Summary: Vitamin D supplementation may help reduce some of the non-motor symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease.
Source: Wiley
In an Acta Neurologica Scandinavia study of 182 patients with Parkinson’s disease and 185 healthy controls, patients with Parkinson’s disease had significantly lower levels of vitamin D in their blood. Also, patients with lower vitamin D levels were more likely to fall, and to experience sleep problems, depression, and anxiety.
The findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation may help to treat non-motor symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease.
“As various non-motor symptoms place a burden on individuals with Parkinson’s disease and their caregivers, vitamin D might be a potential add-on therapy for improving these neglected symptoms,” said senior author Chun Feng Liu, MD, PhD, of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, in China.
Source:
Wiley
Media Contacts:
Penny Smith – Wiley
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Original Research: Closed access
“Relationship between 25‐Hydroxyvitamin D, bone density, and Parkinson’s disease symptoms”. Hui‐Jun Zhang, Jin‐Ru Zhang, Cheng‐Jie Mao, Kai Li, Fen Wang, Jing Chen, Chun‐Feng Liu.
Acta Neurologica Scandinavia. doi:10.1111/ane.13141
Abstract
Relationship between 25‐Hydroxyvitamin D, bone density, and Parkinson’s disease symptomss
Objectives
Vitamin D deficiency is widespread in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Our aim was to determine whether serum vitamin D levels correlated with bone mineral density (BMD) and non‐motor symptoms in patients with PD.
Materials & Methods
A consecutive series of 182 patients with PD and 185 healthy controls were included. Serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels were measured by immunoassay, while BMD of the lumbar spine and femoral neck was measured by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry. Associations between serum vitamin D levels and clinical data were evaluated using partial correlation analysis.
Results
Patients with PD had significantly lower serum 25(OH)D levels relative to healthy controls (49.75 ± 14.11 vs 43.40 ± 16.51, P < 0.001). Furthermore, PD patients with lower vitamin D levels had a significantly higher frequency of falls (P = 0.033) and insomnia (P = 0.015). They also had significantly higher scores for the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI; P = 0.014), depression (P = 0.020), and anxiety (P = 0.009). Finally, patients with PD also had a significantly lower mean BMD of the lumbar spine (P = 0.011) and femoral neck (P < 0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, and body mass index, vitamin D levels significantly correlated with falls, insomnia, and scores for the PSQI, depression, and anxiety.
Conclusions
In patients with PD, vitamin D levels significantly correlated with falls and some non‐motor symptoms. However, no associations were found between BMD and the serum 25(OH)D levels in patients with PD. Thus, vitamin D supplementation is a potential therapeutic for non‐motor PD symptoms.
