Studies show that vitamin D deficiency can lead to dementia

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A genetic study from the University of South Australia (UniSA) has revealed a direct link between dementia and vitamin D deficiency.



the studyWas announced in American Journal of Clinical NutritionVitamin D, neuroimaging function, and the association between dementia and stroke risk, and found that:

• Low levels of vitamin D were associated with reduced brain volume and increased risk of dementia and stroke
• Genetic analysis confirms a causal link between vitamin D deficiency and dementia
• In some populations, 17% of cases of dementia can be prevented by increasing people to normal levels of vitamin D (50 nmol / L).

About 487,500 Australians live with dementia,this is The main cause of death in women And that Second most common cause of death whole.

With the support of the National Council of Health Sciences, genetic research analyzed data from 294,514 participants from the UK Biobank, the effects of low levels of vitamin D (25 nmol / L) and dementia and dementia. I investigated the risk of stroke.

Professor Elina Hyppönen, Principal Investigator and Director of UniSA’s Australian Precision Health Center, said the findings are important for understanding the need to prevent dementia and eliminate vitamin D deficiency.

“Vitamin D is an increasingly recognized hormonal precursor with a wide range of effects, including brain health, but until now it has been very difficult to find out what would happen if vitamin D deficiency could be prevented. I did, “she said.

“Our study is the first study to investigate the effects of very low levels of vitamin D on the risk of dementia and stroke using powerful genetic analysis among large populations.

“In some situations where vitamin D deficiency is relatively common, our findings have important implications for the risk of dementia. In fact, in this UK population, vitamin D levels are in the normal range. We observed that raising it inward could have avoided up to 17% of cases of dementia.

Nonlinear Mendel Randomization (MR) – a method of investigating the causal relationship of correctable exposure to disease using measured variability of genes – is the underlying neuroimaging result, dementia, and stroke. I tested the causal relationship.

MR results do not suggest a clear association with stroke, but did confirm a causal association with dementia risk. Researchers believe that this provides an “important opportunity for prevention.”

Similarly, the finding that the strongest impact on the risk of dementia was found in people with the lowest vitamin D levels (

The findings are important for Professor Hipponen, given the high prevalence of dementia worldwide.

“Dementia is a progressive and debilitating illness that can devastate individuals and families alike,” she said.

“If we can change this reality by making sure that none of us have a serious vitamin D deficiency, it will bring even more benefits and can change the health and well-being of thousands of people.

“Most of us seem to be okay, but for those who for some reason can’t get enough vitamin D from the sun, diet changes alone may not be enough and supplements may be needed. . “

Researchers believe that vitamin D has the potential to have protective effects on brain health, “biologically plausible,” suggesting three possible mechanisms.

“First, the presence of vitamin D receptors in the hypothalamus suggests the neurosteroid function of active vitamin D and promotes neuronal growth and maturation,” they write.

Second, active vitamin D is associated with reduced thrombosis and regulation of the renin-angiotensin system, so vascular mechanisms may exist.

“Third, rich concentrations of active vitamin D act as a neuroprotective agent through suppression of excessive inflammatory neurovascular damage caused by attenuation of inflammatory cytokines and amyloid proteins commonly observed in Alzheimer’s disease. There is likely to be.”

The limitations of the studies cited by the research team include the inability to rule out the effects of residual entanglement in observational analysis, but because the baseline population was largely undeprived and they received higher education from secondary education. , UK Biobank was labeled “vulnerable to healthy volunteer bias”. It was a normal to overweight BMI (50).

On the other hand, MR analysis was limited to participants from Caucasian British ancestry, so these findings may not be generalized to other populations.

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dementia stroke Vitamin D