Vitamin D deficiency linked to higher risk of Parkinson’s

Dr. Cutler.com - A new study published in the July issue of the Archives of Neurology suggests low levels of vitamin D may increase an individual’s risk of the neurological disorder Parkinson’s disease.

According to WebMD, researchers in Finland studied 3,173 men and women between the ages of 50 and 79 who did not have Parkinson’s when the research project began. They were followed for nearly 30 years and were required to answer questions about their socioeconomic and health backgrounds as well as undergo blood tests to determine their vitamin D levels.

They found that people with the lowest serum vitamin D levels were three times more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, compared with people with the highest levels of the vitamin.

"Our findings are thus consistent with the hypothesis that chronic inadequacy of vitamin D is a risk factor for Parkinson’s disease," the authors told WebMD.

Vitamin D is important for bone health and insufficiencies have been linked to cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other problems.

It is widely available in nutritional supplement form. It can also be found in food sources like milk, tuna, eggs and fortified breakfast cereals. Exposure to sunlight can also boost vitamin D levels.

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