News
Low levels of vitamin D linked to multiple sclerosis
21 December 2011
A new UK study suggests that a rare genetic variant causing reduced levels of vitamin D may be directly linked to multiple sclerosis.
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.
21 December 2011
A new UK study suggests that a rare genetic variant causing reduced levels of vitamin D may be directly linked to multiple sclerosis.
25 November 2011
According to a new Swedish study children who started eating fish before nine months of age are less likely to suffer from preschool wheeze.
1 December 2015
Metabolic syndrome is a disorder of energy utilization and storage, diagnosed by the coincidence of overweight or obesity with disturbances of lipid and sugar metabolism and hypertension. Subclinical inflammation and a fatty liver are further components typically associated with this condition. Metabolic syndrome substantially increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Diets targeting weight loss by restricting either carbohydrate or fat intake are an effective approach to improve most conditions associated with metabolic syndrome, but the benefit is not successfully achieved over longer periods. Therefore, a balanced diet rich in nutrients improving metabolism may represent a successful strategy. The role of several related nutrients has been presented and discussed during the 12th European Nutrition Conference (FENS 2015) in Berlin.