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Vitamin D Deficiency may be more common in
Parkinson’s Disease Patients
Newswise — Individuals with
Parkinson’s disease appear more likely to be
vitamin D deficient than healthy adults of
the same age or patients with Alzheimer’s
disease, according to a report in the
October issue of Archives of Neurology, one
of the JAMA/Archives journals.
“Vitamin D is important for
maintaining many physiologic functions, and
vitamin D deficiency is associated with
increased risk of disease,” according to
background information in the article.
“Patients with chronic neurodegenerative
diseases frequently have many risk factors
for vitamin D insufficiency,” including
advancing age, obesity, avoidance of sun
exposure, residence in northerly latitudes
and having darker skin.
Marian L. Evatt, M.D., M.S.,
and colleagues at the Emory University
School of Medicine, Atlanta, compared
vitamin D levels of 100 patients with
Parkinson’s disease to vitamin D levels of
97 Alzheimer’s disease patients and 99
healthy individuals matched for age, sex,
race, genotype and geographic location.
“Significantly more patients
with Parkinson’s disease (55 percent) had
insufficient vitamin D than did controls (36
percent) or patients with Alzheimer’s
disease (41 percent),” the authors write.
The average vitamin D concentration in the
group with Parkinson’s disease was
considerably lower than the Alzheimer’s
disease and healthy groups (31.9 nanograms
per milliliter vs. 34.8 nanograms per
milliliter and 37 nanograms per milliliter,
respectively).
“These findings support the
previously suggested need for further
studies to assess what contribution a low
25(OH)D [a measure of blood vitamin D
levels] concentration adds to the risk of
developing Parkinson’s disease (vs. other
neurodegenerative disorders) and to
determine whether correction of vitamin D
insufficiency and deficiency will improve
motor or non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s
disease,” the authors conclude.
“Finally, the finding of a
high incidence of vitamin D deficiency in
the Parkinson’s disease and other cohorts
highlights the importance of routinely
checking the level of 25(OH)D, particularly
in elderly patients, since deficiency is
strongly correlated with a higher incidence
of osteoporosis, falls and hip fractures and
has been associated with a higher incidence
of several forms of cancer and autoimmune
disorders.”
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