The importance of vitamin D for a healthy body is well known, but health experts have been in the news raising a hue and cry about a vitamin D deficiency crisis in this country .

Apparently we’re just not getting enough vitamin D in our bodies, and many people are wondering if the warnings of staying out of the sun and tanning booths are starting to swing this health pendulum too far the other way.

One of the most vital roles of vitamin D is to boost the absorption of calcium into the bones. Vitamin D also helps to keep teeth and gums healthy, especially in older adults.

The latest vitamin D study comes to us through the combined efforts of the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Michigan. They have shown that vitamin D may also help maintain cognitive skills. While not comprehensive, the study was based on information collected from almost 2,000 adults aged 65 and over who participated in a large health survey in England. The data shows that as vitamin D levels decreased, cognitive impairment increased.

Of the cognitive impairment diseases, Alzheimer’s is the most common form. It is an incurable, degenerative and terminal disease that was first discovered by German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer in 1906. It is usually found in people 65 and older, although it can sometimes occur earlier.

According to the study, a contributing factor to injuries in Alzheimer’s patients could be a lack of vitamin D. Vitamin D is important for the strength and development of bones, but since many Alzheimer’s patients are homebound or lacking mobility, they are frequently lacking sunlight.

People with Alzheimer’s also have an increased risk of hip and other bone fractures as a result. As Alzheimer’s disease is more prevalent in older populations, the ability of skin to convert vitamin D to its active form decreases with age, contributing to increased risk. One study of women with Alzheimer’s done by the Medical College of Wisconsin found that decreased bone mineral density was associated with a low intake of vitamin D and inadequate sunlight exposure.

There was also evidence linking a lack of vitamin D to Parkinson’s Disease, another disease associated with the aged, but there is still much study and testing to do to determine whether low vitamin D levels are linked to cognitive impairments such as Alzheimer’s.

Older adults should boost their vitamin D intake to help reduce chronic pain and strengthen their teeth and bones; younger adults should also boost their vitamin D intake to help reduce the risk of weakened bones, bone fractures, cognitive impairment, and even some forms of cancer.

Experts recommend that we get about 15 minutes of sun per day, or barring that, spending time in an indoor tanning bed.

All of this raises the question of whether tanning beds can offer the same health benefits as sunshine. The best source of Vitamin D is the sun, however tanning beds provide a good source of Vitamin D. Tanning beds are installed with bulbs that emit mostly UVA (long-wave) rays, said to be less harmful than UVB (short-wave) rays. Thus, a tanning bed gives customers the same emission as the sun, but at a more controlled level and shorter time.

Tanning beds, while not as powerful nor more popular than sunlight, still provides beneficial results in a safer environment, especially when the weather is too cold to be out in the sun.

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