Vitamin D is recognized as the most affordable way to…

Researchers from the University of Exeter have summarized the results of a decade-long study of the effect of vitamin D on the development of dementia. This disease is considered one of the main problems of developed mankind, since in old age it affects up to 40% of the population. There are many reasons for cognitive loss, but there is now strong evidence that vitamin D deficiency in the body is one of them.

Vitamin D deficiency is due to three underlying factors. First, due to rapid urbanization, people began to spend a significant amount of time indoors, without access to direct sunlight, which helps the body produce this vitamin. Secondly, malnutrition - people do not eat healthy foods, but what they can afford. And thirdly, there is the APOE-e4 gene factor, which leads to the impossibility of obtaining vitamin D except through the intestines, which formed the basis of the study.

The researchers followed a group of more than 12,000 people aged 71 who showed no signs of dementia at the start of the study. Some were given vitamin D supplements, others were not, and the study went on for ten years. Among those who received the vitamin, dementia developed in only 40% of cases. Whereas 75% of the elderly without this vitamin in the diet acquired this disease.

It cannot be said that vitamin D is a panacea and protects against dementia, but it significantly reduces the risk of this disease. More precisely, the deficiency of this vitamin increases the risks, and at its normal level, they will be minimal. Taking the vitamin in the form of nutritional supplements is much easier and cheaper than other methods of dealing with dementia, the doctors conclude.