How to prevent dementia?
A study led by an international team of researchers has suggested that taking vitamin D supplements could potentially help prevent dementia
A study led by an international team of researchers has suggested that taking vitamin D supplements could potentially help prevent dementia. The research, conducted by the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute in Canada and the University of Exeter in the UK, looked into the relationship between vitamin D supplementation and dementia in over 12,388 participants, of whom 4,637 took vitamin D supplements. The study found that taking vitamin D was associated with living without the disease for longer, with 40% fewer dementia diagnoses in the group who took supplements. The results suggest that earlier supplementation may be particularly beneficial, before the onset of cognitive decline. The findings were published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring.
Across the entire sample, 2,696 participants progressed to dementia over ten years; amongst them, 2,017 (75 per cent) had no exposure to vitamin D throughout all visits prior to dementia diagnosis, and 679 (25 per cent) had baseline exposure.
Lead researcher Professor Zahinoor Ismail said, “We know that vitamin D has some effects in the brain that could have implications for reducing dementia, however so far, research has yielded conflicting results. 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”.
The findings are published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, concluded that while Vitamin D was effective in all groups, the effects were significantly greater in females, compared to males. Similarly, effects were greater in people with normal cognition, compared to those who reported signs of mild cognitive impairment — changes to cognition which have been linked to a higher risk of the disease.
The study noted that the effects of vitamin D were also significantly greater in people who did not carry the APOEe4 gene, known to present a higher risk for Alzheimer’s dementia, compared to non-carriers. People who carry the APOEe4 gene absorb vitamin D better from their intestine, which might reduce the vitamin D supplementation effect.
