Why vitamin D in Alzheimer's disease - a hypothesis – Jan 2014

Why vitamin D in Alzheimer's disease? The hypothesis.

J Alzheimers Dis. 2014;40(2):257-69. doi: 10.3233/JAD-131970.
Gezen-Ak D, Yılmazer S, Dursun E.
Department of Medical Biology, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.

Scientists have worked for over a century to uncover the basis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with the ultimate goal of discovering a treatment. However, none of the approaches utilized have defined the exact cause of the disease or an ultimate treatment for AD. In this review, we aim to define the role of vitamin D in AD from a novel and fundamental perspective and attempt to answer the following question: Why should we seriously consider "simple" vitamin D as a "fundamental factor" in AD?
To answer this question, we explain the

• protective effects of vitamin D in the central nervous system and
• how the action of vitamin D and AD-type pathology overlap.

Furthermore, we suggest that the role of vitamin D in AD includes not only

• vitamin D deficiency and vitamin D-related genes but also the
• disruption of vitamin D metabolism and action.

This suggestion is supported by evidence that the disruption of vitamin D pathways mimic amyloid pathology.
We define the term "inefficient utilization of vitamin D" as any alteration in vitamin D-related genes, including receptors, the enzymes related to vitamin D metabolism or the transporters of vitamin D, and we discuss the potential correlation of vitamin D status with the vulnerability of neurons to aging and neurodegeneration.
Finally, in addition to the current knowledge that defines AD, we suggest that AD could be the result of a long-term hormonal imbalance in which the critical hormone is vitamin D, a secosteroid that has long been misnamed.

PMID: 24413618

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See also Vitamin D Life

• Cognition and vitamin D – summary of expert opinions – July 2014
• Vitamin D reduces Alzheimer’s disease in at least 11 ways – Jan 2013
• Alzheimer’s patients 3X more likely to have a malfunctioning vitamin D receptor gene – 2012
• DDT 3.8 X more prevalent with Alzheimer disease (no mention that DDT decreases vitamin D) – Jan 2014
• Alzheimers-Cognition - Overview has the following summary
• FACT: Cognitive decline is 19X more likely if low vitamin D
• FACT: Dementia is associated with low vitamin D levels.
• FACT: Alzheimer’s 21 % more likely if low vitamin D
• FACT: Alzheimer's Disease is 4X less likely if less likely if high vitamin D
• FACT: Every single risk factor listed for Alzheimer's Disease is also a risk factor for low vitamin D levels
• FACT: Elderly cognition gets worse as the elderly vitamin D levels get even lower (while in senior homes)
• OBSERVATION: Reports of increased vitamin D levels result in improved cognition
• OBSERVATION: Alzheimer’s patients 3X more likely to have a malfunctioning vitamin D receptor gene – 2012
• OBSERVATION: Alzheimer's Disease has been seen to halt when vitamin D was added.
• OBSERVATION: 39 vitamin D and Alz. or Cognition lntervention trials as of Sept 2018
• OBSERVATION: 2 Meta-analysis in 2012 agreed that Alzheimer's Disease. associated with low vitamin D
• OBSERVATION: 50X increase in Alzheimer's while decrease in vitamin D
• OBSERVATION: Vitamin D reduces Alzheimer’s disease in 11 ways
• OBSERVATION: Alzheimer’s cognition improved by 4,000 IU of vitamin D
• OBSERVATION: Plaque removed in mice by equiv. of 14,000 IU daily
• FACT: Vitamin D is extremely low cost and has very very few side effects
• CONCLUSION: Everyone concerned about cognitive decline or Alzheimer's Disease should take vitamin D
• PREDICTION: By 2024 Omega-3 and high dose Vitamin D will be found to reverse Alzheimer's in humans
  • As of 2018 that combination has worked well with Multiple Sclerosis, Sleep, and Cluster Headaches
•     All items in category Cognition and vitamin D 290