TUESDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- The prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency does not increase during the progression of early Parkinson's disease (PD), according to a study published in the March issue of the Archives of Neurology.
Marian L. Evatt, M.D., from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and colleagues examined the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in 157 patients with early PD who were enrolled in the placebo group of the Deprenyl and Tocopherol Antioxidative Therapy of Parkinsonism trial. Blood samples from untreated patients who were diagnosed with PD within five years of study entry were taken at baseline and final visits after an average of 18.9 months. Samples were analyzed for 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentrations to evaluate the mean vitamin D concentration and the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency.
The investigators found that the mean 25(OH)D concentrations were 26.3 ng/mL and 31.3 ng/mL at the baseline and final visits, respectively. Vitamin D insufficiency, measured as a 25(OH)D concentration less than 30.0 ng/mL, was prevalent in 69.4 percent at baseline and 51.6 percent at the final visit.
"We confirm a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in patients with recent onset of PD, during the early clinical stages in which patients do not require symptomatic therapy. Furthermore, vitamin D concentrations did not decrease but instead increased slightly over the course of follow-up. This provides evidence that during early PD, vitamin D concentrations do not decrease with disease progression," the authors write.
Abstract
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