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Individuals with Parkinson’s disease appear more likely to be vitamin D–deficient than healthy adults of the same age or patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Neurology.
According to the study’s authors, patients with chronic neurodegenerative diseases often have many risk factors for vitamin D insufficiency, including advancing age, obesity, avoidance of sun exposure, residence in northerly latitudes, and having darker skin.
Marian L. Evatt, MD, MS, et al at the Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, compared vitamin D levels of 100 patients with Parkinson’s disease to vitamin D levels of 97 Alzheimer’s disease patients and 99 healthy individuals matched for age, sex, race, genotype, and geographic location.
The study found that significantly more patients with Parkinson’s disease (55%) had insufficient vitamin D than did controls (36%) or patients with Alzheimer’s disease (41%). The average vitamin D concentration in the group with Parkinson’s disease was considerably lower than the Alzheimer’s disease and healthy groups (31.9 ng/mL vs 34.8 ng/mL and 37 ng/mL, respectively).
“The finding of a high incidence of vitamin D deficiency in the Parkinson’s disease and other cohorts highlights the importance of routinely checking the level of 25(OH)D, particularly in elderly patients, since deficiency is strongly correlated with a higher incidence of osteoporosis, falls and hip fractures and has been associated with a higher incidence of several forms of cancer and autoimmune disorders,” the authors said.
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