Vitamin D was one of the few drugs which improved cognition in seniors – Aug 2013

Exploration of 100 commonly used drugs and supplements on cognition in older adults.

Alzheimers Dement. 2013 Aug 14. pii: S1552-5260(12)02574-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2012.12.002.
Obermann KR, Morris JC, Roe CM.
St. Louis College of Pharmacy, St. Louis, MO, USA. Electronic address: karen.obermann at gmail.com.

BACKGROUND: There are conflicting reports and a lack of evidence-based data regarding effects of medications on cognition in cognitively normal older adults. We explored whether use of 100 common medications taken by older adults is associated with longitudinal cognitive performance.

METHODS: A longitudinal observational cohort was used with analysis of data collected from September 2005 through May 2011 and maintained in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) Uniform Data Set.
Participants were aged 50 years or older and cognitively normal (N = 4414). Composite scores were constructed from 10 psychometric tests. Scores for each participant reflecting change in the psychometric composite score from the baseline clinical assessment to the next assessment were calculated. General linear models were used to test whether the mean composite change score differed for participants who reported starting, stopping, continuing, or not taking each of the 100 most frequently used medications in the NACC sample.

RESULTS: The average time between assessments was 1.2 years (SD = 0.42).
Nine medications showed a difference (P < .05) across the four participant groups in mean psychometric change scores from the first to the second assessment.
Medications associated with improved psychometric performance were naproxen, calcium-vitamin D, ferrous sulfate, potassium chloride, flax, and sertraline.
Medications associated with declining psychometric performance were bupropion, oxybutynin, and furosemide.

CONCLUSIONS: Reported use of common medications is associated with cognitive performance in older adults, but studies are needed to investigate the mechanisms underlying these effects.

Copyright © 2013 The Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PMID: 23954027

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See also VitaminDWiki

• Overview Iron Supplements and Vitamin D there are better forms of Iron than ferrous sulfate
• Overview Alzheimer's-Cognition and Vitamin D which has the following summary

* 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: [https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-alzheimers/causes-and-risk-factors/genetics|<1% of Alzheimers is due to poor genetics]
• 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
• 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: By 2024 Omega-3 and high dose Vitamin D will be found to reverse Alzheimer's in humans
  • As of 2018 that combination has worked well with Multiple Sclerosis, Sleep, and Cluster Headaches
  
  There are 12+ Alzheimer’s meta-analyses in VitaminDWiki
  There are 84+ Alzheimer’s studies in VitaminDWiki
  Dementia is associated with low vitamin D - many studies 50+
  48 studies in both categories Cognitive and Omega-3 see below
  The End of Alzheimer's - if custom adjust Vitamin D, B-12, Iron, Omega-3, etc.
     Customizing the types of treatment to the individual results in reversing Alzheimer's