It looks like vitamin D deficiency could lead to a higher risk of dementia. Check out the latest interesting reports about this below.
Vitamin D deficiency effects
Recent research has identified vitamin D deficiency as one of the 15 modifiable lifestyle factors that may increase a person’s risk of developing dementia at an early age.
The study highlights other factors such as alcohol abuse and social isolation, but the link between low levels of vitamin D and cognitive decline may indicate that taking a daily supplement might help to combat the rise of dementia.
It is worth noting that around 35 percent of adults in the United States suffer from vitamin D deficiency.
According to data from BCBS, the average age of someone with young-onset dementia or Alzheimer’s is 49, and women are more likely to be affected than men.
The comprehensive study, published in JAMA Neurology, has identified 15 lifestyle and health risk factors that are linked to the early onset of dementia.
The study examined data from over 356,000 individuals who were below the age of 65 and whose information was included in the UK Biobank, a large-scale biomedical database and research initiative in the UK, during the period between 2006 and 2010.
“This is the largest and most robust study of its kind ever conducted,” David Llewellyn of the University of Exeter said in a statement.
Risk Factors for Young-Onset Dementia
“Young-onset dementia has a very serious impact because the people affected usually still have a job, children, and a busy life,” Stevie Hendriks from the Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, who was the lead author of the study, said in the statement.
“The cause is often assumed to be genetic, but for many people we don’t actually know exactly what the cause is.”
The study found that alcohol abuse, stroke, and hearing impairment are major risk factors contributing to cognitive decline, as previously identified.
However, the study also discovered some additional risk factors associated with early-onset dementia that have not been explored in-depth before.
These include vitamin D deficiency, high levels of inflammatory C-reactive proteins, especially in women, orthostatic hypotension (low blood pressure that occurs when standing after sitting), and social isolation.
