Vitamin D Deficiency Tied To Increased Risk Of Alzheimer’s, Dementia

The CBS Evening News (8/6, story 8, 1:45, Pelley) reported that a new study appears to link “vitamin D deficiency to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.”

The Washington Post (8/7, Kunkle) reports that in the study (8/6) published online Aug. 6 in the journal Neurology, “researchers studied vitamin D blood levels in 1,658 people age 65 and older who were able to walk, free of dementia, and without a history of cardiovascular disease or stroke.” For the next six years, “medical personnel tracked the subjects…using brain scans, cognitive tests, medical records and other diagnostic tools, to see how many developed Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.” Investigators “found that adults who suffered from a moderate deficiency of vitamin D had a 53 percent higher risk of some form of dementia, while the risk increased 125 percent in those with severe deficiencies.”

Related Links:

— “Researchers say Vitamin D deficiency raises Alzheimer’s risk,” Frederick Kunkle, Washington Post, August 6, 2014.

Posted in In The News.