Fewer cognitive problems if more sun or Vitamin D

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Grassroots Health May 2019

Reporting on: Effect of sun exposure on cognitive function among elderly individuals in Northeast China

•  Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

Cognitive impairment is often a gradual, long-term process that affects many older individuals. In October 2018, results from a study assessing the association between sun exposure and cognitive function were published in the journal Clinical Interventions in Aging. In this study, 1192 participants aged 60 years and older and residing in rural China provided information about their long-term sun exposure behaviors including time of day when outdoors, duration outdoors, and use of sun protection. The research team used the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; maximum score of 30) to assess participant's orientation, memory, language, calculation, and attention.

What were the findings of the study?
As shown in the chart below, the research team found that participants in the high sun exposure group had a higher average MMSE score of cognitive function compared to participants in the medium or low exposure groups (P<0.05). Additionally, those with high sun exposure were more likely to have better cognitive function than those with low sun exposure (P=0.004) after adjusting for dietary intake of vitamin D, vitamin D supplement use and other factors such as age, sex, BMI, and education.

While the most effective time for vitamin D synthesis is mid-day, all three sun exposure groups had relatively low mid-day (11:00 am - 1:00 pm) exposure. The high- and medium- exposure groups spent more time outdoors in the surrounding hours of the morning (8:00 - 11:00 am) and afternoon (1:00 - 4:00 pm) whereas the low-exposure group tended to spend time outdoors during early morning (6:00 - 8:00 am) and late afternoon (4:00 - 6:00 pm).

This study shows that long-term high sun exposure throughout life could reduce the risk of cognitive impairment in the later years of life.

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VitaminDWiki: Noontime Sun and Cognition

VitaminDWiki: Noontime Sun and Parkinson's

VitaminDWiki: Alzheimers-Cognition - Overview

Overview Alzheimer's-Cognition and Vitamin D starts with

• FACT: Cognitive decline is 19X more likely if low vitamin D
• FACT: Dementia is associated with low vitamin D levels.
• FACT: Alzheimer’s Dementia 2.3X more likely in elderly if low vitamin D – Dec 2022
• FACT: Dementia is associated with low vitamin D - many studies
• FACT: Alzheimer's Disease is 4X less likely if high vitamin D
• FACT: Every single risk factor listed for Alzheimer's Disease is also a risk factor for low vitamin D levels
• FACT: Elderly cognition gets worse as the elderly vitamin D levels get even lower (while in senior homes)
• OBSERVATION: Reports of increased vitamin D levels result in improved cognition
• OBSERVATION: Alzheimer’s patients 3X more likely to have a malfunctioning vitamin D receptor gene – 2012
• OBSERVATION: Alzheimer's Disease has been seen to halt when vitamin D was added.
• OBSERVATION: Alzheimer’s is associated with all 7 of the genes which restrict vitamin D
• OBSERVATION: 39 vitamin D and Alz. or Cognition intervention trials as of Sept 2018
• OBSERVATION: 2 Meta-analysis in 2012 agreed that Alzheimer's Disease. associated with low vitamin D
• OBSERVATION: 50X increase in Alzheimer's while decrease in vitamin D
• OBSERVATION: Vitamin D reduces Alzheimer’s disease in 11 ways
• OBSERVATION: Alzheimer’s cognition improved by 4,000 IU of vitamin D
• OBSERVATION: Plaque removed in mice by equiv. of 14,000 IU daily
• OBSERVATION: DDT (which decreases Vit D) increases risk of Alzheimer's by up to 3.8X
• OBSERVATION: 2% of people have 2 copies of the poor gene reference: Alz Org
• OBSERVATION: Genes do not change rapidly enough to account for the huge increase in incidence
• OBSERVATION: End of Alzheimer's videos, transcripts and many studies protocol has been very successful
  • It adjusts Vitamin D, B-12, Iron, Omega-3, food, etc, and can now be done at home.
• FACT: Vitamin D is extremely low cost and has very very few side effects
• CONCLUSION: Everyone concerned about cognitive decline or Alzheimer's Disease should take vitamin D
• PREDICTION MET: By 2024 Omega-3 and high dose Vitamin D will be found to reverse Alzheimer's in humans
  There are 13+ Alzheimer’s meta-analyses in VitaminDWiki
  There are 97+ Alzheimer’s studies in VitaminDWiki
  Dementia is associated with low vitamin D - many studies 50+ studies
  16+ studies in both categories Cognitive and Omega-3

VitaminDWiki: Cognition and Vitamin D

• Poor cognition 26 percent more likely if low Vitamin D (29 studies) – meta-analysis July 2017
• Less vitamin D generated from sunlight by schizophrenia patients – 2016

Cognitive category starts with the following
Very brief summary of Cognitive decline
Treatment : Vitamin D intervention slows or stops progression
Prevention : Many observational studies - perhaps Vitamin D prevents
Omega-3 both prevents and treats cognition
Wonder the benefits if both Vitamin D AND Omega-3 were to be used
Dementia page - 50 items

389 items in Cognition category

see also Overview Alzheimer's-Cognition and Vitamin D
Overview Parkinson's and Vitamin D

Studies in both categories of Cognition and:
Cardiovascular (7 studies), Genetics (9 studies), Vitamin D Receptor (16 studies), Omega-3 (52 studies), Intervention (20 studies), Meta-analyses (22 studies), Depression (24 studies), Parkinson's (24 studies)
Click here for details

Poor cognition 26 percent more likely if low Vitamin D (29 studies) – meta-analysis July 2017
Every schizophrenia measure was improved when vitamin D levels were normalized – June 2021
Cognitive Impairment and Dementia often associated with low Vitamin D – April 2020
IQ levels around the world are falling (perhaps lower Vitamin D, Iodine, or Omega-3)
Search VitaminDWiki for "WHITE MATTER" 325 items as of March 2023

Types of evidence that Vitamin D helps brain problems - 2014

VitaminDWiki: Cognition Meta-analysis