Dementia risk increases 60 percent if have low vitamin D – Nov 2012

Association between serum 25(OH) vitamin D and the risk of cognitive decline in older women.

J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2012 Oct;67(10):1092-8. Epub 2012 Mar 27.
Slinin Y, Paudel M, Taylor BC, Ishani A, Rossom R, Yaffe K, Blackwell T, Lui LY, Hochberg M, Ensrud KE; Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group.
Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research, VA Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. slini001 at umn.edu

BACKGROUND: Results of prospective studies examining the association between 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels and cognitive decline have been inconsistent. We tested the hypothesis that lower 25(OH)D levels are associated with a greater likelihood of cognitive impairment and risk of cognitive decline.

METHODS: The study is a cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of a prospective cohort of 6,257 community-dwelling elderly women followed for 4 years. Global cognitive function was measured by the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination and executive function was measured by Trail Making Test Part B (Trails B ).

Cognitive impairment at baseline was defined as a score >1.5 SD below the sample mean; cognitive decline was defined as decline from baseline to follow-up >1 SD from mean change in score.

RESULTS: Women with very low vitamin D levels had an increased odds of global cognitive impairment at baseline: odds ratio (95% confidence interval), 1.60 (1.05-2.42) for women with 25(OH)D <10 ng/mL (25 nmol/L) compared with those with 25(OH)D levels ?30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L).

Compared with women with baseline 25(OH)D level ?30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L), women with lower levels had an increased risk of global cognitive decline: odds ratio (95% confidence interval), 1.58(1.12-2.22) for women with levels <10 ng/mL (25 nmol/L), and 1.31 (1.04-1.64) for those with levels 10-19.9 ng/mL (25-49 nmol/L). Levels of 25(OH)D were not associated with executive cognitive function.

CONCLUSIONS: Low 25(OH)D levels among older women were associated with a higher odds of global cognitive impairment and a higher risk of global cognitive decline.

PMID: 22454371

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See also Vitamin D Life

• Overview Cognition and vitamin D
• All items in category Cognition and Vitamin D 290 items
• Dementia less likely with increased levels of Magnesium etc.
• Alzheimer's Disease more likely with low vitamin D – meta-analysis Oct 2012
• 3rd most common dementia perhaps might also be associated with low vitamin D: Lewy Body - Oct 2012