“During the experiment, the mental health status of people who took vitamin D was monitored for an average of 10 years,” Olga Shuppo, scientific director of the Grand Clinic network of immunorehabilitation and preventive medicine clinics, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. It turned out that people over the age of 70 had dementia, it was 40% less common in those people than in those not taking vitamin D. The main conclusion of the new study is that vitamin D has a high potential to prevent dementia.”
The scientists also cite other interesting findings: the effect of vitamin D for women is more pronounced and for carriers of the APOE4 gene, a variant of the APOE gene, which significantly increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, the protective effect of taking vitamin D is weaker, noted Olga Shuppo.
“Despite new evidence of the benefits of vitamin D, it should be taken with caution, warns the doctor. – If there were no other medical indications, then in autumn, winter and spring a preventive dose can be taken. It has been increased and now amounts to 7,000 adult international units (IU) per day, and not 1,000 – 2,000 IU, as it was before. Therapeutic doses can be 15,000 IU or more, but it must be remembered that the doctor prescribes the treatment”.
The therapeutic dose of vitamin D is determined by the doctor based on the results of the tests. In some diseases, such as kidney disease, it is contraindicated to take vitamin D in the form of drugs, warns Olga Shuppo.
He recalled that everyone needs to check the level of vitamin D at least once a year. A blood test measures vitamin D levels as follows:
30-50 ng/ml is the optimal level less than 30 ng/ml – this is already a deficiency when a therapeutic dose of vitamin D is required less than 20 ng/ml – a pronounced deficiency that can lead to development of concomitant diseases.
“There are many myths associated with vitamin D. One of them is that a vitamin deficiency can be replenished with sun exposure. This is not like this. Vitamin D is produced in the body only in the first hours of exposure to the sun and this dose will not be enough “Many foods contain vitamin D, such as butter, cod liver, fatty marine fish. These foods are essential in the diet. However, they cannot be considered a reliable source of vitamin D, but rather help its absorption”, concluded the expert.
