I think Vitamin D helps with a lot of things and it’s a big reason we almost always head south for a decent amount of time in the latter part of winter when our bodies can’t make it from the sunlight up north where we live and we’ve likely used up a bit of what we’ve stored from the summer.
A report suggesting another benefit is always nice to read, but even if it’s due to the placebo effect, I’m not about to give up my winter travels. I feel much better afterward than before.
I had Vitamin D deficiency when I lived in Chicagoland and twice my doctor put me on super pill supplements for a month each time. We agreed that it probably wouldn’t be a problem in San Diego and sure enough I’m within normal ranges here. I use that as my excuse to go sit out in the chaise longue by the pool and read - just getting my Vitamin D for my health!
Agree that there are a number of benefits - possibly my deficiency contributed to a couple of bouts of alopecia areata way back when. I’ve always known it’s good for psoriasis - and promotes healthy nails.
How much vitamin D deficiency is due to following dermatologists’ recommendations to avoid sun exposure at all costs, including putting on sunscreen lotion in the winter even if you have dark skin?
The Medscape article doesn’t address this question but here’s the full study:
https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dad2.12404
People with dark skin can get skin cancer - the disease is not limited to light skinned folks.
Avoiding damaging sunlight and supplementing with D3 seems to be the best way to go.
It’s surprising that the study did not assess baseline vitamin D levels - that would have been so easy to do! Now we can’t tell whether people who already had normal levels were still helped by supplementation, vis-a-vis dementia, or if it was just subjects who were vit D deficient that benefited.
I’ve wondered that, too. After my first skin cancer diagnosis I became rather obsessed with avoiding sun exposure, even though I knew that my problem was most likely due to sun burns in childhood and a practice of using baby oil instead of sunscreen as a teenager decades ago. Multiple basal cell and squamous cell removals later, my PCP found my Vitamin D level was very low and I was put on huge, hard to swallow, supplements. I’ve decided to stop living like a vampire but still avoid getting burned.
I’ve seen and heard of so many studies about large doses of this or that vitamin supposedly preventing a disease, to be inevitably followed by new studies that come out talking about the harmful effects of those same vitamins. It’s almost like we cycle through the list of vitamins, with each one getting its moment in the spotlight as the current miracle vitamin.
We just went through this with Vitamin D and Covid. Some doctors were insisting Vitamin D helped, while others said it had no effect and taking too much Vitamin D was bad for you. I pretty much ignore these kinds of studies.
Considering the plethora of companies selling sunscreen on the SCF’s Corporate Council, it is no surprise that the web site minimizes the fact that darker skinned people are much less likely to get skin cancer.
Yes, it may be overlooked by darker skinned people, but that is somewhat analogous to men getting breast cancer.
Years ago, my chiropractor told me that the most important supplement for a woman is vitamin D. I’m not great about taking it, since I can’t take it at the same time I take my daily medication (due to drug interaction issues) - but I do try to get outside an hour a day (with sunscreen, which doesn’t keep the vitamin D from reaching the skin - it’s not a force field), and I eat a diet that includes foods rich in vitamin D. I hope it does protect me from dementia.
The same UV light that causes your skin to generate vitamin D is what causes sunburn and other damage in larger doses. An hour outside with sunscreen would be equivalent to a shorter time outside without sunscreen in terms of vitamin D generation.
Thanks for posting this @oldmom4896 ! Both my parents had/have dementia so I’ve become a student of “what can be done to avoid dementia”!
My Vitamin D level tested very low a few years ago. I was living in Virginia and running/walking outside year round so it may have been due to my diligent sunscreen application. I was put on a mega dose and got up to normal level.
I currently live in a colder climate but try to be outside walking if it is 20 degrees or warmer (which it is most days). But because I am still using sunscreen, I take Vitamin D (as part of my multivitamin). I should ask my doctor to have my level checked again. Thanks for the reminder.
This is a really good article: 6 things you should know about vitamin D - Harvard Health.
The truth is that, like everything else in nutrition, we know very little. There are a bunch of suggestive studies, but every one of them is, at beats, a correlation, and sometimes even that disappears on closer perusal.
All that being said - unless a person lives in a sunny climate, they likely have a Vitamin C deficiency. They should get tested, and if the levels are too low, try a vitamin supplement.
They should probably also follow up and see if it corrects the deficiency, because another thing which isn’t clear is whether vitamin supplements actually help. I mean, if we generally synthesize our own vitamin D, are we able to absorb enough from supplements?
In short - taking vitamin D supplements is probably a good idea if you live in a low-sunlight area, but testing for deficiency before and after taking the supplements is a good idea. As for whether it helps prevent dementia? Maybe, but the great thing about most vitamins is that it is very difficult to take enough to cause harm. So it can’t hurt.
The verdict on this one is in: D supplements DO help to correct deficiency. Both my husband and I are no longer deficient as post-supplementation tests indicated, and in addition to our anecdotal evidence, there are real studies confirming this. I do agree with you that follow up testing is necessary, in part to prevent overdosing which can happen.
Vitamin D in food like fatty fish does seem to be absorbed. Inuit people eating more traditional diets high in fatty fish tend to have higher vitamin D levels than those eating less traditionally.
So perhaps supplements in the form of cans of sardines may help.
If you like sardines… Actually, fresh sardines are amazing. Mackerel and fresh salmon are evidently good sources as well.
Those of us with osteo issues are likely taking D supplements already.