Insufficient levels of Vitamin D are common in Americans with the elderly and
African Americans having a particularly high risk of deficiency. This review,
written for a broad scientific readership presents a critical review of scientific
evidence relating to a possible causal relationship between vitamin D deficiency
and effects on behavior and cognitive functions.
The scientists including Dr. Bruce Ames conclude that there is enough evidence
to point to an important role for Vitamin D for brain development and brain
function. Dr Ames observes that there is a wide distribution of receptor sites
for Vitamin D in the brain. They also note that Vitamin D affects brain proteins
that are involved with motor control (movement), learning and memory. This skillful
review is published in the April 2008 issue of The FASEB Journal.
Supplementing with Calcium plus Vitamin D cuts down on exercise-related
bone fractures
Daily supplements of calcium and vitamin D, long linked to improving bone health,
may also reduce the risk of stress fractures during exercise, scientists have
reported. Female recruits receiving the daily supplements experienced 20 % fewer
stress fractures than their un-supplemented counterparts according to results
from a randomized, double-blind study of 5,201 female U.S. Navy recruits during
eight weeks of basic training. "Generalizing the findings to the population
of 14,416 women who entered basic training at the Great Lakes during the 24
mo of recruitment, calcium and vitamin D supplementation for the entire cohort
would have prevented 187 persons from fracturing," write the authors from
Creighton University Osteoporosis Research Center in Nebraska and the Naval
Institute for Dental and Biomedical Research.
Stress factures are said to be one of the most common and debilitating overuse
injuries seen in U.S. military recruits affecting 21 % of female recruits who
suffer from this form of injury. Male recruits suffer less. Such fractures are
also problematic for athletic people outside of the military.
In the study the researchers randomly assigned the recruits to receive daily
supplements of 2,000 mg of Calcium and 800 IU of Vitamin D, while the other
group received a placebo. At the end of the eight weeks of basic training, 309
women developed stress fractures. Women receiving the vitamin-mineral combination
were 21 % less likely to experience the fractures, report the researchers. The
study is published in the May 2008 issue of the Journal of Bone and Mineral
Research.
