Low vitamin D in your 30s may predict higher Alzheimer's risk 16 years later

Most research on vitamin D and dementia has looked at people already in their 60s or 70s. A new study from the Framingham Heart Study, published in Neurology Open Access, asked a more consequential question: does your vitamin D level in your 30s and 40s affect your risk of Alzheimer's disease decades later?

Among 793 dementia-free adults with an average age of 39, those with higher blood vitamin D levels showed significantly less accumulation of tau on brain scans conducted an average of 16 years later. Tau is a protein that misfolds and builds up in the brain in Alzheimer's disease, and it tends to accumulate in the brain's memory regions well before symptoms appear.

The biology behind the link is plausible: the memory centers of the brain are packed with vitamin D receptors, and low vitamin D appears to trigger a chain reaction that accelerates abnormal tau buildup. This adds to an overwhelming body of evidence on vitamin D's importance for long-term brain health and reinforces the value of monitoring your levels before problems emerge. Optimum blood level should be around 70-80.

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