University of Calgary researchers to look at aging brain as study says vitamin D prevents dementia | 24CA News

Researchers on the University of Calgary are beginning a nationwide mission to attempt to get extra perception into the mind as individuals age.

The CAN-PROTECT mission, led by Dr. Zahinoor Ismail, begins Wednesday — the identical day {that a} new paper he co-authored exhibits taking vitamin D might assist stop dementia.

“We compared older adults who were on vitamin D to those who were not on vitamin D over 10 years for the rate of development of dementia,” stated Ismail, a professor of psychiatry and neurology on the U of C and the University of Exeter within the United Kingdom.

The 12,000 members within the examine, revealed within the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, have been a part of the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center within the United States. They had a mean age of 71 and didn’t have dementia once they signed up for it. About 37 per cent of these concerned took vitamin D dietary supplements.

“What we found was that persons who were taking vitamin D at baseline compared to those who took no vitamin D over that time developed dementia probably at a 40 per cent lower rate, so it’s quite a significant association,” Ismail stated in an interview.

Researchers additionally discovered the consequences have been larger in ladies than males and in these with regular cognition than these with gentle cognitive impairment, which is related to a better threat of getting dementia.

Ismail stated that might counsel “the earlier you start, the more you can prevent progression.”

Ismail stated he and others at the moment are working to get Canadian-specific information via the nationwide analysis mission. It is modelled after a web based platform known as PROTECT, primarily based on the University of Exeter, that asks annual questionnaires on detailed way of life elements mixed with some cognitive testing to find out what retains the mind sharp later in life.

The Canadian mission, he stated, will construct on the outcomes of the vitamin D examine with U.S. members.

“We’re farther north and there are other variables that we want to measure more closely regarding your ethnocultural group, whether you live in a sunny place or not, whether you go south for the winter,” stated Ismail.

“There are many other variables that we’d like to know about that would allow us to refine our understanding even more.”

The examine will likely be performed on-line and researchers hope to recruit about 10,000 members from throughout Canada.

“People sign up along with a study partner — someone who knows them well for at least five years — and then there are annual measures of health and wellness, risk and resilience, cognition, behaviour function,” he stated.

The examine will run for 20 years, and he stated individuals from all areas and backgrounds can be part of at any time.

“It’s a way to really get an understanding of brain aging over time,” stated Ismail, noting researchers will look nearer at vitamin D and plenty of different elements that might have an effect on the mind.

The analysis, he added, may also embody an examination of people that look after these with dementia — each household caregivers in addition to nurses, occupational therapists and others who work in a caregiving function.

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