Major harm of vitamin D deficiency in middle age discovered.

Dublin: Vitamin D is a nutrient that is extremely important for our health and immune system. Vitamin D strengthens bones, improves mental health, and makes it easier to get good sleep. But millions of people around the world suffer from vitamin D deficiency. It has now been discovered that a lack of vitamin D in the body in middle age increases the risk of developing dementia, a brain-degeneration disorder, in the future. Research from the University of Galway in Ireland has shown that vitamin D deficiency can increase levels of a protein called tau in the brain, and this protein is linked to dementia. The study found that high levels of vitamin D in the body in middle age reduce levels of tau protein in the brain in later life.