A new study found a connection between low levels of this 1 vitamin and dementia — and 60% of the world is deficient in it

 

Fairly useless, nothing on how to measure such deficiency and no protocols listed to counteract such deficiency. 

How can I check my vitamin D levels at-home?

Everlywell, Drop, and myLAB Box are other brands that offer at-home vitamin D tests. Each relies on a finger prick blood sample. “Any at-home testing should be done by individuals who know or feel they may be at risk for low levels,” Guandalini says.

How to Get Vitamin D: 7 Effective Ways - Healthline

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A new study found a connection between low levels of this 1 vitamin and dementia — and 60% of the world is deficient in it

Many people’s vitamin D levels do not fall within a healthy range, which can cause muscle weakness, fatigue, depression, bone pain and lower immune function. In fact, an estimated 60% of the world is vitamin D deficient and needs a supplement, Dr. Michael Holick, a professor of medicine, pharmacology, physiology & biophysics and molecular medicine at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, previously told HuffPost.

But if that alone isn’t enough to convince you to prioritize getting vitamin D, which you can do through foods like salmon, tuna, and milk, new research published in the journal “Neurology” this month may do the trick. The study suggests that people with high vitamin D levels in their 30s and 40s have lower dementia risk factors later in life.

The study investigates the potential impact of vitamin D levels in early midlife by examining the prevalence of tau protein and amyloid protein in the brain, “which are key hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease,” Dr. Thomas M. Holland, physician-scientist and assistant professor at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, told HuffPost via email. Holland is not affiliated with the study.

Researchers followed 793 people in their 30s and 40s with an average age of 39 over 16 years. Vitamin D levels were tested at the beginning of the study; those with levels below 30 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) were categorized as having low vitamin D; anything above was considered high.

After a follow-up at the end of the study, it was determined that participants in the high-vitamin D group were more likely to have lower tau levels in their brains.

“Researchers looked at two different types of scans of the brain called PET scans,” said Dr. David Gill, chief of the division of cognitive and behavioral neurology at the University of Rochester in New York. Gill is not affiliated with the study.“One looks at the amyloid protein [prevalence], and one looked at the tau protein [prevalence].” 

Even though tau protein levels were lower in participants with high vitamin D, researchers found that those elevated levels did not impact levels of amyloid in the brain. This indicates someone with high vitamin D could still have elevated levels of amyloid protein, which, as mentioned above, is a characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.

This study does have a “major limitation,” Dr. Jagan Pillai, a Cleveland Clinic neurologist and director of the Cleveland Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, told HuffPost via email. Vitamin D levels were measured once at the beginning of the study “and after that PET scans were completed 15 or more years later,” said Pillai, who was not associated with the study..

“So, we don’t have any information in between,” Pillai added. It’s unknown if participants took supplements or followed a healthy lifestyle that helped them maintain healthy vitamin D levels, he noted. Because vitamin D levels were only measured once, it’s also unclear if someone shifted from having healthy levels to unhealthy levels (or the opposite) during the study’s time period.

While this study has solid data, it does not prove that vitamin D levels directly affect dementia risk, according to Gill. There are many studies on this topic, and they’re conflicting.

“Specifically, there’s been some studies to show that giving vitamin D might help improve memory a little bit, but those are also conflicting. There’s been all of this information out there without a firm understanding of whether there’s a real connection between low vitamin D and Alzheimer’s disease,” Gill said. “I don’t know this [study] answers that question, but it helps move us forward.”

So, does this mean having healthy vitamin D levels in your 30s and 40s will protect you from dementia? Not necessarily. But having healthy vitamin D levels can bolster many systems in your body, including the brain. And as research emerges about vitamin D and dementia risk, there are other changes you can make to take care of your cognition.