Health professionals and consumers alike know that taking vitamin D supplements is good for your body; the nutrient helps your muscles move, your immune system fight infections and your nerves send signals to your brain. A first-of-its-kind study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that it can also ward off a key cognitive condition typically associated with aging: dementia. The new study found that low vitamin D levels are associated with low brain volume, which may increase people’s risk of developing dementia and stroke.
The study, supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, analyzed data from 294,514 participants from the UK Biobank. With this study, scientists investigated the health status of people with low vitamin D levels (25 nmol/L) and their odds of developing dementia and stroke. They did this by using a nonlinear Mendelian randomization (MR) method, which measures changes in genes to find the effects of modifiable exposures on disease. With this technique, they were able to test for potential causal relationships between neuroimaging outcomes, dementia, and stroke.
Researchers have found that vitamin D deficiency can lead to the incidental effects of dementia. ” said Elina Hyppönen, professor, senior researcher and director of the UniSA Australian Centre for Precision Health. “In some cases, vitamin D deficiency is relatively common and our findings have important implications for dementia risk. In fact, in this UK population, we observed that up to 17 percent of dementia cases could be avoided by increasing vitamin D levels to within the control normal range.”
The team found that knowing the normal range of vitamin D intake (50 nmol/L) could help people around the world. “Dementia is a progressive and debilitating disease that can destroy individuals and families,” Hyppönen said. “If we can change that reality by ensuring that none of us are severely deficient in vitamin D, then it has additional benefits, and we can change the health and well-being of thousands of people.”
