REGARDS Study in Birmingham, AL Confirms Value of Vitamin D

Researches at the University of Alabama at Birmingham reported on February first of this year that they have discovered that sufficient amounts of vitamin D can protect people from incident strokes and cognitive decline. The study, known as the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS), consisted of 30,239 participants age 45 and older of both black and white races. After adjusting results (for age, race, education, income, diabetes, hypertension, weight, history of CVD and high cholesterol), researchers found that those participants with higher levels of vitamin D intake showed an 11% reduction in stroke occurrence and a 24% reduction in cognitive impairment as opposed to those with lower levels of vitamin D.

In the REGARDS study, 0 IU to 53.1 IU vitamin D intake per day was considered low and 382 to 1,774 IU vitamin D intake per day was considered high. Measurements of vitamin D consumption were calculated based on a questionnaire about food frequency. Participants were surveyed by University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers every six months for a period of five years. Researchers assessed these clinical trial participants’ cognitive function preservation and stroke incidents.

The REGARDS researchers discovered that oral vitamin D intake was more common among white patients than in black patients. There was no discrepancy between female and male clinical trial participants’ vitamin D intake. Vitamin D absorption due to sun exposure was not calculated for this trial (check out some of the Birmingham Clinical Trials or Trials in Alabama). However, whites tend to have higher absorption levels of vitamin D from the sun because they have less melanin in their skin than blacks have. Researchers at the University of Atlanta at Birmingham hope to commence a study like this one that takes into account vitamin D levels from sun exposure as well as from supplements and diet by measuring the vitamin D in participants’ blood.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin found in very few foods. Without sufficient vitamin D levels, children can develop rickets and adults can develop osteomalacia or osteoporosis. Insufficient vitamin D levels can lead to bones becoming brittle, misshapen or weak. Vitamin D is involved in modulating many gene-encoding proteins that perform cell regulation, proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. Vitamin D is also involved in inflammation reduction, immune function, cell growth and neuromuscular function. Vitamin D’s influence as a cardioprotectant properties are becoming better known with the executions of clinical trials like the REGARDS study. “Vitamin D from both supplements and food was associated with a lower risk for stroke and cognitive decline… Vitamin D is increasingly being studied as a cardioprotective agent. It is time to start examining the role of vitamin D in preserving brain function as well,” said REGARDS study director Suzanna E. Judd, PhD. “It would be great to have smaller supplementation trials to help determine the optimum dose (of vitamin D) that would improve outcomes and minimize safety risks… Clinical trials could evaluate the potential role of vitamin D as a neuroprotectant.”