent Dementia, but yes, is you adapt a healthy lifestyle, you can lower down the risk of developing Dementia. I've experience with this kinda case, my grandpa was showing some visible symptoms of Dementia, so I shifted him to Luvida Memory Care. The kinda people and lifestyle I found there, I would have never been able to give my grandpa on my own. He's happy there and is always smiling.