Vitamin D May Cut Risk For Parkinson's Disease

Important New Research Further Demonstrates The
Benefits of Vitamins For Cognitive and Mental Function

High blood levels of vitamin D may reduce the risk
of developing Parkinson's disease by 67 per cent,
compared with low levels of the "sunshine vitamin"
says a new study from Finland.

Researchers from the National Institute for Health
and Welfare in Helsinki analysed data from 3,173
Finnish men and women aged between 50 and 79. Over
an impressive 29 years of follow-up, the researchers
documented 50 cases of Parkinson's disease. The
study is reported to be the first longitudinal
analysis of vitamin D status and the risk of
Parkinson's disease.

Writing in the Archives of Neurology, the authors
note that the exact mechanism is unknown,
but postulated that vitamin D may be exerting
a benefit through antioxidant activities,
regulation of calcium levels, detoxification,
modulation of the immune system
and enhanced conduction of electricity through neurons.

"Our results are in line with the hypothesis
that low vitamin D status predicts the development
of Parkinson disease," write the researchers.
"Because of the small number of cases and the
possibility of residual confounding, large cohort
studies are needed. In intervention trials
focusing on effects of vitamin D supplements,
the incidence of Parkinson disease merits follow up."

The study has been described "the first promising
human data to suggest that inadequate vitamin D
status is associated with the risk of developing
Parkinson's disease" and "further work is needed
in both basic and clinical arenas to elucidate the
exact role, mechanisms and optimum concentration of
vitamin D in Parkinson's disease." Parkinson's disease
is a degenerative condition affecting movement and
balance in more than one million Americans each
year, a figure expected to rise due to aging populations.
The disease affects nerve cells in several parts of
the brain, particularly those that use the chemical
messenger dopamine to control movement.

Previous studies have shown that the part of the
brain affected most by Parkinson's, the substantia
nigra, contains high levels of the vitamin D receptor,
which suggests vitamin D may be important for normal
functions of these cells.

The new study involved the measurement of vitamin D
levels in over 3,000 people. The data showed that
people with the lowest levels of vitamin D were three
times more likely to develop Parkinson's, compared
to the group with the highest levels.

"In the interim, data from interventional studies of
fractures and falls appear to justify optimizing vitamin
D levels to greater than 30 to 40 nanograms per millilitre,"
they concluded.

Source: Archives of Neurology
Volume 67, Issue 7, Pages 795-797
"Beyond Vitamin Status - Is There a Role for Vitamin D
in Parkinson Disease?"