March 30, 2011
Parkinson's Disease and Vitamin D
Andrew Feigin, MD
The American Medical Association’s Archives of Neurology has published an interesting article that confirms prior observations that Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency are more common in patients with Parkinson's disease (even in the very earliest stages) than in the general population.
It remains uncertain if this is simply an association with Parkinson’s-perhaps related to dietary changes, reduced exposure to sunlight, or other unknown factors-or if this represents a significant underlying feature of the disease worthy of further investigation and potential therapeutic intervention.
The increase in Vitamin D levels over the course of the study, during which there was a significant worsening in signs and symptoms, suggests that simply raising Vitamin D levels may not improve Parkinson’s disease symptoms.