Low Vitamin D levels and Parkinson's Disease: Is there a link?

Could vitamin D prevent Parkinson's?

Finnish researchers have claimed that a person with low vitamin D levels could be more at risk of developing Parkinson's disease later in life.

The report, that is published in Archives of Neurology, also states that vitamin D could prevent the degenerative disease as it protects the nerve cells that are gradually lost by those suffering from Parkinson's.

The study, which saw 3000 people reviewed, found that people with the lowest levels of the sunshine vitamin were at a ‘three-fold higher risk.' The research is 30 years in the making, with researchers from Finland's National Institute for Health and Welfare taking blood samples to measure vitamin D levels from the study group between 1978 and 1980.

The study group was then followed over the next 30 years to see who developed Parkinson's disease. It was revealed that those with the lowest levels of vitamin D were three times more likely to develop Parkinson's, compared with the group with the highest levels of vitamin D.

The benefits of vitamin D

The report has already led to reactions in the healthcare community with Marian Evatt, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Emory University School of Medicine, writing in an editorial in the US journal Archives of Neurology that health authorities should consider raising the target vitamin D level.

"At this point, 30 nanograms per millilitre of blood or more appears optimal for bone health in humans. However, researchers don't yet know what level is optimal for brain health or at what point vitamin D becomes toxic for humans, and this is a topic that deserves close examination."

While vitamin D occurs naturally in the body, it is made when the skin is exposed to sunlight, although some comes from foods like oily fish, milk or cereals. However, as people get older their skin becomes less able to produce vitamin D.

It has been known for a number of years that vitamin D helps calcium uptake and bone formation, but this is the first time that it could also play a role in the maintenance of the nervous system.

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