Around the world, nearly 7% of older people live with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. This prevalence doubles every five years and, in people over 80, reaches 30%-40%. By 2025, the disease rate is projected to triple, according to Amara Ezeamama, an epidemiologist and associate professor in the Michigan State University Department of Psychiatry, a joint department of the colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and Human Medicine.

To help address this growing concern, MSU researchers have been awarded a $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. They will study the potential relationship between vitamin D deficiency, gut microbial imbalance and inflammation as contributors to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia, or ADRD.

The study also seeks to determine whether patients diagnosed with HIV and vitamin D deficiency are at even higher risk of age-related cognitive decline.