Vitamin D3 and Curcumin Offer Hope to Alzheimer's Patients

New information which was published in the Journal of Alzheimer`s Disease, may help in the search for an answer to preventing Alzheimer`s. Promising results were obtained, using D3 alone or together with curcumin, an active ingredient in turmeric and curry. There is new hope that these two natural occurring substances may help boost the immune system and thus clear the brain of amloid-beta, which forms plaque, therefore giving hope and relief to Alzheimer`s patients.

Over 13 million people suffer from some sort of dementia associated with Alzheimer`s disease. This is caused by a build up of plaque from the deposits of amyloid-beta, causing an increase in cell damage. With this new study, there is hope for millions. There are many studies in the work that have found curcumin to be highly successful with animals and are now being tested on humans. They hope to have the results on humans very soon, so that it can be recommended to the general public. These studies have shown that D3 and curcumin together have reduced the oxidized damage to the brain and also decreased the inflammation.

In the past, scientists have found that two different groups of Alzheimer`s patients reacted differently: Type 1 patients responded to the curcumnoids and type 2 did not respond positively. These two types of patient results depend on the genes MGATIII and TLR-3, which allows the immune system to work properly and thus enables the immune system to ingest amyloid-beta.

"Since vitamin D and curcumin work differently with the immune system, we may find that a combination of the two or each used alone may be more effective - depending on the individual patient," said Fiala.

According to the UCLA team of researchers it is too early to be recommended at this point or to say what dose should be recommended. They also stated that more studies are in the works. The cost of Alzheimer`s disease is in excess of one hundred billion dollars in the US, so the fact of being able to use curcumin as an aide in the prevention is extremely exciting. Curcumin is very inexpensive and along with the necessity of D3, the cost to the patient could be minimal.

When It Comes to Good Health, Vitamin D Delivers

Ignored for years, today vitamin D is a superstar. Here`s what you need to know about this vitally important nutrient, including how to make certain you`re getting enough vitamin D to protect your health.

According to conventional wisdom, we should be wary of anything that sounds too good to be true. But vitamin D is shaping up as an exception to that rule. Although it was discovered nearly 100 years ago, vitamin D was long believed to have only one important role, maintaining healthy bones. As a result, it was added to milk in the 1930s, as a way to combat the high incidence of rickets in children and then pretty much forgotten.

How things change! During the past decade, a steady stream of news from researchers all over the world is proving that vitamin D helps protect us against such serious health concerns as cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, several types of cancer (including breast, colon and prostate), diabetes, emotional difficulties, such as depression and bipolar disorder, muscle function and gum health.
Vitamin D supports better brain function in older individuals, according to the findings of a recent clinical trial. Researchers at Tufts University found the best cognitive test scores among subjects with high blood levels of the nutrient. Those with high levels of vitamin D were better at "executive functions," such as organizing, planning and thinking in the abstract.

Vitamin D prevents breast cancer

You've heard the good news about vitamin D for years: It's a "miracle" medicine that reduces cancer rates by 77% according to previous research also happens to be a powerful anti-cancer medicine that can both prevent and help reverse breast cancer.

Yet, bewilderingly, the cancer industry still refuses to teach women about vitamin D. Ever wonder why?

Today, we bring you a compilation of expert quotations on vitamin D and breast cancer, cited from some of the most authoritative books and authors in the world. Feel free to share what you learn here with others who may also be suffering from breast cancer.

Vitamin D and breast cancer
Sunlight triggers the formation of vitamin D in the skin, which can be activated in the liver and kidneys into a hormone with great activity. This activated form of vitamin D causes "cellular differentiation" - essentially the opposite of cancer. The following evidence indicates that vitamin D might have a protective role against breast cancer: Synthetic vitamin D-like molecules have prevented the equivalent of breast cancer in animals.

Two equally effective sources of vitamin D in humans are derived from plant ergosterol, which is converted to ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) and cholecalciferol (vitamin D3) by the action of sunlight on the skin. The body uses vitamin D3 for normal immune system function, to control cellular growth, and to absorb calcium from the digestive tract. Vitamin D3 can inhibit the growth of malignant melanoma, breast cancer, leukemia, and mammary tumors in laboratory animals. Vitamin D3 can also inhibit angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels that permit the spread of cancer cells through the body.

Doctor beats swine flu with vitamin D and elderberries

A former family practitioner in Canada says she cured herself of the H1N1 swine flu by taking supplements of vitamin D and elderberries.

Dr. Gillian Arsenault, now a public health employee, said that she had a prescription for antiviral drugs on hand when she became infected with swine flu, but never ended up having to fill it. Writing in the Medical Post, Arsenault recounts how the flu "hit like a truck," but was reduced to only a lingering cough within four days.

Arsenault has researched complementary health care extensively and began taking 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily in 2007. This is the amount recommended by the Canadian Cancer Society to help produce strong bones and reduce the risk of infection, cancer and other chronic diseases. Over the course of 2009, she experimented with doses between 3,000 and 5,000 IU.

"Medicine is my job and my hobby. I spend a lot of time after work looking things up," she said.

Researchers remain divided on the maximum safe daily dose of vitamin D, with estimates ranging between 2,000 and 10,000 IU. High doses can interfere with the effects of some drugs, and may produce mild or severe toxicity, with symptoms as severe as kidney failure, seizures or psychosis.

Because research has suggested that vitamin D can help prevent infection, Arsenault set out to see if it could help her recover faster. She adjusted her daily dose and paid to have her blood levels tested to make sure she remained within a safe and healthy range. She added an elderberry extract as well, based on research showing that the plant can reduce the severity of flu and speed recovery.

Many cases of swine flu are mild or moderate even without vitamin D supplementation, and Arsenault admits that her case study is not proof that the treatment works. But it is suggestive enough to merit further research into whether vitamin D can "abort the development of severe illness or enhance the benefit of antiviral treatment for those already seriously ill," she said.

Vitamin D deficiency finally being recognized as increasingly common

Doctors are becoming increasingly concerned about growing rates of vitamin D deficiency, leading many of them to recommend that people get more sun or even take supplements.

Vitamin D has long been known to play an important role in bone health. Deficiency can lead to osteoporosis in adults, and in children and some adults can lead to a bone-softening disease known as rickets.

Although the vitamin is synthesized by the body upon exposure to sunlight, people living far from the equator can have trouble producing enough of it in the winter time. For this reason, numerous governments began fortifying dairy products with vitamin D decades ago, leading directly to a near-elimination of rickets. The disease is starting to make a resurgence, however, even as researchers start to believe that humans may need higher levels of the vitamin than previously thought.

Although the U.S. government recommends a daily vitamin D intake of 200 to 600 IU per day, researchers are increasingly suggesting amounts of closer to 1,000 IU. These amounts are based on new studies finding that higher levels of vitamin D can help regulate the immune system and prevent chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's.

"It helps boost your ability to fight infection, and it also reduces some destructive inflammation in your body, including inflammation with periodontal disease," said Mark Ryder of the University of California-San Francisco. "Every five or 10 years, a new vitamin becomes the vitamin of the moment. The hot one right now is probably vitamin D, and so far all of the evidence looks encouraging."

Yet even according to the lower government standards, at least one in three U.S. residents are not getting enough vitamin D.

"We've become a culture that shuns the sunshine and doesn't drink milk," said Dr. Donald Abrams of San Francisco General Hospital.

Low levels of vitamin D make asthma worse

Asthmatics with low levels of vitamin D may suffer more severely from the disease than patients with sufficient levels of the vitamin, according to a study conducted by researchers from National Jewish Health in Denver and published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

"Our findings suggest that low vitamin D levels are associated with worse asthma," lead researcher E. Rand Sutherland said.

The researchers measured the vitamin D blood levels of 54 asthma patients, along with their lung function, airway hyper-responsiveness and response to steroid drug treatment.

Airway hyper-responsiveness measures the air passages' tendency to constrict, leading to breathing difficulty.

The researchers found that hyper-responsiveness was twice as high in patients with vitamin D levels below 30 nanograms per milliliter, lung function was worse, and the body responded more poorly to steroid therapy.

In addition, the bodies of people with low vitamin D levels produced more or the immune system signaling chemical TNF-alpha, which increases inflammation.

"It may be that vitamin D is acting as a modifier of the immune system or a modifier of steroid response in ways that are relevant to people with asthma," Sutherland said.

"There is a potential that restoring normal vitamin D levels in people with asthma may help improve their asthma."

The study also showed, consistent with prior studies, that overweight or obese participants were significantly more likely to suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Scientists believe that because fat sequesters vitamin D in the body, people with more body fat need higher levels of the vitamin.

Previous studies have shown that being overweight increases the risk of asthma. The new study suggests that vitamin D might at least in part explain that connection.

Asthma treatment also, in turn, increases the risk of vitamin D deficiency.

"It is ... known that glucocorticoids [steroids used in asthma treatment] increase the destruction of vitamin D, thus making patients with asthma at higher risk for vitamin D deficiency, which in turn decreases lung function and makes their disease worse,"

Vitamin D deficiency unquestionably linked to bone fractures

Recent research from Scotland reinforces the longstanding medical opinion that vitamin D deficiency leads to a significantly increased risk of bone fractures.

Among people with hip fractures referred to the Scottish fracture liaison service, 98 percent test positive for serious deficiencies in vitamin D. Supplementation with the vitamin, on the other hand, significantly reduces the risk of repeat fractures.

"Taking a supplement can make a difference quite quickly," said Stephen Gallacher, head of the liaison service. "Bone density can increase by 20 percent in a few months with enough vitamin D."

"We have found we can reduce fractures by something like 30 to 50 percent. It is our belief that we can significantly reduce the risk of fractures in the population by giving people anti-osteoporosis therapy and vitamin D supplements."

The fracture liaison service is a comprehensive attempt to uncover the cause of broken bones and prevent repeat occurrences. Anyone over the age of 50 who breaks a bone in Scotland is referred to the service for a bone density and vitamin D assessment, and treatment is suggested for those who are deficient.

Data collected by the fracture liaison service shows that vitamin D deficiency is nearly universal among hip fracture patients in Scotland. This could explain the relatively high rate of fractures in comparison with countries such as Iceland, which has more comprehensive dietary education, he said.

The data suggest that "vitamin D inadequacy represents a significant correctable risk factor for fragility fracture in our elderly population, and that the observed prevalence of inadequacy is substantially higher than in many other parts of the world," he said.

"In the United States, milk which is fortified with vitamin D can be purchased alongside ordinary milk and I think there's an argument that it would be quite useful to do the same here," he said. "It makes logical sense to give people the choice."

Vitamin D improves overall immune function

A recent study out of the University of Tampere in Finland has found that vitamin D helps to prevent respiratory infections. In the study, supplementing with vitamin D resulted in more than half the participants who took it staying healthy throughout the trial, compared to just over 30 percent in the control group.

Dr. Ilkka Laaksi and her team evaluated a group of 164 males going into the military to see if vitamin D supplementation affected their overall health. They gave part of the group 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day for six months, and the other part of the group a placebo pill for the same period of time. Those who took vitamin D experienced greater overall health and less respiratory infections than those who did not.

Laaksi was quick to say that the study reveals "some evidence" that vitamin D helps prevent respiratory infections, but that such a benefit is not entirely clear.

Though 400 IU of vitamin D a day meets recommended government intake recommendations, many in the medical profession are now realizing that this level is far too low to offer much therapeutic effect. Some suspect that if a higher dose had been used in the study, the effects would have been even more significant.

This hypothesis was illustrated in a recent Japanese study that administered 1,200 IU doses of vitamin D to schoolchildren. Those who took this dose every day had a much lower chance of developing influenza than others.

It is, however, unclear which form of vitamin D the team used in the Finland study. Vitamin D2 is not as effective as vitamin D3, but researchers often use D2 in study trials, which can make vitamin D appear less effective.

Vitamin D prevents heart disease, too

 An increase in blood levels of vitamin D can significantly reduce a person's risk of heart disease, according to a study conducted by researchers from Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City and presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Atlanta.

Researchers reviewed the health records of more than 9,000 people who had been diagnosed with vitamin D insufficiency and who had also undergone vitamin D testing at a later date. They found that approximately 50 percent of all patients had achieved healthy vitamin D levels of at least 30 nanograms per milliliter by the second test. Rates of heart disease were significantly lower in this group than among patients who were still deficient in the vitamin.

Prior studies have shown a correlation between low levels of vitamin D and a higher risk of heart disease. Yet researchers have been unable to determine whether there is any direct connection between the two factors, since low vitamin D levels might also correlate with a number of other cardiovascular risk factors such as general poor health, poor diet or lack of exercise.

The only way to firmly establish a connection would be to conduct an experiment where only half a group of vitamin D-deficient participants is supplemented while the rest receive a placebo. Because vitamin D deficiency has been proven to increase the risk of other diseases, such a study would not be ethical and cannot be conducted.

"What we did was observational and not definitive, but we think it adds significantly to the story," said lead author J. Brent Muhlestein. "It's at least a reasonable piece of evidence to add to the hypothesis that low vitamin D is causative of cardiovascular risk and treatment can reduce cardiovascular disease risk."

The body synthesizes vitamin D naturally upon exposure to sunlight. Low levels of the vitamin have been linked to weakened bones and higher risks of infection, cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Researchers have discovered that vitamin D plays a crucial role in activating the immune system's ability to recognize and fight pathogens.

While scientists have long known that vitamin D plays a critical role in bone health, recent research has begun to suggest that it also serves to regulate the immune system, helping prevent infection, cancer and autoimmune disorders. Until now, the mechanism by which the vitamin acts on the immune system has been unknown.

In a study published in the journal Nature Immunology, researchers from the University of Copenhagen found that when a variety of white blood cells known as a T-cell comes across a pathogen in the bloodstream, it extends a receptor in search of vitamin D. If it encounters the vitamin, the T cell becomes "activated." If there is not enough vitamin D in the blood, the cell remains passive and no immune response occurs.

The body produces vitamin D upon exposure to sunlight. It can also be found in eggs, fatty fish, fortified milk and in supplement form.

Once activated, a T-cell transforms into one of two kinds of cells. One type seeks out and destroys all traces of the infectious agent, while the other records information about the pathogen and transmits it to other parts of the immune system. These latter ("helper") cells help the immune system respond quickly should infection with a similar pathogen occur at a later date.

In addition to providing new information about the importance of vitamin D, the study provides hope for better understanding -- and perhaps prevention -- of the unhelpful immune responses that result in autoimmune disorders like allergies or Type 1 diabetes, as well as those that cause the body to reject transplanted organs. The researchers were able to determine what chemical steps occur to transform a T-cell from active to inactive, suggesting the possibility that doctors may eventually be able to initiate or block this process, depending on the patient's need.

Vitamin D more effective than vaccines at preventing flu infections

A vitamin D supplement is more effective at reducing the risk of flu infection than vaccines or antiviral drugs, according to a study conducted by researchers from Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Researchers conducted the double-blind, randomized study on 354 children between the ages of six and 15 during the winter of 2008-2009. Half the children were assigned to take a daily supplement of 1,200 IU of vitamin D, while the other half were given a placebo pill.

After one month, influenza infection rates in the two groups remained the same. By the second month, however, participants in the vitamin D group were 50 percent less likely to become infected than participants in the control group. This drop in infection rate corresponded with an increase in vitamin D blood levels.

In contrast, antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir and zanamivir reduced rates of infection by only 8 percent. Even vaccines had success rates significantly lower than the 50 percent achieved by vitamin D.

When the analysis excluded children who were being given vitamin D supplements at home, supplementation was found to reduce the risk of infection by 67 percent.

Because vitamin D is an essential nutrient, it poses no side effects if given in appropriate doses. In contrast, both drugs and vaccines can produce negative side effects in many people.

In addition, higher vitamin D levels lead to stronger bones and teeth, a more well-regulated immune system, and an overall lower risk of infection, heart disease, cancer and autoimmune disorders.

Vitamin D is synthesized naturally by the body upon exposure to sunlight, but a decrease in time spent outdoors plus growing use of sunscreen due to skin cancer fears has contributed to widespread deficiency. Vitamin D levels tend to hit their lowest point in most people during the winter, when the sun is at its weakest. This corresponds with the time period during which flu infections peak.

Vitamins Prevent Hair Loss: Vitamin A, B, C, D, and Vitamin E

Many nutrients have been shown to prevent hair loss and grow hair. Hair loss can be caused by vitamin deficiency, or by other causes such as aging, drug use, or infections. Adding vitamins to the diet grows hair by improving circulation, reducing stress, and adjusting hormones, all of which are known causes of hair loss.

Vitamin A
Vitamin A is involved in the growth and maintenance of hair, as well as the skin. Vitamin A regulates the synthesis of retinoic acid in the hair follicle. Vitamin A is added to skin care products and is beneficial for hair growth as well. It can be applied to the hair shaft and massaged in, as well as taken internally.

B Vitamins
B vitamins help grow hair by aiding the body to handle stress and stress can cause hair loss. Inositol, one of the B vitamins, has been shown to speed hair growth. B12 is another B vitamin that prevents hair loss because B12 is a component of the hair itself. Many people are deficient in this nutrient, especially vegetarians, because B12 is mainly found in meat and eggs. The B vitamins are best taken together and are frequently sold with the label B Complex.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C also helps the body absorb iron, which is needed to grow hair. The human body does not make its own vitamin C, so food or supplement sources are required, such as fruits and vegetables. The recommended daily dose of vitamin C is 1000 to 2000 mg a daily.

Vitamin D
Taking vitamin D stops hair loss. Research published in 2009 reports that vitamin D has been used to treat skin conditions such as psoriasis for over 10 years. Vitamin D reduces hair loss by stimulating the hair follicle and the cells that form the hair shaft. Following research that shows a worldwide vitamin D deficiency epidemic, the recommended daily intake of vitamin D has been changed from 400 to at least 1000 IU per day.

Vitamin E
Vitamin E builds capillaries in the body and improved blood flow on the scalp encourages hair growth. Adding 400 IU a day of vitamin E to the diet stimulates the hair follicles that grow hair. Vitamin E can also be massaged into the scalp to encourage blood flow to the scalp.

Many whole foods contain bio-available vitamins, but adding supplements to the diet increases the nutrition available in the blood stream to stimulate hair growth.

Vitamin D deficiency likely cause of increased rheumatoid arthritis cases among caucasian women

A recent study from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota, has found that rheumatoid arthritis is on the increase among Caucasian women. And the culprit is likely an environmental one, like vitamin D deficiency, rather than a genetic one.

"It's pretty unlikely that the genetic makeup of a population changed that quickly," explained Dr. Sherine Gabriel, one of the authors of the study, in response to the likely cause of increase. And she is right, considering that cases of rheumatoid arthritis had been decreasing into the mid 1990s.

The study included data from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, which evaluated the medical records of people living in Olmstead County, Minnesota, since the early 1900s. The findings revealed that in recent years, there has been a slight increase in rheumatoid arthritis cases among Caucasian women, following a period of steady decrease among the entire population since the 1950s.

Smoking is commonly associated with causing rheumatoid arthritis, and since women have generally been slower at kicking the habit, researchers are hypothesizing that perhaps this has something to do with why rates among women are increasing.

"Women were sort of slower to pick up that bad habit, and they seem to be a little slower to drop it," she explained.

Another hypothesis is that the composition of female oral contraceptives has changed over the years. According to Gabriel, oral contraceptives used to have far more estrogen in them than they do today, which provides a protective benefit against rheumatoid arthritis. So, with less estrogen, there is less protective benefit.

But perhaps the most likely cause is vitamin D deficiency, which has been increasing recently, especially among women. Vitamin D plays an important role in protecting the body from disease, including maintaining bone and joint health. People who don't get enough of it are at a much higher risk of developing diseases like rheumatoid arthritis than those who maintain optimal levels.

Gabriel suggests that women who smoke stop the habit, and that women in general get their vitamin D levels checked. Together, these proactive steps should help to stave off serious diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

The best way to get vitamin D is through sunlight exposure, but foods like oily fish and raw milk are also rich in the vitamin. Vitamin D3 supplements in the form of cholecalciferol are also a good option as well.

Low vitamin D levels linked to poor blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), almost 11 percent of Americans age 20 or older have diabetes. And the most common form of this disease, type 2 diabetes, has reached epidemic proportions. Now scientists have found a link between vitamin D deficiency and the inability of many patients with this kind of diabetes to keep their blood sugar under control. What's more, this raises the strong possibility that, along with being overweight and sedentary, a lack of vitamin D could be a major factor in triggering type 2 diabetes in the first place.

Esther Krug, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and an endocrinologist at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, just presented this research in San Diego at the Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting. "This finding supports an active role of vitamin D in the development of Type 2 diabetes," Dr. Krug said in a statement to the media.

Krug and her research team reviewed the medical charts of 124 people between the ages of 36 and 89 years old who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and treated at an endocrine outpatient clinic between 2003 and 2008. As part of their health evaluations, all of these patients had their serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels measured at the clinic. So the researchers looked to see how many of the patients had normal levels of the so-called "sunshine" vitamin.

The answer? Almost none. In fact, an astonishing 91 percent of the patients studied had either vitamin D deficiency (defined as a level below 15 nanograms per deciliter, or ng/dL) or vitamin D insufficiency (15 to 31 ng/dL), the authors reported. When the investigators looked at the patients' levels of hemoglobin A1c (a measure of blood sugar control over the past several months), they came up with another startling fact. There was a clear relationship between uncontrolled blood sugar and low levels of vitamin D. African-Americans were found to have the highest A1c levels and were most deficient in vitamin D, when compared to Caucasians.

"Since primary care providers diagnose and treat most patients with type 2 diabetes, screening and vitamin D supplementation as part of routine primary care may improve health outcomes of this highly prevalent condition," Dr. Krug concluded.

NaturalNews has previously reported on other natural ways to treat and even prevent type 2 diabetes -- including eating Mediterranean style by consuming a diet rich in "good" fats (like Omega-3s and olive oil), veggies, fruit and whole grains. A study published last fall in the Annals of Internal Medicine concluded the Mediterranean diet dramatically improved type 2 diabetes and even eliminated the need for many people to take blood glucose regulating medication.

Official recommended intake for vitamin D is too low

Official government recommendations on vitamin D intake are far too low for optimal health, the director of the Sunlight, Nutrition, and Health Research Center has warned.

"The current dietary guideline, approximately 400 IU/day, was based on the amount of vitamin D in a spoonful of cod liver oil, which prevented rickets," William B. Grant said.

Scientists initially assumed that vitamin D's primary role in the body was in producing strong bones and teeth. Newer research, however, shows that at higher levels, vitamin D helps prevent and even treat chronic diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes; bacterial and viral infections; and autoimmune diseases including asthma, Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and possibly rheumatoid arthritis.

The body naturally produces vitamin D upon exposure to UVB radiation from sunlight.

"With whole-body exposure to the sun, one can make at least 10,000 IU/day in a short time," Grant said. "Adverse effects such as hypercalcemia have been found in general only for 20,000-40,000 IU/day for very long periods."

Grant warned that in people with certain health conditions (such as certain cancers or hormonal conditions), high levels of vitamin D even from sunlight can be harmful. For others, Grant recommends a daily vitamin D intake of 2,000 IU per day for people with light skin, 3,000 IU per day for those with very dark skin and 6,000 IU per day for pregnant or lactating women.

Current government recommendations for pregnant women are only 200 IU per day.

Sunlight remains the best way to get vitamin D, but only with sufficient exposure.

"Due to current lifestyles in the United States, most people do not spend sufficient time in the sun to produce the higher serum D levels associated with optimal health," Grant warned.

For optimal vitamin D production from sunlight, Grant recommends exposing "as much of the body as possible without sunscreen near solar noon, the time when one's shadow is shorter than one's height, for 10-30 minutes depending on skin pigmentation, being careful not to turn pink or red or burn."

Vitamin D promotes memory and cognitive function in seniors

A lack of vitamin D has already been linked in several studies to depression. Now it appears a deficiency of this crucial nutrient could also play a role in robbing the brain of the ability to process information correctly and clearly.

Defined as a person's ability to process thoughts, cognitive function includes memory and the ability to learn new information, as well as speaking and reading comprehension. Aging is known to affect cognitive function in many people, resulting in memory loss and difficulty thinking of the right words while speaking or writing. But what if a lack of vitamin D could be the culprit that is causing or contributing to cognitive impairment in many elders -- and not simply aging by itself? If that's the case, it offers hope that adequate vitamin D could help keep minds agile and memory sharp.

Research headed by epidemiologist Katherine Tucker with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, and published in Journals of Gerontology raises that possibility. Metabolic pathways for vitamin D have been found in the hippocampus and cerebellum -- areas of the brain involved in planning, processing, and forming new memories. So it appears a lack of vitamin D could disrupt these cognitive processes.

Dr. Tucker and her colleagues studied more than 1,000 elders receiving home care. The research team investigated associations between measured levels of vitamin D in the blood of these people, who were all between the ages of 65 and 99, and compared them to results of neuropsychological tests. The participants were then grouped by their vitamin D status, which was categorized as deficient, insufficient, or sufficient.

The researchers noted in a statement to the media that older people needing home care have an elevated risk of not getting enough vitamin D because of their exposure to sunlight is often limited. And, in fact, only 35 percent of the research subjects had sufficient vitamin D levels in their blood for health. Those elders who did have adequate vitamin D scored far better on cognitive tests than those in the deficient and insufficient vitamin D categories, particularly on measures of executive performance, which included cognitive flexibility, perceptual complexity, and reasoning. The associations persisted after taking into consideration other variables that could also have influenced performance on the cognitive ability tests.

Another new study just presented at the Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting held in San Diego provides more disturbing evidence that older adults commonly have low vitamin D levels. Researchers from the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam investigated approximately 1,300 Dutch men and women age 65 and older and found almost 50 percent were deficit in vitamin D.