From James Beck, Ph.D., Director of Research ProgramsA recent paper published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and picked up by the popular press provided some provocative evidence that vitamin D may provide a short term benefit to some people living with Parkinson’s disease. PDF has covered the science regarding vitamin D for some time, for example in articles featured here and here.
While the importance of vitamin D in people with PD is not new—most people with PD have too low a level—this paper now suggests that only some individuals may benefit from raising vitamin D levels. The paper's authors hypothesize that those few individuals have a variation in a protein that binds to vitamin D. They may respond better than others when their vitamin D levels are raised, which may result in a slower progression in disease symptoms. However, even the authors were notably cautious in their interpretation saying, "vitamin D supplementation may stabilize PD for a short period in patients [with the protein variation], although this effect may be nonspecific for PD."
That is, this study may help explain why vitamin D is not the cure-all for Parkinson’s as some less reputable sources may claim. Whether this conclusion will stand the necessary scrutiny of continued research is unknown.
What I do know is that good nutrition is important for good health, especially if you have a chronic disease like Parkinson’s. It is probably worthwhile to have your physician check your vitamin D levels at your next physical—I did. Maybe like me, you may find out you have low levels of vitamin D. On my doctor’s advice, I now take a few vitamin D pills. I am not expecting much, but I think it a good idea. Like checking the tire pressure on your car: it is a little thing that will play a small role in hopefully making your journey through life a bit easier.
For more information on nutrition and PD, read PDF’s Fact Sheet on Nutrition or watch PDF’s PD ExpertBriefing on Nutrition.
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