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IMHO it's because many PWP choose to stay indoors for obvious reasons. Nic 56/14 On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 3:59 PM, <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > > Lack of sunshine linked to Parkinson's > A lack of the vitamin obtained by exposure to the sun has been linked to > Parkinson's disease, research has found. > Rebecca Smith > > Telegraph.co.uk - A study of elderly people with Parkinson's or > Alzheimer's > disease found they were more likely to have insufficient levels of vitamin > D > than healthy people of the same age. > > More than half of patients with Parkinson's had low levels of vitamin D, > along with 41 per cent of those with Alzheimer's disease. > > Only 36 per cent of health elderly people had low vitamin D. > > It is not clear if a lack of the vitamin contributes to the development or > progression of the neurological disease or whether it could be a symptom. > > In addition more Parkinson's patients were clinically deficient in vitamin > D, 23 per cent compared to 16 per cent of Alzheimer's patients and 10 per > cent > of patients with neither disorder. > > Parkinson's patients are now being given supplementary vitamin D in either > standard doses or large doses to investigate the effect on the progression > of > the disease. > > The study was carried out by Emory University School of Medicine in > Atlanta, > Georgia and is published in the Archives of Neurology. > > The body makes vitamin D from exposure to sunlight, small amounts are > present in certain foods such as fish and cereals and milk can be > fortified with it. > > Study author Marian Evatt said: "We found that vitamin D insufficiency may > have a unique association with Parkinson's which is intriguing and > warrants > further investigation." > > The most common symptoms of Parkinson's are tremour, stiffness and > slowness > of movement as nerve cells in the brain become affected by the disease. > > Dr Evatt said the part of the brain affected by Parkinson's has a high > number of vitamin D receptors which may suggest a mechanism for the > connection. > > In the UK there are around 120,000 people with Parkinson's and around > 10,000 > are diagnosed each year. > > > > > > **************New MapQuest Local shows what's happening at your > destination. > Dining, Movies, Events, News & more. Try it out > (http://local.mapquest.com/?ncid=emlcntnew00000002) > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto: > [log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn