Obama accepting corporate cash for inaugural

After the most expensive campaign in U.S. history, President Obama is dropping his principled objection to some forms of political fundraising to help pay for the post-election party.

ABC News has learned that the Presidential Inaugural Committee will accept unlimited corporate donations to help fund Obama's inauguration festivities next month, reversing a voluntary ban on the money he imposed on the inaugural four years ago and during the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

Obama will also allow individuals to contribute up to the legal maximum for the 2013 inauguration - $250,000 - lifting a $50,000 cap he voluntarily imposed in 2008, sources said.

The shift appeared to be driven by fundraising challenges in the wake of a multi-billion dollar campaign. Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney each raised north of $1 billion for the election cycle - historic highs - according to Federal Election Commission filings released Thursday.

Obama's 2009 inaugural celebration cost $47 million.

Officials said cost considerations for the 2013 festivities would mean less elaborate events than four years ago. There will not be a star-studded concert on the National Mall, for example, and there will be fewer inaugural balls.

A spokeswoman for the committee said Obama will still not accept donations from lobbyists or PACs, or allow any individuals or corporations to formally sponsor specific inaugural events, such as the parade.

"Our goal is to make sure that we will meet the fundraising requirements for this civic event after the most expensive presidential campaign in history," said Addie Whisenant. "To ensure continued transparency, all names of donors will be posted to a regularly updated website."

Whisenant told ABC News that the Inaugural Committee will "fully vet" all individual and corporate donors and that "contributions from those not meeting the vetting standard will not be accepted." Among those barred by law are foreign nationals and corporations; the committee says it will also reject funds from companies that have outstanding TARP payments.

Obama's reversal is not the first time he has dropped self-imposed campaign financing rules meant to "change business as usual in Washington." Earlier this year, Obama dropped his long-standing opposition to super PACs, giving his approval for top aides to support Priorities USA Action. During the 2008 campaign, he broke a standing promise to accept public financing for the general election.

The Inaugural weekend will kick off on Saturday, Jan. 19, with a National Day of Service that will include participation from the First Family, Vice President Biden, and members of the Cabinet - a tradition started by the Obamas in 2009.

On Jan. 20, as is constitutionally required, Obama will be sworn in during a private ceremony. A public-swearing in, parade and inaugural balls will take place on Monday, Jan. 21.

Leading the fundraising effort for inauguration are four of Obama's most loyal surrogates and financiers: Former ambassador Matt Barzun, the Obama campaign's national finance chair and a top bundler; actress Eva Longoria, an Obama campaign co-chair and bundler; Jane Stetson, finance chairwoman of the DNC; and businessman Frank White.

News of Obama's shift on inaugural financing was first reported by Politico's Donovan Slack.

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Boehner: Obama insisting on 'my way or the highway'

House Speaker John Boehner today said no progress has been made in negotiations with President Obama, demonstrating the persistence of a bullheaded standoff between the two party leaders just 24 days before the fiscal cliff deadline.

"This isn't a progress report because there's no progress to report," Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters at a news conference from the Capitol this morning. "When it comes to the fiscal cliff that's threatening our economy and threatening jobs, the White House has wasted another week."

The primary sticking point continues to be a disagreement over how to address tax cuts set to expire for taxpayers making above $250,000. The president insists rates on the wealthy must increase as part of an agreement, and so far Boehner has been adamant that any new revenue included in a deal must be created by closing tax loopholes and capping deductions.

"Raising taxes on small businesses is not going to help our economy and it's not going to help those seeking work," the speaker said. "I came out the day after the election to put revenues on the table to take a step towards the president to try to resolve this. When is he going to take a step towards us?"

Get more pure politics at ABCNews.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com

Boehner said his phone call with Obama on Wednesday was not productive, and negotiations between White House officials and the speaker's top aides this week have not brought either side closer to an agreement.

"The phone call was pleasant but was just more of the same," Boehner said. "It's time for the president, if he's serious, to come back to us with a counteroffer."

Asked whether he could find a middle ground on increasing the top tax rates while simultaneously protecting small business, the speaker seemed to suggest a hint of flexibility on what has been a red line issue for Republicans up to this point.

"There are a lot of things that are possible to put the revenues that the president seeks on the table, but none of it's going to be possible [if] the president insists on his position, insists on 'my way or the highway,'" he said. "That's not the way to get to an agreement that I think is important for the American people and very important for our economy."

View ABC News' comprehensive coverage of the fiscal cliff talks.

Reports indicate that negotiations have narrowed to include only the speaker's top policy aides and senior White House officials - cutting the Senate and House Democrats out of the talks for now.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi declined to disclose when she last spoke with Obama, but she did have a photo taken with him at a White House holiday reception on Monday. Today, she expressed solidarity with her president.

"I don't necessarily talk about when and how many times I speak to the president, but I'm very satisfied with the communication that I have with the president," she said. "The president knows our views. He shares our values. We feel confident in any negotiation that he takes the lead in."

Boehner once again condemned the president's only formal offer on Nov. 29, which called for $1.6 trillion in new revenue over the next decade, presidential power over the debt limit, and about $400 billion in new stimulus spending, predicting it would be a recipe for "trillion dollar deficits for as far as the eye can see."

"The president has adopted a deliberate strategy to slow-walk our economy right to the edge of the fiscal cliff," Boehner said. "If the president doesn't agree with our proposal, I believe that he's got an obligation to families and small businesses to offer a plan of his own - a plan that can pass both chambers of the Congress. We're ready and eager to talk to the president about such a plan."

Boehner also derided the president's request for what the speaker describes as "an infinite increase in the debt limit, like forever."

As Obama and Boehner consider the options to devising a bipartisan package, congressional insiders say the pressure is on both leaders to find the right touch that will win over adequate support to pass in the House and Senate.

"The bigger issue is Boehner is on the hook to negotiate on good faith on a deal that we [House Democrats], the White House and Senate Democrats would ok that includes [increases to tax] rates," one senior House Democratic leadership aide said. "Hate to be in his position."

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US works with Russia on Syria, but wants Assad out

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that the United States and Russia are committed to trying again to get President Bashar Assad‘s regime and the rebel opposition to talk about a political transition in Syria, setting aside a year and a half of U.S.-Russian disagreements that have paralyzed the international community.

Clinton stressed, however, that the U.S. would insist once again that Assad‘s departure be a key part of that transition, a position not shared by the Russians.

In her first comments on the surprise three-way diplomatic talks held Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and U.N. peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, Clinton said Washington and Moscow agreed to support a new mediation effort Brahimi would lead. She called Thursday’s discussions “constructive,” while adding that much work remained and suggesting that neither side shifted its fundamental position.

“We reviewed the very dangerous developments inside Syria,” Clinton said in Northern Ireland. “And both Minister Lavrov and I committed to supporting a new push by Brahimi and his team to work with all the stakeholders in Syria to begin a political transition.”

“It was an important meeting, but just the beginning,” she added. “I don’t think anyone believes there was some great breakthrough. No one should have any illusions about how hard this remains, but all of us with any influence on the process, with any influence on the regime or the opposition, need to be engaged.”

Neither Assad nor any opposition group has agreed to a cease-fire and talks. Both sides believe they can resolve the conflict militarily. Even if the U.S. and Russia reach a broader agreement on a path forward, bringing most of the world with them, it is unclear if that will have any effect on the fighting in Syria.

The 40-minute meeting with Lavrov and Brahimi immediately seemed to ease some of the tensions between the U.S. and Russia over how best to address Syria’s bloody, 21-month civil war. Through much of the conflict, the former Cold War foes have argued bitterly. The U.S. has criticized Russia for shielding its closest Arab ally. Moscow has accused Washington of meddling by demanding Assad’s downfall.

Clinton said nothing that suggested either government had changed its position, and Lavrov made no public comments after the meeting. But with rebels fighting government forces on the outskirts of Syria’s capital and Western governments warning about possible chemical weapons deployment by the Assad regime, Clinton emphasized the importance of taking another shot at a peaceful transition deal.

Diplomatic efforts are needed to gauge “what is possible in face of the advancing developments on the ground which are increasingly dangerous not only to Syrians, but to their neighbors,” Clinton said, in an apparent reference to Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal, which has become the focus of Western nervousness about the civil war.

Brahimi said after the talks that he would put together a peace process based on a political transition strategy the U.S. and Russia agreed on in Geneva in June. At that time, the process quickly became bogged down over how the international community might enforce its conditions.

But instead of addressing the plan’s shortcomings, Clinton stressed its continued value, saying it would commit any future Syrian authority to democratic principles and international human rights standards.

Clinton also said the strategy would have to mean the end of the four-decade Assad regime — a contentious point with Moscow, which has insisted that Syria’s leadership is not for the United States or any other outside party to decide on.

“The United States stands with the Syrian people in insisting that any transition process result in a unified, democratic Syria in which all citizens are represented — Sunni, Alawi, Christians, Kurds, Druze, men, women. Every Syrian must be included,” Clinton told reporters. “And a future of this kind cannot possibly include Assad.”

The plan Brahimi is hoping to resuscitate was crafted earlier this year by his predecessor as the Syria peace envoy, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Annan’s plan never got off the ground, and he resigned his post in frustration.

It starts with several demands on the Assad regime to de-escalate tensions and end the violence that activists say has killed more than 40,000 people since March 2011. It then requires Syria’s opposition and the regime to put forward candidates for a transitional government, with each side having the right to veto nominees proposed by the other.

If anything resembling Annan’s plan takes hold, it would surely mean the end of Assad’s presidency. The opposition has demanded his departure and has rejected any talk of him staying in power. Yet it also would grant regime representatives the opportunity to block Sunni extremists and others in the opposition that they reject.

The United States blamed the collapse of the process last summer on Russia for vetoing a third resolution at the U.N. Security Council that would have applied world sanctions against Assad’s government for failing to live by its provisions.

Russia insisted that the Americans couldn’t demand Assad’s departure. It also worried about opening the door to military action, even as Washington offered to include language in any U.N. resolution that would have expressly forbidden outside armed intervention.

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Jackson’s Hobbit: the journey begins

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Film maker Peter Jackson wants to scare children with his latest movie – and perhaps even a few grown ups.

The first of the Hobbit movie trilogy – “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” – is about to hit theatres, and Jackson says he’s tried to hold true to its roots as a children’s fantasy story, with scary bits.

“If they’re scared of the trolls great, if they’re scared of the goblins great, they know there are no goblins, they know there are no trolls, it’s a safe kind of danger,” he says.

The film, produced by MGM and Time Warner Inc, is the fourth in the Oscar-winning Jackson’s blockbuster “Lord of the Rings” film franchise, based on the books of author J.R.R. Tolkien.

It follows the journey of hobbit Bilbo Baggins, reluctantly pushed into travelling with 13 dwarves to steal treasure from a dragon and regain their homeland. During his travels, he comes by the ring that he later passes onto kinsman Frodo Baggins, which was at the core of the “Rings” trilogy.

Jackson says he’s worked to keep distance between the Hobbit, published in 1937, and the much darker Lord of the Rings, which came out nearly 20 years later.

“The Lord of the Rings has an apocalyptic sort of heavy themic end-of-the world quality to it, which the Hobbit doesn’t, which is one of the delights of it,” he said.

POMPOUS AND SMALL MINDED

The pointy eared, hairy footed hobbit Bilbo is played by British actor Martin Freeman, who says he’s tried to make Bilbo his own creation, a character audiences can root for despite his initial pomposity and small mindedness.

“You have to be able to follow him for the duration of the film, but I wanted him to be open and changeable and ready to be surprised,” Freeman said.

A key scene is an encounter in a cave between Bilbo and the creature Gollum, reprised in full computer generated splendor by Andy Serkis with the distinctive throaty whisper.

“It was a very rich experience,” he said, adding that playing Gollum again was “an absolute thrill”.

Such is the affection for the creature, who calls the magic ring “Precious”, that a 13 meter (42 feet) sculpture of Gollum hangs in the airport terminal at Wellington, which regards itself as the spiritual home of the Tolkien films and terms itself the “Middle of Middle Earth”.

Returning actors from the Rings trilogy, many of whom have only passing mention in the book, were no less enthusiastic. Ian McKellen returns for a leading role as the wispy-haired, grey bearded wizard, Gandalf, while Cate Blanchett is the elven queen Galadriel and Elijah Wood appears as Frodo Baggins.

“You couldn’t not come back, you had to come back,” says Hugo Weaving, the leader of the elves, Elrond.

HOBBIT – A FRAUGHT JOURNEY

The Hobbit film journey has not been without its setbacks.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, owners of the film rights to the Tolkien books, had financial woes, prompting original director Guillermo del Toro to pull out and Jackson, already script writer and executive producer, to step in.

A major labor dispute prompted threats to move production out of New Zealand, and was solved by changing labor laws, while Jackson suffered a perforated ulcer and underwent surgery, delaying the film still further.

Though only two films were planned originally, Jackson has tapped Tolkien’s appendices to the Rings to make it into three.

Audiences are also getting more visual bangs for their buck, with the movies filmed in 3D and at 48 frames per second (fps), double the industry standard.

This delivers clearer pictures, but opinion is divided, with some critics calling it cartoon-like and jarring.

Jackson says he wants to drag the iPad generation back into theatres and the romance, excitement and mystery they offer.

“It’s more realistic, it’s more immersive. I almost feel a responsibility as a film maker to try to do my part at encouraging people to come to the movies, to watch the film in a cinema,” he said.

The second film “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” will be released in December next year, with the third “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” is due in mid-July 2014.

(Reporting by Gyles Beckford, editing by Elaine Lies)

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Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle‘s Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.

Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year’s Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they cheered and sparked up in unison.

A few dozen people gathered on a sidewalk outside the north Seattle headquarters of the annual Hempfest celebration and did the same, offering joints to reporters and blowing smoke into television news cameras.

“I feel like a kid in a candy store!” shouted Hempfest volunteer Darby Hageman. “It’s all becoming real now!”

Washington and Colorado became the first states to vote to decriminalize and regulate the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by adults over 21. Both measures call for setting up state licensing schemes for pot growers, processors and retail stores. Colorado’s law is set to take effect by Jan. 5.

Technically, Washington’s new marijuana law still forbids smoking pot in public, which remains punishable by a fine, like drinking in public. But pot fans wanted a party, and Seattle police weren’t about to write them any tickets.

In another sweeping change for Washington, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday signed into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage. The state joins several others that allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.

The mood was festive in Seattle as dozens of gay and lesbian couples got in line to pick up marriage licenses at the King County auditor’s office early Thursday.

King County and Thurston County announced they would open their auditors’ offices shortly after midnight Wednesday to accommodate those who wanted to be among the first to get their licenses.

Kelly Middleton and her partner Amanda Dollente got in line at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Hours later, as the line grew, volunteers distributed roses and a group of men and women serenaded the waiting line to the tune of “Chapel of Love.”

Because the state has a three-day waiting period, the earliest that weddings can take place is Sunday.

In dealing with marijuana, the Seattle Police Department told its 1,300 officers on Wednesday, just before legalization took hold, that until further notice they shall not issue citations for public marijuana use.

Officers will be advising people not to smoke in public, police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee wrote on the SPD Blotter. “The police department believes that, under state law, you may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a ‘Lord of the Rings’ marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want to.”

He offered a catchy new directive referring to the film “The Big Lebowski,” popular with many marijuana fans: “The Dude abides, and says ‘take it inside!’”

“This is a big day because all our lives we’ve been living under the iron curtain of prohibition,” said Hempfest director Vivian McPeak. “The whole world sees that prohibition just took a body blow.”

Washington’s new law decriminalizes possession of up to an ounce for those over 21, but for now selling marijuana remains illegal. I-502 gives the state a year to come up with a system of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores, with the marijuana taxed 25 percent at each stage. Analysts have estimated that a legal pot market could bring Washington hundreds of millions of dollars a year in new tax revenue for schools, health care and basic government functions.

But marijuana remains illegal under federal law. That means federal agents can still arrest people for it, and it’s banned from federal properties, including military bases and national parks.

The Justice Department has not said whether it will sue to try to block the regulatory schemes in Washington and Colorado from taking effect.

“The department’s responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged,” said a statement issued Wednesday by the Seattle U.S. attorney’s office. “Neither states nor the executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress.”

The legal question is whether the establishment of a regulated marijuana market would “frustrate the purpose” of the federal pot prohibition, and many constitutional law scholars say it very likely would.

That leaves the political question of whether the administration wants to try to block the regulatory system, even though it would remain legal to possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

Alison Holcomb is the drug policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and served as the campaign manager for New Approach Washington, which led the legalization drive. She said the voters clearly showed they’re done with marijuana prohibition.

“New Approach Washington sponsors and the ACLU look forward to working with state and federal officials and to ensure the law is fully and fairly implemented,” she said.

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

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Crowdfunding websites clamor for clearer regulation

LONDON (Reuters) – A new breed of internet-based financiers are calling for action to end regulatory uncertainty they say is preventing them from getting money to the small and medium-sized businesses that need it.

The so-called crowdfunding sector raises cash from members of the public to fund lending and investment. Regulators, however, have proved resistant to pleas for adjustments to rules that are tailored to more traditional markets.

“Operators of these platforms find it difficult to launch and flourish because existing EU and UK regulation does not fit the new models,” operators within the sector said in an open letter to EU and UK policymakers on Friday.

The plea coincides with a summit to discuss proposals for regulating a market that has developed in reaction to reduced bank lending to small and medium-sized enterprises because of tougher capital rules and greater regulatory scrutiny.

A host of alternative financing models have cropped up online, many allowing individuals to lend to, or invest in, companies with sums from as little as 10 pounds ($ 16). Massolution, a research and advisory firm specializing in the sector, says that 1.2 billion euros ($ 1.6 billion) was raised globally from crowdfunding last year.

Though some crowdfunding websites have tried to fit their operations within the existing regulatory framework, most remain largely outside it.

Part of the problem in drawing up appropriate regulation is the wide range of activities involved. Some offer debt, some equity, while others seek donations for charity or funding for creative projects in return for some non-financial reward.

With little or no expected returns from the latter, the main regulatory focus would be on equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending.

As well as making sure that individuals are aware of the inherent risk involved with putting money in start-ups, the industry wants to avoid the risk of scams by ensuring that platforms vet businesses adequately.

LOST IN THE CROWD

Britain’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) warned in August that inexperienced investors should be aware of the risks in crowdfunding websites. A few days later United States securities regulators put crowdfunding at the top of their annual investment scams list.

Views differ about how to tackle these risks without stifling an increasingly important source of funding, and the matter is complicated by the varying rules already in place in different countries across Europe.

Measures taken by Seedrs, the only crowdfunding website to have received FSA approval, include requiring investors to pass a test to show that they understand the risks.

“It is hard to come up with a whole securities regulation; sometimes it does have to be a bit incremental and adaptive,” Seedrs founder Jeff Lynn said. “There is no question at all this is going to be a space that will continue to move.”

Some would like the operation of such platforms to be a distinct regulated activity, but others argue for smaller steps, such as a cap on the sums that people can invest or lend.

The British government, keen to improve the flow of finance to small businesses to boost the sluggish economy, has set up a working group to look at all aspects of policy on such sites.

The FSA said that it considers authorization of crowdfunding schemes case by case. The European Commission, meanwhile, is considered as so far having had a largely observational role.

Though the introduction of a separate regulated activity could still be some way off, the co-founder of peer-to-peer site Zopa, Simon Deane-Johns, believes that increased engagement with governments and regulators shows that things are moving in the right direction.

“Over the next year or two it should become progressively easier to set up a platform,” he said, “possibly through a combination of the FSA understanding more readily where things fit within the current regime and balancing that with some self-regulation.”

(Editing by Alexander Smith and David Goodman)

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Toronto mayor to stay in power pending appeal of ouster

TORONTO (Reuters) – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford can stay in power pending an appeal of a conflict of interest ruling that ordered him out of his job as leader of Canada’s biggest city, a court ruled on Wednesday.

Madam Justice Gladys Pardu of the Ontario Divisional Court suspended a previous court ruling that said Ford should be ousted. Ford’s appeal of that ruling is set to be heard on January 7, but a decision on the appeal could take months.

Justice Pardu stressed that if she had not suspended the ruling, Ford would have been out of office by next week. “Significant uncertainty would result and needless expenses may be incurred if a by-election is called,” she said.

If Ford wins his appeal, he will get to keep his job until his term ends at the end of 2014. If he loses, the city council will either appoint a successor or call a special election, in which Ford is likely to run again.

“I can’t wait for the appeal, and I’m going to carry on doing what the people elected me to do,” Ford told reporters at City Hall following the decision.

Ford, a larger-than-life character who took power on a promise to “stop the gravy train” at City Hall, has argued that he did nothing wrong when he voted to overturn an order that he repay money that lobbyists had given to a charity he runs.

Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland disagreed, ruling last week that Ford acted with “willful blindness” in the case, and must leave office by December 10.

Ford was elected mayor in a landslide in 2010, but slashing costs without cutting services proved harder than he expected, and his popularity has fallen steeply.

He grabbed unwelcome headlines for reading while driving on a city expressway, for calling the police when a comedian tried to film part of a popular TV show outside his home, and after reports that city resources were used to help administer the high-school football team he coaches.

The conflict-of-interest drama began in 2010 when Ford, then a city councillor, used government letterhead to solicit donations for the football charity created in his name for underprivileged children.

Toronto’s integrity commissioner ordered Ford to repay the C$ 3,150 ($ 3,173) the charity received from lobbyists and companies that do business with the city.

Ford refused to repay the money, and in February 2012 he took part in a city council debate on the matter and then voted to remove the sanctions against him – despite being warned by the council speaker that voting would break the rules.

He pleaded not guilty in September, stating that he believed there was no conflict of interest as there was no financial benefit for the city. The judge dismissed that argument.

In a rare apology after last week’s court ruling, he said the matter began “because I love to help kids play football”.

Ford faces separate charges in a C$ 6 million libel case about remarks he made about corruption at City Hall, and is being audited for his campaign finances. The penalty in the audit case could also include removal from office.

(Reporting by Claire Sibonney; Editing by Janet Guttsman, Russ Blinch, Nick Zieminski; and Peter Galloway)

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Apple and Samsung return to court to battle over $1 billion verdict

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mtvU honors Frank Ocean, wounded Pakistani teen

NEW YORK (AP) — The mtvU network is honoring a rap superstar who detailed his love for another man and a Pakistani girl shot for her education advocacy as its Man and Woman of the Year.

Frank Ocean, who earned six Grammy nominations Wednesday, published a letter online about his first love, a man, just as his “channel ORANGE” disc was being released. MtvU on Thursday called it “an incredibly brave move for an artist on the verge of superstardom.”

Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai (mah-LAH’-lah YOO’-suf-ZAY’) blogged about her support of education for girls in Pakistan. For that, Taliban militants stormed her school bus and shot her in the head and neck, but she survived.

The mtvU network is geared toward college students and is seen on more than 750 campuses.

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Vitamin D, calcium disappoint in dementia study

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Vitamin D and calcium supplements taken together in low doses offered no protection against dementia in a large U.S. study of older women, but scientists are still holding out hope for vitamin D alone.

Past research has suggested that vitamin D might protect against memory loss and overall functional decline in the aging brain. But more than 2,000 women in the new study who took 400 international units of vitamin D and 1,000 mg of calcium daily for an average of eight years developed cognitive impairments at the same rates as a comparison group on placebo pills.

During the many years that study was ongoing, however, experts gained a better understanding of how calcium and vitamin D might have conflicting effects, so the combination of the two might explain the disappointing results, the study’s authors say.

“I think the definitive study will just look at the effects of vitamin D,” said lead author Dr. Rebecca Rossom, from HealthPartners Institute for Education and Research, a nonprofit arm of a health maintenance organization (HMO) based in Minneapolis.

But this study is important because it “gets closer to how women take vitamin D now,” as a way build bone density, Rossom added.

Her team’s report, which is published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, is also the first to use the rigorous approach known as a randomized, double-blind trial with a placebo group to look at the possible effects of vitamin D and calcium on cognitive decline.

Rossom and her colleagues analyzed data on 4,100 women who were simultaneously enrolled in two trials, including the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Calcium and Vitamin D trial that ended in 2005, and a WHI memory study.

All of the women, who averaged 71 years old at the outset of the studies, were also free of cognitive problems to start.

Half of the women were assigned to take the supplements and the rest were given identical looking dummy pills.

Ultimately, about 100 women, or five percent, in each group developed mild cognitive impairment – a term that can include everything from memory trouble to the serious dementia found in Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers note that since the study ended, guidelines on vitamin and mineral intakes have changed. Currently the U.S. Institute of Medicine suggests getting 600 IUs per day of vitamin D for men and women up to age 70, and 800 IUs for older people. Suggested calcium amounts range from 700 mg to 1,300 mg per day, based on age, with an upper limit of 3000 mg. In both cases, intake recommendations cover both food and supplement sources.

So, the authors point out, their findings are specific only to the assigned amounts of vitamin D and calcium taken by women in the study – which are relatively low by today’s standards.

More than 16 million Americans suffer from some form of cognitive impairment, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the problem is expected to grow as more baby boomers age. Vitamin D might still be viewed as potentially offering a measure of protection against a condition with no formal treatment, if its effects can be decisively demonstrated.

“The sum of information shows conflicting evidence,” said Katherine Tucker of Northeastern University, who was not involved in the current study.

“Some recent studies suggest that too much calcium could have negative effects. The preponderance of evidence shows that vitamin D is protective, but some studies have shown no effect,” she told Reuters Health.

But, Tucker said, “This study by no means closes the door on the need for more research to clarify vitamin D’s effects.”

Rossom’s team acknowledges their study’s limitations. In addition to the doses of supplements in the trial, the results are strictly limited to women, who were mostly white. Also, older age is a significant risk factor for dementia and the study participants, by comparison, were relatively young.

“The next step is to test a higher dose of vitamin D,” said study coauthor JoAnn Manson of Harvard Medical School. “Higher doses will bring a study population to an achieved blood level that has been associated with reduced risk of cognitive decline in (past) studies.”

Manson is currently leading a large clinical trial designed primarily to look at the effects of vitamin D and omega-3′s on cancer risk, but the study will also monitor cognitive function. Results are expected in 2017.

A French study slated to finish next year is examining the cognitive effects of vitamin D versus a placebo in patients who already have Alzheimer’s disease.

“The bottom line is that we still just don’t know,” Tucker told Reuters Health. “We’re in the process of gathering more scientific evidence and will need to continue to do so until more studies point in a certain direction.”

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/VCIs9H Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, online November 23, 2012.

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