New Delhi : Prevalence of vitamin D, B2, B6 and B9 deficiencies was significantly higher in those at a high risk of dementia among 556 middle-aged and older adults in Telengana, compared with those at low risk, a study published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia journal has found. The findings highlight the potential role of vitamin status as a modifiable determinant of dementia risk factor burden, researchers said.
Thirty nine per cent of the participants were predicted to have a risk of dementia, a neurodegenerative condition in which memory, thought processes and speech steadily decline.
The researchers, including those from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Nutrition and Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, predicted dementia risk through the Indian-specific Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Incidence of Dementia (CAIDE) score, using information of age, body mass index, physical activity, blood pressure and total cholesterol.
The team also found that the risk of dementia was higher among women and among those living in rural areas, compared to urban areas — protective effects of lower obesity and hypercholesterolaemia, and higher physical activity in rural areas did not offset the dementia risks, they found.
Among the micronutrient deficiencies, vitamin B2 was found to be the most prevalent at 64 per cent of the study group, followed by total vitamin B12 at 47 per cent, vitamin D at 42 per cent, vitamin B6 at 34 per cent and active vitamin B12 at 17 per cent.
Further, “prevalence of vitamin D, B1, B9, and B12 (total and active) deficiencies was higher in HRG (high-risk group) than in LRG (low-risk group),” the authors wrote.
The findings highlight how one’s vitamin status can potentially be a modifiable determinant of dementia risk factor burden, they said.
The analysis also revealed that vitamin D deficiency continued to be associated with a high burden due to a dementia risk factor after accounting for other factors.
However, the authors clarified that the study is cross-sectional — observational, analysing population data at a single, specific point in time — and so, the findings are associative, they said.
Typically, intake of dairy products, nuts and seeds, and other vegetables were significantly lower in the high risk group, compared to the low risk group, the team noted, whereas consumption of bakery, meat, processed food, and poultry foods was significantly higher in the high risk group, relative to the low risk group.
Sixty eight per cent of the individuals in high risk group consumed more than seven food groups — indicating a higher dietary diversity — compared to 77 per cent in the low risk group.
The typical fat intake was found to be significantly lower in the high risk group than in the low risk group, with markedly low levels of PUFA and total unsaturated fat in the high risk group than in the low risk group.
Intake of vitamin A, riboflavin, folate, calcium, selenium, iron, zinc, and potassium, was found to be significantly lower in high risk group than in low risk group.
“However, sodium intake was found to be significantly higher in HRG than in LRG,” the authors said.
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