Why vitamin D in Alzheimer's disease? The hypothesis.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2014;40(2):257-69. doi: 10.3233/JAD-131970.
Gezen-Ak D, Yılmazer S, Dursun E.
Department of Medical Biology, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Scientists have worked for over a century to uncover the basis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with the ultimate goal of discovering a treatment. However, none of the approaches utilized have defined the exact cause of the disease or an ultimate treatment for AD. In this review, we aim to define the role of vitamin D in AD from a novel and fundamental perspective and attempt to answer the following question: Why should we seriously consider "simple" vitamin D as a "fundamental factor" in AD?
To answer this question, we explain the
- protective effects of vitamin D in the central nervous system and
- how the action of vitamin D and AD-type pathology overlap.
Furthermore, we suggest that the role of vitamin D in AD includes not only
- vitamin D deficiency and vitamin D-related genes but also the
- disruption of vitamin D metabolism and action.
This suggestion is supported by evidence that the disruption of vitamin D pathways mimic amyloid pathology.
We define the term "inefficient utilization of vitamin D" as any alteration in vitamin D-related genes, including receptors, the enzymes related to vitamin D metabolism or the transporters of vitamin D, and we discuss the potential correlation of vitamin D status with the vulnerability of neurons to aging and neurodegeneration.
Finally, in addition to the current knowledge that defines AD, we suggest that AD could be the result of a long-term hormonal imbalance in which the critical hormone is vitamin D, a secosteroid that has long been misnamed.
PMID: 24413618
See also VitaminDWiki
- Cognition and vitamin D – summary of expert opinions – July 2014
- Vitamin D reduces Alzheimer’s disease in at least 11 ways – Jan 2013
- Alzheimer’s patients 3X more likely to have a malfunctioning vitamin D receptor gene – 2012
- DDT 3.8 X more prevalent with Alzheimer disease (no mention that DDT decreases vitamin D) – Jan 2014
- Overview Alzheimer's-Cognition and Vitamin D 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: 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. $75/month.
- 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