Posted on 10/13/2008 5:56:01 PM PDT by neverdem
Study finds Parkinson’s patients are more commonly lacking in the vitamin than Alzheimer’s patients or healthy peopleA vitamin D shortage is more likely to show up in people with Parkinson’s disease than in healthy people or those with Alzheimer’s disease, scientists report in the October Archives of Neurology. The study is the most recent contribution to a torrent of findings linking vitamin D deficiency with health risks.
It’s well documented that such a deficiency can cause osteoporosis. Studies in recent years have also implicated a shortage of vitamin D in heart disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, cancer and even respiratory problems.
In the new study, researchers measured vitamin D levels in blood samples obtained between 1992 and 2007 from 100 randomly selected Parkinson’s patients. The scientists also analyzed blood samples from 97 Alzheimer’s patients and 99 healthy people from that same time frame.
The team sampled Alzheimer’s patients to assess vitamin D deficiency in another neurodegenerative disorder other than Parkinson’s disease. The groups were similar in race, geographical residence (in the southeastern United States) and age (mid-60s on average).
People with less than 30 nanograms of vitamin D per milliliter of blood were deemed deficient. The analysis showed that 55 percent of the Parkinson’s patients fell into this category, compared with 41 percent of the Alzheimer’s patients and 36 percent of the healthy control group.
People make vitamin D when exposed to sunshine. The differences in the participants’ blood levels could be because Parkinson’s patients get outdoors less often than others, says study coauthor Marian Evatt, a neurologist at Emory University in Atlanta. Further studies will clarify that question, she says.
But previous research has hinted that a shortage of vitamin D could affect brain areas associated with Parkinson’s disease, the study’s authors note. Parkinson’s disease results when a person loses...
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
Thanks very much for posting, neverdem. Very interesting.
My dad died of complications of PD. He did spend a lot of time outdoors, before the illness got too debilitating; however, living in Wisconsin, there is definitely less sunshine than in the area that the control group was tested. Quite interesting.
so it’ ok to go out in the sun again?
Same with MS, they now test MS patient’s for low vitamin D.
http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/061219/19msvitamind.htm
Small sample and statistically insignificant results. Worth pursuing tho...
"Most people meet their vitamin D needs through exposure to sunlight. Ultraviolet (UV) B radiation with a wavelength of 290-315 nanometers penetrates uncovered skin and converts cutaneous 7-dehydrocholesterol to previtamin D3, which in turn becomes vitamin D3. Season, geographic latitude, time of day, cloud cover, smog, skin melanin content, and sunscreen are among the factors that affect UV radiation exposure and vitamin D synthesis. The UV energy above 42 degrees north latitude (a line approximately between the northern border of California and Boston) is insufficient for cutaneous vitamin D synthesis from November through February; in far northern latitudes, this reduced intensity lasts for up to 6 months. Latitudes below 34 degrees north (a line between Los Angeles and Columbia, South Carolina) allow for cutaneous production of vitamin D throughout the year
Complete cloud cover reduces UV energy by 50%; shade (including that produced by severe pollution) reduces it by 60%. UVB radiation does not penetrate glass, so exposure to sunshine indoors through a window does not produce vitamin D. Sunscreens with a sun protection factor of 8 or more appear to block vitamin D-producing UV rays, although in practice people generally do not apply sufficient amounts, cover all sun-exposed skin, or reapply sunscreen regularly. Skin likely synthesizes some vitamin D even when it is protected by sunscreen as typically applied.
The factors that affect UV radiation exposure and research to date on the amount of sun exposure needed to maintain adequate vitamin D levels make it difficult to provide general guidelines. It has been suggested, for example, that approximately 5-30 minutes of sun exposure between 10 AM and 3 PM at least twice a week to the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen usually lead to sufficient vitamin D synthesis and that the moderate use of commercial tanning beds that emit 2-6% UVB radiation is also effective. Individuals with limited sun exposure need to include good sources of vitamin D in their diet or take a supplement.
Despite the importance of the sun to vitamin D synthesis, it is prudent to limit exposure of skin to sunlight [31]. UV radiation is a carcinogen responsible for most of the estimated 1.5 million skin cancers and the 8,000 deaths due to metastatic melanoma that occur annually in the United States. Lifetime cumulative UV damage to skin is also largely responsible for some age-associated dryness and other cosmetic changes. It is not known whether a desirable level of regular sun exposure exists that imposes no (or minimal) risk of skin cancer over time."
Thanks for the link.
Another great article that suggests "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".
sw
Thanks for the info, balls.
metmom & djf, see comment# 8.
Vit D again ping.
Being in the medical field, I am sure you know that the toxicity of Vit D has been vastly overplayed.
And in fact it is a certainty that there is far more mortality from the types of cancers that happen due to deficiency (breast and colon most notably) than there is from Vitamin D exposure.
I am not a doctor and don’t play one on tv but I will start worrying about Vitamin D killing me when I see the streets lined with dead mailmen!!
My wife is young onset PD. Over the weekend we went to a mini-HS reunion where she got together with one of her best friends and talked non-stop while I watched the game. She mentioned on the drive home how she and her friend used to “lay out” and tan every day using baby oil with iodine.
Correlation doesn’t always equal cause and effect. Plus, a sample of one is meaningless anecdotes, suitable for environmentalists alone.
If I’m not mistaken, laying in the sun in your youth wouldn’t make a difference. You need a certain amount of daily sun exposure for your vitamin D needs or supplements. Because of malabsorption, I take 50,000 IU’s of Vitamin daily.
My Mom died 2 years ago of PD and she never spent any time outside even when we were young or later in life. Very interesting article.
Thanks!!! That’s very useful information.
Thanks again & remind me tomorrow to take some.
Thanks for sharing. My mom has been dealing with it for 20 years and this year has been her worst as she is in a home she may never come out of (as of a couple of months ago) for the 1st time ever. It has been a tough year.
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