Parkinson Disease (PD) is characterized by tremors, slowness of movement, stiffness, and difficulty with balance. The condition affects more than 1.5 million Americans, with 60,000 new cases each year¹.  It costs the U.S. healthcare system more than $5.6 billion per year, with medication costs for an individual patient averaging $2,500 a year and therapeutic surgery costing up to $100,000 dollars per patient².

 

Possible causes of PD include oxidative stress³ and a high homocysteine level⁴.  Fortunately, nutrition, including increases in both unsaturated fat and vitamin E intake⁵ and vitamin B-6⁶, is becoming a viable way to help protect against PD..  Now a new study⁷ has found that vitamin D, whose numerous health benefits include heart health⁸, blood sugar health⁹, prostate health¹⁰, bone health¹¹, breast cell health¹², longevity¹³mental health¹⁴, dental health¹⁵, and back health¹⁶, may also help with mental health.

 

Previous research has shown that vitamin D deficiency adversely affects nerve function^{(17, 18)}.  Building on these findings, researchers selected 100 patients with diagnosed PD¹⁹, 100 patients with Alzheimer Disease (AD), and 100 healthy patients with an average age of 65 years from the Clinical Research in Neurology (CRIN) Database from the Emory University School of Medicine.  They examined the patients’ blood samples to look at vitamin D blood levels. “Vitamin D insufficiency” was defined as having vitamin D blood levels below 30 nanograms per milliliter and “vitamin D deficiency” was defined as vitamin D blood levels below 20 nanograms per millilter.

 

The researchers found that 55% of the PD patients had vitamin D insufficiency compared to 41% of AD patients and 36% of controls.  Regarding vitamin D deficiency, 23% of the PD patients were deficient compared to 16% of AD patients and 10% of the controls.

 

With results supported by previous research examining vitamin D and PD²⁰, the researchers  “found that PD patients have a higher prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency compared with patients with AD and healthy controls”.  They called for future research to address whether vitamin D supplementation would improve PD symptoms.

 

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA.  You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com

 

Reference:

 

¹  “About Parkinson Disease” posted on the National Parkinson Foundation Website www.parkinson.org

 

²  “Ten Frequently Asked Questions About Parkinson’s Disease” posted on the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation Website http://www.pdf.org/

 

³  Jenner P. Oxidative stress in Parkinson’s disease. Ann Neurol 2003;53 (suppl 3):S26–S36

 

⁴  Kruman II.  Homocysteine elicits a DNA damage response in neurons that promotes apoptosis and hypersensitivity to excitotoxicity. J Neurosci 2000;20:6920–6926

 

⁵  Miller ER 3^rd.  Meta-analysis: High-dosage vitamin E supplementation may increase all-cause mortality. Ann Intern Med. 2005; 142: 37-46

  

⁶  de Lau LM.  Dietary folate, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6 and the risk of Parkinson disease.  Neurology. 2006 Jul 25;67(2):315-8d

 

⁷  Evatt ML.  Prevalence of Vitamin D Insufficiency in Patients With Parkinson Disease and Alzheimer Disease.  Arch Neurol. 2008;65(10):1348-1352

 

⁸  Giovanucci E.  25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Risk of Myocardial Infarction in Men: A Prospective Study.  Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(11):1174-1180

 

⁹  Hu FB.  Vitamin D and Calcium Intake in Relation to Type 2 Diabetes in Women.  Diabetes Care 29: 650-656

 

¹⁰  Bao BY.  Protective role of 1, alpha-25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 against oxidative stress in nonmalignant human prostate epithelial cells.  International Journal of Cancer 2008; 122(12): 2699-2706

 

¹¹  Talwar SA.  Dose response to vitamin D supplementation among postmenopausal African American women.  Amer Jou Clin Nutr 2007; 86: 1657-1662

 

¹²  Mohr SB.  Relationship between Low Ultraviolet B Irradiance and Higher Breast Cancer Risk in 107 CountriesThe Breast Journal.  Volume 14 Issue 3 Page 255-260

 

¹³  Autier P, Gandini S. Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(16):1730-1737

 

¹⁴  Witte JG.  Depression Is Associated With Decreased 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Increased Parathyroid Hormone Levels in Older Adults.  Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(5):508-512

 

¹⁵  Schroth C.  Influence of maternal vitamin D status on infant oral health.  Abstract #1646 www.dentalresearch.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3297

 

¹⁶  Hicks GE.  Associations Between Vitamin D Status and Pain in Older Adults: The Invecchiare in Chianti Study.  Jou Am Ger Soc 2008; 56(5): 785-791

 

¹⁷  Garcion E, Wion-Barbot N, Montero-Menei CN, Berger F, Wion D. New clues about vitamin D functions in the nervous system. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2002;13(3):100-105

 

¹⁸  Baksi SN, Hughes MJ. Chronic vitamin D deficiency in the weanling rat alters catecholamine metabolism in the cortex. Brain Res. 1982;242(2):387-390

 

¹⁹  Gelb DJ, Oliver E, Gilman S. Diagnostic criteria for Parkinson disease. Arch Neurol. 1999;56(1):33-39

 

²⁰  Newmark HL, Newmark J. Vitamin D and Parkinson's disease: a hypothesis. Mov Disord. 2007;22(4):461-468