Low Vitamin D In The Elderly Associated With More Rapid Development of Dementia, Alzheimer’s

According to research from the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Center, elderly individuals with low vitamin D levels show a decline in cognitive functions a a rate three times faster than those with sufficient vitamin D levels.

Joshua Miller, MD lead author of the research  published in JAMA Neurology says, “Independent of race or ethnicity, baseline cognitive abilities and a host of other risk factors, vitamin D insufficiency was associated with significantly faster declines in both episodic memory and executive function performance… This work, and that of others, suggests that there is enough evidence to recommend that people in their 60s and older discuss taking a daily vitamin D supplement with their physicians”.

The study included nearly 400 men and women of varied racial and ethnic backgrounds living in Northern California with a mean age of 76. They were followed for a period of five years. At the start the study subjects were classified as being cognitively normal, had mild cognitive impairment or had dementia. The participants’ serum vitamin D status was measured at the beginning of the study, and after five years of follow-up, the vitamin D deficient individuals had a progression of cognitive decline that was up three times faster than those with adequate  vitamin D levels.

Charles DeCarli, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Center explains, “We expected to see declines in individuals with low vitamin D status. What was unexpected was how profoundly and rapidly low vitamin D impacts cognition. I don’t know if replacement therapy would affect these cognitive trajectories. That needs to be researched and we are planning on doing that.This is a vitamin deficiency that could easily be treated and that has other health consequences. We need to start talking about it, particularly for people of color, for whom vitamin D deficiency appears to present an even greater risk,” he said.

Vitamin D is made when the skin is exposed to sunlight. Foods with high content of Vitamin D are oily fish such as salmon and sardines, eggs, and fortified cereals.

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