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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- It's common knowledge that not getting enough vitamin D can lead to bone problems like rickets and osteoporosis -- but new research suggests it may even lead to Parkinson's disease.
New findings pinpoint vitamin D as a possible player in Parkinson's disease risk. Individuals with the neurodegenerative disease appear more likely to be vitamin D deficient than healthy adults or even those with Alzheimer's disease.
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Investigators at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga., compared levels of vitamin D in 100 patients with Parkinson's with that of 97 patients with Alzheimer's and 99 healthy adults of the same age.
They found significantly more patients with Parkinson's exhibited a vitamin D deficiency than healthy adults or Alzheimer's patients. More specifically, 55 percent of Parkinson's patients had a deficiency, whereas 36 percent of healthy adults and 41 percent of Alzheimer's patients did.
Experts say the findings support the need to investigate whether treatment with vitamin D can improve symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
Research shows patients with chronic neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's often carry many risk factors for vitamin D insufficiency including old age, obesity and lack of sun exposure.
SOURCE: Archives of Neurology, 2008;65:1348-1352
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