Overview Alzheimer's-Cognition and Vitamin D

Created July 2010

A summary of the key points of this page by Claude2 - July 2023

The PDF provides an overview of the evidence linking vitamin D deficiency to increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline. It highlights numerous studies, facts, and observations supporting vitamin D's role in brain health.

Some key facts presented:

  • Cognitive decline is 19 times more likely with low vitamin D levels.

  • Dementia and Alzheimer's diseases are consistently associated with low vitamin D in many observational studies.

    • Alzheimer's is 2.3 times more likely in the elderly with low D.

  • Every single risk factor for Alzheimer's disease is also a risk factor for low vitamin D.

  • As vitamin D levels in the elderly continue to decline, cognition gets worse.

  • Increasing vitamin D has been observed to improve cognition in some reports.

  • Alzheimer's patients are 3 times more likely to have a malfunctioning vitamin D receptor gene which can prevent vitamin D from getting into cells.

    Some key observations:

  • In animal studies, vitamin D has been found to help remove amyloid brain plaque associated with Alzheimer's .

  • Exposure to DDT, which decreases vitamin D, increases Alzheimer's risk by up to 3.8 times.

  • Genes linked to Alzheimer's all also restrict vitamin D function.

  • There are at least 11 ways vitamin D may help reduce Alzheimer's disease risk and pathology.

  • Daily vitamin D supplementation around 4,000 IU improved cognition in Alzheimer's patients in a clinical trial.

In summary, the PDF compilation of references indicates substantial evidence for a link between low vitamin D and increased Alzheimer's and cognitive decline. It advocates vitamin D supplementation as a low-risk, low-cost prevention and treatment strategy. Combining vitamin D with omega-3 is highlighted as another promising approach currently being tested.

Alzheimer's 5% more likely for each 1 ng lower level of Vitamin D (514 centenarians) - July 2025

The relationship between vitamin D levels and Alzheimer's disease risk: insights from a centenarian study of Chinese women

Front. Nutr. 12:1628732. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1628732

Yupeng Li11, Xujie Wang2t, Mei Yu3t, Fei Wang4t, Dong Song5, Musong Liu6, Xu Liang7, Hongzhou Liu5, Jiangbo Liu8,

Shihui Fu9,10* and Xuhui Liu11*

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Background: While vitamin D3 (VD3) has been implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) prevention, limited evidence exists among centenarians—particularly women—who exhibit unique cognitive aging trajectories. This study aimed to examine the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels and AD risk in Chinese female centenarians.

Methods: We included 514 female participants aged >100 years from the China Healthy Longevity Multicenter Study (CHLMS). AD was diagnosed using education-adjusted MMSE thresholds and clinical exclusion of non-AD dementias. Serum 25(OH)D and biochemical markers were measured using standardized laboratory protocols. Logistic regression models (unadjusted and progressively adjusted) assessed associations between 25(OH)D and AD. Restricted cubic spline (RCS) and piecewise regressions evaluated non-linear and threshold effects, while subgroup analyses explored effect modification.

Results: Higher serum 25(OH)D levels were independently associated with lower odds of AD (adjusted OR per 1 ng/mL: 0.95 ; 95% CI: 0.90-1.00; p = 0.037). Compared to the lowest quartile, participants in the highest quartile had an 87% reduced risk (OR = 0.13; 95% CI: 0.03-0.50; p = 0.007). RCS analysis revealed a significant inverse dose-response relationship, with a potential threshold effect observed at 29.3 ng/mL. Piecewise regression confirmed that the protective association was strongest below this threshold. Subgroup analyses across smoking, hypertension, and early-life indicators showed consistent effects with no significant interactions.

Conclusion: Among Chinese female centenarians, serum vitamin D3 levels are inversely associated with AD risk in a dose-dependent manner, particularly below 29.3 ng/mL. These findings highlight the relevance of vitamin D3 as a potentially modifiable factor in cognitive aging and support further interventional studies in the oldest-old population.

📄 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

Blood test (p-Tau217) accurately predicts Alzheimer's 20 years before symptoms - plenty of time to make changes to avoid it - April 2025

Substack - Dr. Eric Topol

Blood test costs $200   Suspect that this will added to the great End of Alzheimers protocol

Countries consuming more Omega-6 (which blocks Omega-3) have 2.4 X higher risk of Alzheimer's Disease - preprint Aug 2024

Change in Age Standardized Alzheimer Disease Incidence associated with a 1 unit increase in country-level Omega-6

Omega6 PUFA (% of energy intake) 2.44 p=1.38x10-9

📄 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

Vitamin D Life - Many Neurological Diseases fought by Vitamin D - Dec 2022

Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease: Compared and Contrasted: Perplexity AI April 2025

Dementia and Alzheimer's disease are terms often used interchangeably in everyday conversation, leading to confusion about what each represents. While closely related, they describe different concepts in neurological health. Understanding the distinction between these terms is crucial not only for medical professionals but also for patients and caregivers navigating diagnosis, treatment, and care planning.

  1. Definitions and Relationship

    1. What is Dementia?

Dementia is not a specific disease but rather an umbrella term that describes a collection of symptoms affecting cognitive abilities, memory, and behavior. These symptoms are severe enough to interfere with daily functioning and independence. Dementia represents a syndrome—a group of related symptoms—rather than a specific diagnosis [1] [5] [9].

The symptoms of dementia typically include memory loss, confusion, difficulties with problem-solving, language impairment, and changes in behavior [7] [9]. These symptoms result from damage to brain cells, interfering with their ability to communicate with each other properly [1].

1. What is Alzheimer's Disease?

Unlike dementia, Alzheimer's disease is a specific degenerative brain disease. It's a defined medical condition with particular biological processes and pathological features [5] [8]. Alzheimer's disease begins with the buildup of abnormal proteins in the brain in the form of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, which causes brain cells to die and the brain to shrink over time [4] [12].

1. The Relationship Between Them

The most important distinction is that Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for approximately 60-80% of all dementia cases [1] [7] [8]. In other words, Alzheimer's disease is a specific illness that often leads to dementia symptoms, while dementia is the set of symptoms that can result from Alzheimer's or other conditions affecting the brain [5].

As one source succinctly puts it: "The main difference between Alzheimer's and dementia is that Alzheimer's is a disease in the brain, whereas dementia is a collection of symptoms" [5].

  1. Causes and Pathology

    1. Causes of Dementia

Dementia can result from various diseases and conditions that damage brain cells, including:

  • Alzheimer's disease (most common cause)

  • Vascular disease (affecting blood flow to the brain)

  • Lewy body disease 

  • Frontotemporal degeneration

  • Traumatic brain injury

  • Certain infections

  • Nutritional deficiencies

  • Chronic alcohol abuse [6] [7] [9] [10]

Multiple pathological processes underlie different types of dementia, though common mechanisms include neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and disruptions to the blood-brain barrier [11].

1. Pathology of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease has a specific pathological signature characterized by:

  • Accumulation of amyloid-β protein plaques outside neurons

  • Formation of neurofibrillary tangles (composed of tau protein) inside neurons

  • Progressive neuronal death and brain atrophy

  • Initial damage to the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex (memory centers)

  • Gradual spread to temporal, parietal, and frontal lobes [4] [10] [12]

These changes begin years—sometimes decades—before symptoms become apparent,

with the disease following a relatively predictable progression pattern through the brain [12].

  1. Clinical Features and Symptoms

    1. Dementia Symptoms

The general symptoms of dementia include:

  • Memory loss

  • Confusion and difficulties with daily tasks

  • Problems with language and understanding

  • Difficulty with reasoning and judgment

  • Changes in behavior and personality

  • Disorientation to time and place

  • Problems with visual perception [1] [2] [9]

    1. Alzheimer's Disease Symptoms

While Alzheimer's shares the general symptoms of dementia, it has a characteristic pattern:

  • Early and prominent episodic memory impairment (particularly for recently learned information)

  • Difficulty encoding new memories (rather than just retrieving them)

  • Word-finding difficulties and language problems

  • Progressive disorientation and confusion

  • Later development of behavioral changes

  • In advanced stages: difficulty with basic functions like walking, swallowing, and speaking [1] [3] [12]

A key feature of Alzheimer's is the nature of the memory impairment: "The episodic memory impairment of AD is presumed to be due to a diminished ability to encode new material into long-term memory. This produces a rapid decay of memory traces, affecting both recall and recognition of verbal and visual material" [12].

1. Differences Across Dementia Types

Different types of dementia have distinctive symptom patterns that help with differential diagnosis:

  • In Lewy body dementia: Visual hallucinations, movement issues similar to Parkinson's disease, and sleep disturbances are prominent, with the memory deficit being "one of retrieval rather than encoding" [6] [12]

  • In vascular dementia: Problems with planning, organizing, and decision-making may appear before significant memory issues [9]

  • In frontotemporal dementia: Personality and behavioral changes or language impairment typically precede memory problems [10] [12]

    1. Progression and Stages

      1. Dementia Progression

All forms of dementia are progressive, meaning symptoms worsen over time, though the rate and pattern vary depending on the underlying cause [9].

1. Alzheimer's Disease Progression

Alzheimer's typically follows a more predictable course divided into three main stages:

  1. Early-stage (mild): Memory lapses, word-finding difficulties, trouble with new information, misplacing objects, and challenges with planning [3]

  2. Middle-stage (moderate): Increasing confusion, difficulty recognizing friends and family, and significant behavioral changes

  3. Late-stage (severe): Inability to communicate or perform basic self-care, requiring around-the-clock assistance, loss of awareness of surroundings, and physical decline including difficulty with walking, sitting, and swallowing [3]

Before the dementia phase, some individuals experience Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), which can be "an early stage of the disease continuum for Alzheimer's if the hallmark changes in the brain are present. However, not all people with MCI develop dementia" [3].

  1. Diagnosis Approaches

Diagnosing the specific type of dementia is increasingly important for proper treatment planning. Current approaches include:

  • Clinical evaluation of symptoms and medical history

  • Cognitive and neuropsychological testing

  • Brain imaging (MRI, CT, PET scans)

  • In the case of Alzheimer's, biomarkers have become more important in diagnosis [12]

The 2011 criteria for Alzheimer's disease represent a significant advance, recognizing

"a broad AD spectrum (from preclinical to mild cognitive impairment to AD dementia)

and requirement of AD biomarkers for diagnosis" [12].

  1. Treatment Options

    1. Managing Dementia

While there is no cure for dementia, management approaches include:

  • Physical activity and participation in cognitively stimulating activities

  • Support services for patients and caregivers

  • Medications to address specific symptoms

  • Treatment of underlying conditions when possible [7]

    1. Alzheimer's Disease Treatment

Alzheimer's treatment typically includes:

  • Cholinesterase inhibitors (like donepezil) for symptom management

  • NMDA receptor antagonists (like memantine) for moderate to severe cases

  • Management of behavioral symptoms

  • Supportive care services [4] [7]

As one source notes: "There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease...

But medicines may improve symptoms or slow the decline in thinking.

Programs and services can help support people with the disease and their caregivers" [4].

  1. Prevalence and Impact

The scope of dementia and Alzheimer's disease represents a significant global health challenge:

  • Approximately 57 million people worldwide had dementia in 2021, with nearly 10 million new cases annually [7]

  • 60-70% of dementia cases are attributed to Alzheimer's disease [7]

  • Dementia is the seventh leading cause of death globally [7]

  • The economic impact of dementia was estimated at US$1.3 trillion in 2019 [7]

  • Women are disproportionately affected, both as patients and as caregivers [7]

  • In the United States, about 6.9 million people age 65 and older live with Alzheimer's disease, with more than 70% being 75 and older [4]

    1. Conclusion

While Alzheimer's disease and dementia are related concepts, they are not identical. Dementia represents a syndrome characterized by a collection of cognitive and behavioral symptoms that can be caused by various conditions, while Alzheimer's disease is the most common specific brain disease that leads to dementia. Alzheimer's has distinctive pathological features, primarily the accumulation of amyloid plaques and tau tangles, which progressively damage the brain.

Understanding this relationship is critical for several reasons: it guides appropriate diagnosis, informs treatment planning, helps patients and families prepare for different disease trajectories, and supports ongoing research into prevention and treatment of these devastating conditions. As potential disease-modifying treatments emerge, the ability to distinguish Alzheimer's from other causes of dementia becomes increasingly important for determining who might benefit from specific interventions.

Citations:

[1] https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/difference-between-dementia-and-alzheimer-s

[2] https://www.healthline.com/health/alzheimers-disease/difference-dementia-alzheimers

[3] https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/stages

[4] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20350447

[5] https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/blog/difference-between-dementia-alzheimers-disease

[6] https://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/alzheimers-and-dementia-whats-the-difference

[7] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia

[8] https://medschool.ucla.edu/news-article/alzheimers-vs-dementia-what-is-the-difference

[9] https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/types-dementia/what-is-dementia

[10] https://www1.racgp.org.au/ajgp/2023/august/pathophysiology-of-dementia

[11] https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2003174-overview

[12] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3225285/

[13] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/expert-answers/alzheimers-and-dementia-whats-the-difference/faq-20396861

[14] https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-and-dementia/understanding-different-types-dementia

[15] https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-dementia

[16] https://www.cdc.gov/alzheimers-dementia/about/index.html

[17] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIRx0CF26e8

[18] https://alzheimer.ca/en/about-dementia/what-alzheimers-disease/difference-between-alzheimers-disease-other-dementias

[19] https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia

[20] https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/alzheimers-and-dementia

Vitamin D Life - Cognitive category contains

{include}

Dr. Campbell Video on Dementia/Alzheimer's and Vitamin D - July 2023

YouTube 16 minutes

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16+ Items in both categories Cognitive and Vitamin D Receptor

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Alzheimer's before symptoms can now be detected, many ways to prevent having symptoms - May 2024

BrainScan - Pioneering Diagnostics to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline 64 minutes, Apollo Health, Dr. Bredesen

Similar to detecting pre-Diabetes allows proactively stopping progression to diabetes.

Perhaps we should call this a test for pre-Alzheimer's

Far better than the gene test which mearly shows the risk of getting Alzheimer's.

13+ VitaminDWik Meta-analyses with ALZHEIMER in title

This list is automatically updated

{LIST()}

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97+ Vitamin D Life pages with ALZHEIMER in the title

This list is automatically updated

{LIST()}

{ANAME()}dementia{ANAME}

Cognition and Dementia in Vitamin D Life

Items in BOTH Cognition and Intervention categories

    give Vitamin D and look for improved cognition

{category}

Vitamin D Life - studies in both categories Cognitive and Omega-3

This list is automatically updated

{category}

Vitamin D Life - studies in both categories Cognitive and Virus

This list is automatically updated

{category}

200 patients nicely treated for all 3 types of Alzheimer's by adjusting several of 34 variables - Sept 2017

{ANAME()}Alz VDR{ANAME}

Items in both Cognition and Vitamin D Receptor categories{category}Note above: Alzheimer’s is 3 times more likely if poor VDRVitamin D Receptor category has the following{include}Alzheimer’s disease – vitamin D looks promising – Annweiler Jan 2014 has a VDR chart

Alzheimer’s might be associated with Herpes virus (which is associated with low Vitamin D) - Feb 2023

Could Alzheimer’s be caused by an infection? The Guardian   Many hints

  • "“When people with herpes were treated with a standard antiviral drug, it decreased their risk of dementia nine-fold.”"

  • "...– examined postmortem brain samples from patients, she found greater amounts of the virus’s DNA than in people who had not died of the disease."

  • "Studies in the UK, France and Scandinavia suggested that people who had been infected with herpes were more likely to get Alzheimer’s. "

  • "...giving people a shingles vaccine seems to lessen their risk of developing Alzheimer’s"

Diets reduce the risk of Alz

Omega-3 stopped mild AD progression - 2006

  • Omega-3 fatty acid treatment in 174 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease: OmegAD study: a randomized double-blind trial 10.1001/archneur.63.10.1402.

Alzheimer's patients had lower levels of vitamin D in Cerebrospinal Fluid - Feb 2022

Vitamin D in Alzheimer's Disease: Low Levels in Cerebrospinal Fluid Despite Normal Amounts in Serum

J Alzheimers Dis. 2022 Feb 15. doi: 10.3233/JAD-215536

Jelena Zugic Soares 1 2 3, Jørgen Valeur 3, Jūratė Šaltytė Benth 4 5, Anne-Brita Knapskog 6, Geir Selbæk 2 6 7, Golchin Arefi 8, D Gregor Gilfillan 8, Anita Tollisen 3, Nenad Bogdanovic 6 9, Renate Pettersen 1

Background: Vitamin D insufficiency has been suggested as a dementia risk factor.

Objective: In this cross-sectional, explorative study we investigated whether levels of vitamin D in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are lower in patients with positive biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) compared to cognitively healthy controls and whether polymorphisms of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene, FokI, BsmI, ApaI, and TaqI, are associated with levels of vitamin D in CSF and cognition.

Methods: We included 100 patients≥65 years assessed for cognitive impairment and 76 cognitively healthy controls. Levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) in both serum and CSF, and VDR polymorphisms were analyzed.

Results: The mean level of 25(OH)D in serum was 78.6 (SD 28.9) nmol/l. While serum levels of 25(OH)D were not significantly different between the groups, CSF levels of 25(OH)D were significantly lower in patients with positive AD core biomarkers (p = 0.001) compared to patients without such biomarkers. Individuals with the BsmI major homozygote genotype had significantly lower results on a 10-word delayed recall test (p = 0.044) and verbal fluency test (p = 0.013), and individuals with the TaqI major homozygote genotype had significantly lower results on a verbal fluency test (p = 0.030) compared to individuals with the corresponding minor homozygote genotype.

Conclusion: Patients with positive AD core biomarkers have low CSF levels of 25(OH)D, despite sufficient serum levels. CSF levels of 25(OH)D do not seem to be affected by any of the four VDR gene polymorphisms. TaqI and BsmI major homozygote genotypes might be at increased risk for development of cognitive decline.

Playing music from a patient's youth helps with dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's

On the WEB

Type 3 Diabetes?

  • Discussed in Medscape Aug 2025

  • New York Times Sept 2012

    • Idea has been around since 2005. Brain cells become insulin resistant - first noticed by Dr. Alzheimer

    • people with diabetes are at least twice as likely to get Alzheimer’s

  • Alzheimer’s Disease as Type 3 Diabetes: Common Pathophysiological Mechanisms between Alzheimer’s Disease and Type 2 Diabetes - Feb 2022 free PDF

  • Cerebral Fructose Metabolism as a Potential Mechanism Driving Alzheimer’s Disease - Feb 2020 FREE PDF

  • Type 3 Diabetes and Its Role Implications in Alzheimer’s Disease - April 2020 Free PDF

  • Machine Learning Selection of Most Predictive Brain Proteins Suggests Role of Sugar Metabolism in Alzheimer’s Disease -|Feb 2023

  • The Full Spectrum of Alzheimer’s Disease Is Rooted in Metabolic Derangements That Drive Type 3 Diabetes May 2019

  • Sugar in Beverage and the Risk of Incident Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Stroke: A Prospective Cohort Study - Nov 2020

  • PubMed Alzheimer's AND Insulin in title 475 items as of March 2023

    • "Insulin Resistance and Alzheimer's Disease: Bioenergetic Linkages." Oct 2017 free PDF online

    • "Insulin signaling: An opportunistic target to minify the risk of Alzheimer's disease." Sept 2017

    • "Insulin resistance in Alzheimer's disease." May 2017

  • Vitamin D and neurology Wikipedia

    • has sections on Dementia: Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Multiple sclerosis, Epilepsy and seizures, Schizophrenia

  • Alzheimer's nutrient status - July 2014 including vitamin D - attached at the bottom of this page

  • Vitamin D Deficiency and Alzheimer Disease: Common Links July 2015, Publisher wants $40 for the PDF

    • "Based on this accumulation of studies, we propose that VitD screening should be performed at least in those individuals at risk for VitD deficiency and AD"
  • Is It Alzheimer’s, or A.D.H.D.? New York Times Sept 2015
    • 3 % of Dutch over 60 have A.D.H. D. It overlaps with age-related cognitive decline
  • Probiotics improve cognition in Alzheimer's patients RCT Nov 2016
    • Nothing about Vitamin D. 12 weeks of probiotics for Alzheimer's patients increased mental test score from 8.7 to 10.6 (max score = 30)

  • Should I Take The Gene Test For Alzheimer's? GreenMed Info. April 2017

    • Yes: should have a gene test, especially if Alz runs in the family
    • If you have two copies of APOE4 gene you can be at 12X risk of getting Alzheimer's

    • Personal note: I (Henry Lahore) have just one copy of the gene, so I have a 3X risk - the only gene risk from my 23andMe report

      • Supplementing vitamin D, etc virtually eliminates my increased risk

      • 6X increase in Age-Adjusted Death from Dementia (Finland) in 30 years

  • Age-adjusted = increase is NOT due to having a larger elderly population

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  • 6X increase in Age-Adjusted Death from Dementia (Finland) in 30 years
    • Age-adjusted = increase is NOT due to having a larger elderly population

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  • 7 Conditions Masquerading As Dementia GreenMed Info Aug 2018
    • Does not mention which the 7 are, but does point to huge success at reversing dementia - using major changes - including supplementing with Omega-3
  • From Fight Aging On Increasing Your Chances of Avoiding Alzheimer's July 2011
    • In many ways, Alzheimer's Disease looks a lot like type 2 diabetes - it can be argued that there are some biochemical similarities in the underlying mechanisms, Alzheimer's appears to be a lifestyle disease to some degree, and the two conditions have many of the same risk factors, such as obesity and being sedentary. So: " Over half of all Alzheimer's disease cases could potentially be prevented through lifestyle changes and treatment or prevention of chronic medical conditions. ...
    • Analyzing data from studies around the world involving hundreds of thousands of participants, [researchers] concluded that worldwide, the biggest modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer's disease are, in descending order of magnitude, low education, smoking, physical inactivity, depression, mid-life hypertension, diabetes and mid-life obesity . ...

In the United States, [researchers] found that the biggest modifiable risk factors are

{ANAME()}every single{ANAME}

  • physical inactivity,

  • depression,

  • smoking,

  • mid-life hypertension,

  • mid-life obesity,

  • low education and

  • diabetes. ...

    Note: EVERY SINGLE ONE of the above associations with Alzheimer's Disease is also associated with low vitamin D:

  • Physical inactivity - not get out in the sun

  • depression category - a common result of low vitamin D:

  • Smoking - well known to consume vitamin D

  • mid-life hypertension a result of low vitamin D:

  • mid-life obesity - which results from low vitamin D, and Obesity makes vitamin D levels even lower

  • Low education - take far fewer nutritional supplements - due to cost, knowledge, belief

    • Note: low education is also associated with dark-skinned people, who get less vitamin D from the sun

  • Alz treated with multiple nutrients: Vit D 40-60 ng, Omega-3 index > 8, Iron, Selenium, B12, etc

  • diabetes - a result of low vitamin D:

Clinical Trials for Cognition and Vitamin D INTERVENTION

Vitamin D, Cognition and Alzheimer's Disease: The Therapeutic Benefit is in the D-Tails - May 2016

J Alzheimers Dis. 2016 May 11;53(2):419-44. doi: 10.3233/JAD-150943.

Landel V1, Annweiler C2,3, Millet P1,4, Morello M1,5,6, Féron F1.

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Fig. 2. Proposed mechanisms of vitamin D-mediated multitargeted effects in AD. Vitamin D imbalance is proposed to alter mechanisms implicated in aging and AD pathogenesis. Suggested protective effects of vitamin D supplementation concern regulation of vascular processes and oxidative stress, calcium homeostasis, neurotransmission, modulation of immune and inflammatory processes, and direct impact on amyloidogenesis, ultimately improving cognitive functions.

Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

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Age-adjusted Death rates: Alzheimer's has been increasing the fastest

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Big increase if both parents had Alzheimer's

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54% of ALL people, of all ages, are now "touched" by Alzheimer's

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Alzheimers Association facts and figures 2016 - nothing about vitamin D

📄 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

Has A LOT of information, including the following

  • "Compared with no TBI, moderate TBI is associated with twice the risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and severe TBI with 4.5 times the risk"

  • "1 in 9 people over age 65 has Alzheimer's Disease"

  • "Among people aged 70, 61% of those with Alzheimer's Disease are expected to die before age 80 vs 30% of those without Alzheimer's' "

  • "15 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias."

  • "Total payments for Health Care, Long term care, and Hospice are estimated to be $236 billion in 2016 for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias."

    • This $236 Billion does NOT include the costs due to caregiving by family, lost time from work, etc.

Percentage Changes in Selected Causes of Death (All Ages) Between 2000 and 2013

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Alzheimer's in more than half of hospital patients over age 65

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Half of caregiving for 6+ years is due to Alzheimer's or other dementia

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Work changes due to Alzheimer's or Dementia caregiving

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What if we could delay the onset of Alzheimer's by 5 years - Alzheimer's Association - 2015

📄 Download the PDF from Vitamin D Life

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Looks like about half of the people would not have Alzheimer's costs (die sooner?)

Cognition other than Vitamin D monotherapy

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Items in BOTH Cognition and Omega-3 categories

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APOE4 gene greatly increases the risk of AD, but had been a benefit during childhood

The APOe4 gene protected our ancestors and helped them get through the childbearing years by attacking parasites and micro-organisms with oxidative stress. It is only in modern times that people live long enough for the same oxidative stress to work against us in old age.

A book, Survival of the Sickest ,(2008) points out roughly the same concept in a number of other diseases which long ago helped our ancestors get through plagues, ice ages, parasites, famine, etc. It's a fascinating concept and it makes sense. By Rich H, Jan 2017

📄 Download the PDF of the book from Vitamin D Life

Small amount of Lithium slows dementia in Alzheimer's

Saffron treats Alzheimer's as well as drugs, but without side affects - June 2021

**Saffron Put to the Test for Alzheimer’s Dr. Greger

  • Study was funded by BIG SAFRON = Iran (not BIG PHARMA)

  • Co-encapsulation of vitamin D3 and saffron petals’ bioactive compounds in nanoemulsions: Effects of emulsifier and homogenizer types - June 2020 https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.14629 FREE PDF

  • Note: Various suppliers of Safron in combination with Vitamin D

Rate of a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's associated with Aluminium - 2017

Bill Gates put $50 million into Alzheimer's Research - Fall 2017 (no mention about Vitamin D)

  • Why I’m Digging Deep Into Alzheimer’s Bill Gates Blog

    • "A person with Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia spends five times more every year out-of-pocket on healthcare than a senior without a neurodegenerative condition"

    • For example, we don’t fully understand why you are more likely to get Alzheimer’s if you’re African American or Latino than if you’re white"

    • Vitamin D Life suspects that the increased risk is due to lower levels of vitamin D in those with dark skins

  • Bill Gates' newest mission: Curing Alzheimer's CNN

    • "Since 2002, there have been more than 400 Alzheimer drug trials run and yet no treatments"

  • Why Bill Gates-backed a $30 million fight against Alzheimer’s July 2018

    • give profit incentive to groups deploying early detection of Alzheimer's

    • His family (father?) has Alzheimer's

Risk of Dementia reduced 50% by just using Brain Plasticity Software for just 13 hours - Nov 2017

Posit Science - 10-year experiment, full free text online

Speed of processing training results in lower risk of dementia

Types of Mental Disorders (no mention of low vitamin D) - 2017?

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Bipolar Bandit has detailed descriptions and references

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Alzheimer's risk reduced by Vit D, Vit C, Omega-3, Zinc, etc more than cancels the increased risk due to APOE-4 problems - July 2018* Why Is Modern Medicine Aiming To Reduce Risk For Alzheimer's Disease With Expensive Gene Editing Technology When Fish Oil, Antioxidants & Metal Chelation Are More Effective & Economical? Bill Sardi *1. The alternative therapies cancel the increased risk of Alzheimer's due to gene problems

  • Gene Therapy ignores the other causes of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia

  1. The alternative therapies are far far less costly than gene therapy

    • might cost $200 Billion to provide gene therapy to everyone with the APOE-4 gene problem

Copper + saturated fat (cholesterol) found to increase the rate of Cognitive Decline by 3X

Alzheimer's rate is especially increasing in groups at high risk of Low Vitamin D (Dark Skin)

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reference for both graphics

Alz is strongly related to Mercury (dental fillings), Emeramide is a Mercury chelator was developed - Jan 2020* Hallmarks of Alzheimer's Are Stimulated by This Substance Mercola ** Interview of Boyd Haley, Ph.D., *Video and Transcript

  • {...enzyme creatine kinase, which is a fundamental enzyme, is 98 percent inhibited in Alzheimer's patients..."

  • "All Biochemical Abnormalities and Hallmarks of Alzheimer's Are Stimulated by Mercury"

  • In 2014 Haley wrote a paper "Evidence Supporting a Link Between Dental Amalgams and Chronic Illness, Fatigue, Depression, Anxiety and Suicide."

  • "The Relationship of Toxic Effects of Mercury to Exacerbation of the Medical Condition classified as Alzheimer’s Disease" byHaley

>12 million will have Alzheimer’s in the US in 2050

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web

Saffron as good as Alzheimer's drug, but without the side effects - June 2021

  • Saffron Put to the Test for Alzheimer’s Dr Greger

    • Comparing the efficacy and safety of Crocus sativus L. with memantine in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease: a double-blind randomized clinical trial - 2014

    • Note: As of June 2021 various suppliers produce Safron in combination with Vitamin D

    • Also:"Co-encapsulation of vitamin D3 and saffron petals’ bioactive compounds in nanoemulsions: Effects of emulsifier and homogenizer types" - June 2020 - https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.14629 PDF costs $14

Rates of Death due to Alz and Dementia vary a lot between countries

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World Heath Rangings July 2021* Example: US death rate is 6X of that of Japan (34.8 vs 5.2) *---

Daily multivitamin slowed cognitive decline by 60%: placebo-controlled trial - Nov 2021* Multivitamins, but not cocoa, tied to slowed brain aging MDEdge Nov 11, 2021 *Better and better during the trial, but plateaued at 2 years

Presented at a conference. A comment was made that the benefit might be from Vitamin B12 in the multivitamin

Calcitriol appears to worsen Alzheimer's in both mice and humans - 2022

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There have actually been visitors to this page since it was originally made *---

60% reduced decline in moderate Alzheimer's symptoms by just diluting blood with water - Feb 2024* Can Getting Transfusions of Young Blood Slow Aging? Dr. Greger video ** Transcript *Vampires 2.0? The ethical quandaries of young blood infusion in the quest for eternal life.” In an episode of the TV series Silicon Valley entitled “The Blood Boy,” a tech guru hires a young assistant from whom to transfuse pints of blood in an attempt to slow down his aging. The restoration of youth by bathing in or drinking the blood of youth is a centuries-old trope dating back at least to the futile attempt of ailing Pope Innocent VIII, who in the 1490s failed to live up to his name by apparently drinking the blood of three ten-year-old boys who—though a bargain “costing only one ducat apiece’’—died in the process.

Might there be something to it, though? Though young blood did not have a significant impact on lifespan otherwise, infusing the blood of young animals into old did have rejuvenating effects on multiple organs, similar to full-blown parabiosis, as I talked about in the last video. In fact, not only does the infusion of young mouse blood improve age-related cognitive dysfunction in old mice, young human blood—taken from umbilical cords—worked too (in mice engineered to not reject the foreign tissue). This led to ongoing clinical trials offering weekly infusions of blood products from young donors to patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. But there may be an easier way.

Yes, the injection of blood from young mice into old can improve memory and learning, suggesting there’s some kind of restorative youth factor. But the injection of blood from old mice into young can worsen memory and learning, suggesting that instead there’s some sort of debilitating aging factor. Or maybe the old blood is just diluting the revitalizing factor in the young mouse. Or, for that matter, maybe the young blood is diluting the debilitating factor in the old mouse. The fact that old blood appears to make things worse more than young blood makes them better suggests maybe the latter is the case. But you don’t know until you put it to the test.

Ready for a mind-blowing shift in perspective? Instead of infusing young blood into old mice, researchers at UC Berkeley just diluted the blood of old mice by siphoning off the plasma (the liquid portion of the blood), and essentially replacing half of it with water. If the regeneration seen in heterochronic parabiosis and blood transfusions was due to some fountain of youth factor in young blood, then nothing should happen, right? But if all the young blood was doing was diluting some debilitating aging factor, then the water should work just as well. And it did. The rejuvenation in the liver was similar to parabiosis or transfusion, and in the muscles and the brain, it was even better. So, most, if not all, the benefits could be replicated by simple dilution, including an improvement in cognitive capacity.

That’s good news, since there’s already an FDA-approved procedure in use today known as therapeutic plasma exchange. It’s usually used to filter out toxins or autoimmune antibodies, but why not try using it to try to dilute old blood to treat Alzheimer’s disease? And that’s exactly what researchers did.

Hundreds of Alzheimer’s patients were randomized to a therapeutic plasma exchange procedure or a placebo (sham) procedure. And though it didn’t seem to help those with mild Alzheimer’s disease, those with moderate Alzheimer’s randomized to the real procedure experienced about* 60 percent less cognitive and functional decline over a period of 14 months . This is in stark contrast to mainstay treatments for Alzheimer’s, like the drug memantine, that can help with symptoms but don’t actually alter the course of the disease. And the added advantage over blood transfusions, as a Director of an Institute of Biomedical Ethics put it: “There is something peculiar about the old literally feeding on the young.” References ** Kim TW, Park SS, Park JY, Park HS. Infusion of plasma from exercised mice ameliorates cognitive dysfunction by increasing hippocampal neuroplasticity and mitochondrial functions in 3xtg-ad mice. Int J Mol Sci. 2020;21(9):3291.

  • Ma J, Gao B, Zhang K, et al. Circulating factors in young blood as potential therapeutic agents for age-related neurodegenerative and neurovascular diseases. Brain Res Bull. 2019;153:15-23.

  • Lavazza A, Garasic M. Vampires 2.0? The ethical quandaries of young blood infusion in the quest for eternal life. Med Health Care Philos. 2020;23(3):421-432.

  • Kang S, Moser VA, Svendsen CN, Goodridge HS. Rejuvenating the blood and bone marrow to slow aging-associated cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease. Commun Biol. 2020;3(1):69.

  • Learoyd P. The history of blood transfusion prior to the 20th century--part 1. Transfus Med. 2012;22(5):308-314.

  • Shytikov D, Balva O, Debonneuil E, Glukhovskiy P, Pishel I. Aged mice repeatedly injected with plasma from young mice: a survival study. Biores Open Access. 2014;3(5):226-232.

  • Biller-Andorno N. Young blood for old hands? A recent anti-ageing trial prompts ethical questions. Swiss Med Wkly. 2016;146:w14359.

  • Fernández-Zarzoso M, Gómez-Seguí I, de la Rubia J. Therapeutic plasma exchange: Review of current indications. Transfus Apher Sci. 2019;58(3):247-253.

  • Mehdipour M, Mehdipour T, Skinner CM, et al. Plasma dilution improves cognition and attenuates neuroinflammation in old mice. Geroscience. 2021;43(1):1-18.

  • Mehdipour M, Skinner C, Wong N, et al. Rejuvenation of three germ layers tissues by exchanging old blood plasma with saline-albumin. Aging (Albany NY). 2020;12(10):8790-8819.

  • Loeffler DA. Ambar, an encouraging alzheimer’s trial that raises questions. Front Neurol. 2020;11:459.

  • Rebo J, Mehdipour M, Gathwala R, et al. A single heterochronic blood exchange reveals rapid inhibition of multiple tissues by old blood. Nat Commun. 2016;7:13363.

  • Castellano JM, Mosher KI, Abbey RJ, et al. Human umbilical cord plasma proteins revitalize hippocampal function in aged mice. Nature. 2017;544(7651):488-492.

  • Boada M, López OL, Olazarán J, et al. A randomized, controlled clinical trial of plasma exchange with albumin replacement for Alzheimer’s disease: Primary results of the AMBAR Study. Alzheimers Dement. 2020;16(10):1412-1425.

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Tags: Cognitive Overview Parkinson's Seniors