The Nutrient: Vitamin D and brain aging, Stroke risk under 55, Surviving a school shooting

Research

Vitamin D deficit is associated with accelerated brain aging in the general population

Vitamin D levels and a structural MRI were taken in 1,865 subjects from the general population in Germany. As expected, Vitamin D deficiency was significantly associated with increased brain age. An unexpected finding, however, was that Vitamin D levels were positively associated with total brain and gray matter volumes. This is important to know because it's such a simple fix–sun or supplement–and nobody wants a small, old brain.

Pair this with the research I shared in June: Study showed that men aged 40-79 years-old who were Vitamin D deficient (less than 20 µg/L) had a 2x increased risk of dying compared to those with normal levels (> 30 µg/L).

News

In Young Adults, Moderate To Heavy Drinking Linked to Higher Risk of Stroke

People who were moderate to heavy drinkers for two or more years of the study were about 20% more likely to have a stroke than people who were light drinkers or did not drink alcohol. Light drinkers were those who drank less than 105 grams per week, or less than 15 grams per day.

Alcohol is one of the reasons why the rate of strokes are increasing in people under the age of 55. This research is from Korea, but it's consistent with data from England where there was a 67% increase in stroke incidence among participants younger than 55 from 2002 to 2018.

Another study published this week found that an estimated 1 in 8 deaths among Americans aged 20 to 64 years were attributable to excessive alcohol. See Mark Twain's advice below.

Article

After Surviving a High School Shooting, He Was ‘An Empty Shell. No Emotion.’ Now What?

Most American high school students fear it. Keegan Gregory lived it. Last November, he found himself face-to-face with a school shooter. This is the story of what happened next.

This is an intense, and real, look at gun violence amongst teenagers in the US, and the longterm impact that stress causes.

Words of the week

"Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody."
- Mark Twain

Take care,
Dr. Rondo