MediSun Technology
Healthy Sun™

Neurological benefits

Leading medical experts and our Chief Medical Officer, Barry Jay Riskin, M.D., a nationally recognized, board-certified neurologist, have acknowledged that maintaining appropriate levels of vitamin D may help prevent and mitigate the risks and symptoms of certain neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer disease.1

ALZHEIMER’s Disease

ResearchVitamin D is especially powerful against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.2 A recent 7 year study showed that low vitamin D levels correlate with an increased risk of cognitive decline between 41 to 60%; increase the risk of Alzheimer’s dementia by 77%; and increase the risk of non-Alzheimer’s dementia by 20 times.3 4 The New England Journal of Medicine cited a study that demonstrated that vitamin D may activate certain genes and cellular signaling networks to clear amyloid beta from the brains of Alzheimer's patients thereby reducing symptoms.5 A recent large scale study found that adults who were just moderately deficient in vitamin D had a 53 percent increased risk of developing dementia while the risk jumped to 125 percent for those who had a severe deficiency. Similarly, for Alzheimer’s disease the moderately deficient adults were 69 percent more likely to develop it, while the severely deficient had a 122 percent increased risk.17

PARKINSON’s Disease

Vitamin D can benefit people with Parkinson’s disease as well. Recently, studies show that higher vitamin D concentrations are correlated with lower severity in Parkinson’s disease.6 Additionally, increasing vitamin D levels reduce falls and improve balance.7 Another comprehensive study showed vitamin D treatment prevented deterioration in Parkinson’s disease patients over a 12-month period.8 A remarkable study cited by the New England Journal of Medicine showed that people with the lowest levels of vitamin D were significantly more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease over almost three decades of follow-up, compared to people with the highest blood levels of the vitamin.9

Multiple Sclerosis

Clinicians have found a strong correlations between increasing the intake of vitamin D and protection against multiple sclerosis, a progressive autoimmune disease.10 Recent studies show that restoring vitamin D levels to the healthy range can help patients with autoimmune diseases.11 Additionally, Vitamin D has been shown to increase the number of regulatory T-cells that restore immune system activity to its normal state, preventing the overactive response characteristic of autoimmune diseases.12 A large scale clinical trial also showed increases in vitamin D reduced the risk of developing multiple sclerosis by 40%.13

TBI, PTSD, CONCUSSION

A study involving service members found a correlation between vitamin D status, TBI, PTSD and suicide.15 The study found that experiencing mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) may lead to chronic post-concussive symptoms, increasing the risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with cognitive decline, depression, and potentially PTSD through its relationship to testosterone production. Furthermore, vitamin D deficiency elevates systematic inflammation, meaning that poor vitamin D status at the time of blast may prolong inflammatory response to mTBI and exacerbate post-concussive symptoms. Additionally, vitamin D deficiency was found to decrease resilience and increase recovery times from mild traumatic brain injury and PTSD.

Another recent study details the powerful effects of treating concussion and traumatic brain injury with vitamin D therapy. This study highlights the successful treatment of three severely debilitated TBI patients.16 The patients began treatment while in coma, and were not expected to recover. Post treatment, these patients have returned to their mental functioning prior to their injury and are experiencing minimal long-term side effects. In this remarkable study, treatment was comprised of only vitamin D, progesterone and omega-3 fatty acid.

Vitamin D deficiency is also associated with an increased incidence of depression and schizophrenia.14

WEIZMANN INSTITUTE

MediSun Technology is working with Weizmann Institute to advance research on vitamin D and its effect on various neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer and Parkinson’s diseases. Weizmann has performed 117 studies on vitamin D and its effects on the immune system.

References

1 Deluca GC, Kimball SM, Kolasinski J, Ramagopalan SV, Ebers GC. The Role of Vitamin D in Nervous System Health and Disease. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol. 2013 Jan 21.

2 Dickens AP, Lang IA, Langa KM, Kos K, Llewellyn DJ. Vitamin D, cognitive dysfunction and dementia in older adults. CNS Drugs. 2011 Aug;25(8):629-39.

3 Annweiler C, Rolland Y, Schott AM, et al. Higher vitamin D dietary intake is associated with lower risk of alzheimer’s disease: a 7-year follow-up. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2012 Nov;67(11):1205-11.

4 Anweiler C, Rolland Y, Schott AM, Blain H, Vellas B, Beauchet O. Serum vitamin D deficiency as a predictor of incident non-Alzheimer dementias: a 7-year longitudinal study. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2011 32(4):273-8.

5 Holick M, MD, PhD. Vitamin D Deficiency. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2007;357:266-81.

6 Peterson AL, Mancini M, Horak FB. The relationship between balance control and vitamin D in Parkinson’s disease-a pilot study. Mov Disord. 2013 Apr 2.

7 Id.

8 Suzuki M, Yoshioka M, Hashimoto M, et al. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of vitamin D supplementation in Parkinson disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 May;97(5):1004-13.

9 Holick M, MD, PhD. Vitamin D Deficiency. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2007;357:266-81.

10 Gosnell, M. “Can Vitamin D Save Your Life?” Discover, January 2008.

11 Brown SJ. The role of vitamin D in multiple sclerosis. Ann Pharmacother. 2006 Jun;40(6):1158-61.

12 Bock G, Prietl B, Mader JK, et al. The effect of vitamin D supplementation on peripheral regulatory T cells and beta cell function in healthy humans: a randomized controlled trial. Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2011 Nov;27(8):942-5.

13 Cantorna MT, Zhao J, Yang L. Vitamin D, invariant natural killer T-cells and experimental autoimmune disease. Proc Nutr Soc. 2012 Feb;71(1):62-6.

14 Id.

15 Wentz L, (2014)Vitamin D Status May Affect Resilience and Recovery fromMild Traumatic Brain Injury in Military Personnel. Austin Publishing Group.

16 Mathews LR, et al. (2013) Omega-3 fatty acids, and glutamine reverses coma and improves clinical outcomes in patients with severe traumatic brain injuries: A case series of three patients, IJCRI doi:10.5348/ijcri-2013-03-281-CS-2.

17 Littlejohns, T. et al. (2014) Vitamin D and the risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease, Neurology, DOI 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000755.

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