Elderly people who take vitamin D supplements long-term and regularly have 1.8 times the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia compared with those who do not, National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) scientists said yesterday.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said that 7.78 percent of Taiwanese aged 65 or older have some form of dementia.
Vitamin D plays a role in maintaining cognitive function, and many studies have found that vitamin D deficiency correlates with an increased risk of dementia, leading many people to take the vitamin to prevent the disease, NHRI Institute of Molecular and Genomic Medicine researcher Juang Jyh-lyh (莊志立) said.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times.
However, a study led by Juang and NHRI National Center for Geriatrics and Welfare Research scientist Hsu Chih-cheng (許志成), using the National Health Insurance database, found that elderly people who took a 0.25mg vitamin D3 supplement 146 days or more each year had 1.8 times the risk of developing dementia compared with those who did not take the supplement.
Additionally, people with dementia who took vitamin D3 had a 2.17 times greater risk of death, he said.
Juang said his research team conducted additional studies that experimented on mice, finding that mice with Alzheimer’s disease that were fed a vitamin D-sufficient diet showed significantly lower levels of serum vitamin D.
When vitamin D was decreased in the mice, the number of the vitamin’s binding receptors in the brain increased in the same plaques considered a trigger for Alzheimer’s disease, he said.
Overall, the study seems to show that vitamin D deficiency might be a result rather than a cause of Alzheimer’s disease, and that vitamin D supplements could hasten brain degeneration in people who have the condition.
However, Juang added that the findings do not suggest that vitamin D supplements have no benefit, as they could be valuable in other areas of health.
Juang said that he would remind people not to over-use vitamin D supplements.
Those who might be vulnerable to dementia should re-evaluate the need for the vitamin and consult a physician before taking the supplement, he said.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS