Study Claims Taking Vitamin D May Help Prevent Dementia

Taking a D may just be the answer to prevent another D! A new, large-scale study claims that consuming vitamin D supplements may help prevent dementia.

Large-scale Study

Researchers from the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary in Canada and the University of Exeter in the UK looked into the relationship between vitamin D supplementation and dementia among more than 12,388 participants from the US National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center.

The average age of the participants was 71, and none of them had dementia at the time they signed up. 37 percent (4,637) of the group consumed vitamin D pills.

During the course of ten years, 2,696 persons from the overall sample developed dementia; of these, 2,017 (or 75% of them) had no exposure to vitamin D at any point during their visits before being diagnosed with dementia, while 679 (or 25% of them) had baseline exposure.

"We know that vitamin D has some effects on the brain that could have implications for reducing dementia, however so far, research has yielded conflicting results," Professor Zahinoor Ismail, lead author of the study, said in a press release statement.

"Our findings give key insights into groups who might be specifically targeted for vitamin D supplementation. Overall, we found evidence to suggest that earlier supplementation might be particularly beneficial, before the onset of cognitive decline."

While vitamin D was effective in all groups, the team discovered that females experienced effects that were noticeably bigger than those in males.

Similar to how alterations in cognition have been associated with a higher risk of dementia, impacts were more pronounced in those with normal cognition than in those who had mild cognitive impairment.

According to the research team, those who have the APOEe4 gene have improved intestinal absorption of vitamin D, which may lessen the effects of vitamin D supplementation. However, no blood samples were taken to prove this.

Vitamin D's Link with Dementia

Low vitamin D levels have been associated with an increased risk of dementia, as per previous studies. Amyloid, which builds up in the brain and is one of the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, is cleared out by vitamin D.

Moreover, studies have shown that vitamin D may aid in protecting the brain from tau buildup, another protein linked to the onset of dementia.

"The link with vitamin D in this study suggests that taking vitamin D supplements may be beneficial in preventing or delaying dementia, but we now need clinical trials to confirm whether this is really the case," Co-author Dr. Byron Creese said in a statement.

This issue is being investigated further in the ongoing VitaMIND project at the University of Exeter, which randomly assigns people to take vitamin D or a placebo and tracks changes in memory and thinking tasks over time.

The findings of the study were published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring.