The latest mortality statistics places Alzheimer's in the top three killer diseases in the US, right behind heart disease and cancer.3 Vitamin D deficiency is also rampant. Researchers estimate that half of the general population is at risk of vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency.
Among seniors, that estimate reaches as high as 95 percent. While certainly not the sole cause of dementia, evidence suggests vitamin D may be a very important factor for successful prevention.
A wide variety of brain tissue contains vitamin D receptors, and when they're activated by vitamin D, it facilitates nerve growth in your brain. Researchers also believe that optimal vitamin D levels boosts levels of important brain chemicals, and protect brain cells by increasing the effectiveness of glial cells in nursing damaged neurons back to health.
Vitamin D may also exert some of its beneficial effects on your brain through its anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting properties, which are well established.
Comment: One important thing to understand is that if your low vitamin D levels persist in spite of taking supplements, a magnesium deficiency may be one of the reasons your body is not absorbing Vitamin D. Most people are deficient in magnesium because the mineral has been deficient in the soils for decades, so supplemental magnesium is imperative as it is critical for metabolic processes, cell growth and reproduction and is involved in hundreds of enzyme processes affecting every aspect of life.
Low vitamin D levels correlated with magnesium deficiency
Magnesium: The Spark of Life