Vitamin D Supplements May Protect Brain

Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with depression, winter blues, and even obesity, but according to a new study, Vitamin D deficiency is also bad for cognition, particularly as we age. In fact, Dr. David J. Llewellyn, the chief researcher on the study, says, “Low levels of vitamin D are just genuinely bad for the brain.” Llewellyn, a researcher from the University of Exeter Peninsula Medical School in the UK, says the discovery is actually good news.

“We’re excited because vitamin D supplements are such obvious things that we can do something about now,” says Llewellyn. Being able to address declining cognitive ability has become a crucial issue as the baby boomer population has continued to age. There is expected to be explosive growth in the rates of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and while vitamin D deficiency may not hold all the answers, it does give researchers a place to start, with prevention of symptoms through vitamin D supplements an easy and inexpensive solution.

Llewellyn’s study is a follow up on a previous study that showed that vitamin D deficiency led to an increase in cognitive impairment. This study not only substantiates the initial study, but provides further documentation of an urgent need to increase the number of people taking vitamin D supplements.

Vitamin D, once only considered a necessary component in the treatment of bone growth and osteoporosis, is increasingly establishing itself as having an important role to play in key areas of the brain and may also play a significant role in reducing the risk of cancer, high blood pressure, and stroke.

According to Llewellyn, vitamin D is capable of crossing the blood barrier in the brain and that receptors for the vitamin are found throughout the brain. It is speculated that its role in preventing dementia may have to do with its ability to help improve vascular health as well as having something to do with clearing amyloids from the brain.

Because most of the people living in North America as well as the rest of the northern hemisphere cannot obtain enough sun exposure to produce the amount of vitamin D they need, this study indicates the potential for an enormous public health crisis if vitamin D supplements are not made readily available to the public.

Shadra Bruce is a contributing writer for Mental Health News.