Vitamin D supplementation has the potential to be a viable dementia prevention strategy, especially when initiated early, new research suggests.
In a large prospective cohort study, people who took vitamin D were 40% less likely to develop dementia than peers who did not take vitamin D. The effects of vitamin D were most pronounced in women, those with normal cognitive function, and apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 noncarriers.
"We know that vitamin D has some effects in the brain that could have implications for reducing dementia; however, so far, research has yielded conflicting results," lead researcher Zahinoor Ismail, MD, with the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, said in a news release.
"Our findings give key insights into groups who might be specifically targeted for vitamin D supplementation. Overall, we found evidence to suggest that earlier supplementation might be particularly beneficial before the onset of cognitive decline," said Ismail.
