Patients with Parkinson’s disease exhibit lower vitamin D levels, says new study

07 Aug 2019 --- Patients with Parkinson’s disease were found to have significantly lower levels of vitamin D in their blood in a study published in the journal Acta Neurologica Scandinavia. The study, which evaluated 182 Parkinson’s patients and 185 healthy individuals, also found that patients with lower vitamin D levels were more prone to accidents of falling, sleep problems, depression and anxiety. The findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation may help to treat the non-motor symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease.

“As various non-motor symptoms place a burden on individuals with Parkinson's disease and their caregivers, vitamin D might be a potential add-on therapy for improving these neglected symptoms,” says senior author Chun Feng Liu, M.D., Ph.D., of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, in China.

Vitamin D has been spotlighted in research for is potency in helping treat and prevent a broad range of diseases, while deficiencies in this nutrient are cited as a concern across numerous studies. Supplementation with the vitamin exhibited potential to slow the progression of Type 2 diabetes in newly diagnosed patients and those with prediabetes, according to a study published in the European Journal of Endocrinology. Findings of this research suggested that high-dose supplementation of vitamin D can improve glucose metabolism to help prevent the development and progression of diabetes.

In treatment of high blood pressure, it was found that vitamin D screening and supplementation during pregnancy may prevent high blood pressure later in life. Infants and young children with low levels of vitamin D may be at greater risk of high blood pressure later in childhood, according to research from the Boston Medical Center, US. The study, published in the American Heart Association’s (AHA) journal Hypertension, found that children born with adequate vitamin D levels, compared to children born with low levels, had about a 60 percent higher risk of elevated systolic blood pressure between ages six and 18. 

Meanwhile, an Irish study noted that over a quarter of adults aged over 50 are deficient in vitamin D. Over half in the study (57 percent) had inadequate serum vitamin D levels, of which 26 percent were classed as vitamin D deficient. The research demonstrates that vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in older adult populations living at Northern latitudes and highlights the importance of public health strategies throughout midlife and older age to achieve optimal vitamin D status. The researchers emphasize low supplement use in these regions and call for food fortification and other strategies to be considered at policy level for older populations.

Vitamin D was also found to help prevent asthma symptoms in obese children living in high air pollution environments. This is according to a new study from John Hopkins University School of Medicine, published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. The research was funded by the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In May, the European Commission (EC) set its recommended levels of vitamin D to 2.5 μg/100 kcal for infant and follow-on formula, in addition to decreeing that levels of erucic not exceed 0.4 percent of total fat content in food products. This was done in consideration of scientific research by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which outlined a potential risk should infants consume high amounts of these nutrients.

By Benjamin Ferrer