Vitamin D is essential to prevent Alzheimer’s according to science

Francesco Palma

December 30th

In recent years, research has made very important progress in analyzing the causes (and possible solutions) of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. A study of the Tufts University del Massachissetsa university specializing in research on age-related diseases, investigated for the first time on possible presence of vitamin D in the brainand its potential effect on people’s cognitive health.

Research

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First of all, the study tried to clarify a doubt that has not yet been fully resolved: the effective presence of vitamin D in the brain. Once the affirmative answer was given, the researchers established a correlation between a good concentration of vitamin D in the brain and an improvement in cognitive function. The realization of the study was possible thanks to the patients who agreed to be followed by the researchers throughout the course of the disease, until their death. According to the researchers, the presence of vitamin D in the brain is associated with a lower probability ranging from 25% to 33% of developing diseases of cognitive decline. This conclusion was reached by looking for vitamin D in four regions of the brain, two of which are associated with the development of Alzheimer’s, and discovered that in all these four areas the vitamin was actually present in the brain tissue.

The role of vitamin d

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Once the importance of vitamin D has been established, the next step will be to understand how it plays its role within the brain. Being the first study examining this process, further progress will be needed over time: already in 2019 a study on mice had highlighted a first correlation, confirmed by this research from Tufts University. Dr Thomas Burne, professor of neurobiology at the University of Queensland, Australia, explained that “vitamin D deficiency is linked to reduced hippocampal volume and disruption of structural connectivity in patients with mild cognitive impairment”. Consequently, it becomes essential to take the right amounts of vitamin D, not only for the effects on one’s health in the short term, but also with a view to prevention for the future. “Before this study, we didn’t even know if vitamin D was present in the human brain,” said Tufts University researcher Dr. Kyla Shea who led the study. associate with a less cognitive decline or at a lower risk of dementia”.