A new study in the journal American Geriatrics published this week claimed that vitamin D supplementation did not improve cognitive function in elderly women, but based its conclusion on an error that enrages most vitamin D researchers.

The study only used 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D in its test — an amount so low vitamin D researchers say it would not actually raise vitamin D levels. The study also didn’t actually test the subjects’ vitamin D blood levels.

According to a report about the study in Natural Products Insider, “For the study, scientists found 4,143 women aged 65 or older who had no dementia at baseline testing. Approximately half of the women received 1,000 mg of calcium carbonated and 400 IU of vitamin D3 while the others received a placebo. After a follow-up nearly eight years later, 39 treated patients and 37 placebo patients developed incident dementia. Similarly, 4.8 percent of the supplement group experienced mild cognitive impairment, compared to 5.1 percent of the untreated group.”

“The data is really out right now,” Dr. Taylor Wallace, the study’s author, told NPI, adding, “I don’t think that changes how consumers should view vitamin D.”

What frustrates most vitamin D researchers about reports like this: The authors should know that 400 IU is unlikely to change anything because it is such an unnaturally low dose of vitamin D. And since other studies have suggested a connection between low vitamin D levels and reduced cognitive functions, this new study’s conclusions aren’t representative of the full body of work on vitamin D, researchers say.

To read the Natural Products insider story click here.

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