'Exciting research shows link betwee vitamin D levels and Alzheimer’s disease'

27 February 2023 , 19:41

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Vitamin D seems to be correlated with less decline in cognitive function (Image: Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)

Some exciting research has brought together two ­subjects we’re ­perennially focusing on – Alzheimer’s and vitamin D.

There’s a lot of research surrounding the latter and it’s touted almost as a panacea, from promoting the absorption of calcium from the gut to protecting against cancer. And now, possibly protecting against Alzheimer’s.

All we have to go on, however, is that people whose brains are high in vitamin D are less forgetful in old age.

How do the US researchers from Tufts University in Massachusetts know that?

They had access to post-mortem samples of brain tissue taken from 209 older adults.

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They found vitamin D in four key areas of the brain, two of which can show changes linked to ­Alzheimer’s, a third that is linked to vascular dementia caused by poor blood flow, and a fourth region that’s not involved with memory loss.

The findings need careful ­consideration. People without dementia and less cognitive decline had higher brain levels of vitamin D than those people with signs of Alzheimer’s.

And those with high vitamin D levels in all four regions of the brain had better cognitive functions including language skills, memory and attention span. And this is where careful ­objectivity is needed in interpreting these results.

Just because high levels of vitamin D in the brain are associated with better intellectual function and memory, it doesn’t necessarily mean vitamin D could treat Alzheimer’s or prevent it. Much more research would be needed for that.

All we have here is a link, not cause and effect.

Dr Kyla Shea, the lead author of the study, says: “We now know that vitamin D is present in reasonable amounts in human brains, and it seems to be correlated with less decline in cognitive function.

“But we need to do more research to identify the neuropathology that vitamin D is linked to in the brain before we start designing future interventions such as telling people to eat more foods with vitamin D.”

I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to up your intake of vitamin D-rich foods such as salmon, eggs, milk,
fish liver oil and mushrooms.

In any case, we need vitamin D to boost our immune system and keep bones healthy.

We usually get enough vitamin D during the summer when sunshine converts pre-vitamin D in the skin to vitamin D.

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But the NHS recommends taking a daily supplement (10mcg) in autumn and winter.

Miriam Stoppard