VITAMIN D - HOW IMPORTANT IS IT

Dr. Robert J. Brueck, Fort Myers Board Certified Plastic Surgeon with a comprehensive web site at http://www.Beauty-by-Brueck.com, frequently writes about matters of health and beauty. This time he reflects on the importance of Vitamin D

We live in a dynamic, new, nutrition-oriented world.

For many of us our daily routine starts with a morning cup of coffee and maybe a multivitamin. How things have changed for me! My early morning cup of java is a constant. But I gaze across my desk and see a ton of diet supplements that I now take on a regular basis.

(I do, however, have to admit that I am lazy on weekends and sometimes forget them.)

One of those supplements is Vitamin D. There was a recent article discussing the importance of Vitamin D for “cognitive function”. This appeared in the July 12^th magazine Healthy Aging.

Researchers found that an astonishing 40% to 100% of older adults in the US and Europe are deficient in vitamin D. ( I just reached over and took another 5000 IU of vitamin D; now I can remember what day it is. )

Vitamin D may also help prevent degeneration of our brain tissue by being important in preventing the buildup of Amyloid/(Alzheimer’s) and also in the formation of nervous tissue. The lead researcher, Dr. David Llewellyn of the University of Exeter England and colleagues studied vitamin D levels in 858 adults who were greater than the age of 65.

Study subjects who were severely deficient in vitamin D were 60% more likely to have substantial cognitive decline in general over the 6 year period of this study.

So the study’s findings may open new avenues for research in brain function disorders i.e. senile dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Thought: It may not be a bad idea to pop a vitamin D capsule in the morning.