News
Vitamin D lowers bone-fracture risk only in adequate doses
9 July 2012
According to a new review, taking more than 800 international units of vitamin D daily could reduce the risk of hip fractures in older women by 30 percent.
08 September 2014
Patients treated with vitamin D may experience a slower progression to more severe stages of Alzheimer’s disease, reports a new study from Argentina.
The observational study with 202 patients suffering from a mild stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD) who were treated with memantine (drug for AD), acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and/or vitamin D3, measured the time of progression to moderate and severe disease status during a mean time of 4.5 years (1). The study results showed that the treatment with vitamin D affected the time of AD progression independently of the other factors analyzed, e.g., medications, cardiovascular risk factors and osteoporosis. Patients treated with vitamin D had slower AD progression and took one year longer to develop to a more severe stage compared to those not treated with vitamin D.
The researchers noted that vitamin D deficiency has been reported to increase the risk of developing AD, while maintaining sufficient vitamin D levels may reduce the number of plaques that develop with AD (2). Receptors for vitamin D in the brain have led researchers to become interested in how vitamin D affects the development and the management of AD. The disease, which develops slowly and gets worse over time, affects one in nine people older than 65 years old and is characterized by a loss of memory and changes in behavior. Many patients receive memantine, a drug specifically designed to treat AD, and acetylcholin-esterase (AChE) inhibitors, used to treat the symptoms of dementia in general.
9 July 2012
According to a new review, taking more than 800 international units of vitamin D daily could reduce the risk of hip fractures in older women by 30 percent.
1 May 2012
In Europe, 81 million people are at risk of poverty. Living on the poverty line is not only associated with poor economy, but with other problems such as nutrition-related illnesses.
11 August 2010
Scientists in Europe and the US again appeal to raise vitamin D intake recommendations to reduce disease risk.