A 12-Month Randomized Controlled Trial.
Vitamin D Supplementation Improves Cognit... - Cure Parkinson's
Vitamin D Supplementation Improves Cognitive Function in Older Adults with Mild cognitive impairment...
Wow... some impressive results for only 800 IU/day (I take 5,000 IU/day and get my levels tested). Especially since most vitamin D trials (like fish oil/omega 3 trials) have been disappointing . Rhonda Patrick says this is because the studies should test serum D levels and supplement enough to achieve a particular range of serum D values (40-80 ng/mL is the 'sweet spot'). It's really too bad the article is paywalled - I would like to know if they measured serum D and get more details.
I'm just going to copy/paste the methods & results part of the abstract so people can see why I'm so impressed and also give the HU search engine some keywords:
" Methods: This was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in Tianjin, China. Participants were all native Chinese speakers aged 65 years and older with MCI. 183 subjects were randomized to an intervention group (vitamin D 800 IU/day, n = 93) or a placebo group (the matching starch granules, n = 90), and followed up for 12 months. Tests of cognitive function and mechanism-related biomarkers were evaluated at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months.
Results: Repeated-measures ANOVA showed substantial improvements in the full scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ), information, digit span, vocabulary, block design, and picture arrangement scores in the vitamin D group over the placebo group (p < 0.001). Leukocyte TL was significantly higher, while serum 8-OXO-dG, OGG1mRNA, and P16INK4amRNA revealed greater decreases in the vitamin D group over the placebo group (p < 0.001). According to mixed-model repeated-measures ANOVA analysis, vitamin D group showed a significant enhancement in the FSIQ score for 12 months compared with the control (estimate value = 5.132, p < 0.001). "
Very interesting Marc. I hope someone tries to repeat the results. Let us know what you think of how they measured serum levels.
Sort of related - a 60 Minutes piece about a research project on 90+ years olds at a retirement community in sunny Loma Linda, CA. What's interesting is that autopsies of some study participants that had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's found that 40% had no plaques or tangles -meaning they had dementia from another cause (they found microinfarcts - maybe something like CADASIL? - see second video). This may have implications for why trials of AD therapies have failed.
Video on brain capillaries and blood flow