Studies indicate vitamin D can reduce risk of falling

With the risk of bone fractures due to falls increasing as a person ages, it may be important for senior citizens to ask their physicians about beginning a vitamin regimen.

According to information found at America's Seniors, www.TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com, approximately one-third of women older than 65 years fall each year, and six percent of these falls are a cause of fractures. Vitamin D2 supplements may help prevent high-risk older women from falling.

"Vitamin D supplements appear to reduce the risk of falls among women with a history of falling and low blood vitamin D levels living in sunny climates, especially during winter," according to a report in the Jan. 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Falls are among the highest causes of injury-related death in elderly people. They also lead to 40 percent of all nursing home admissions, according to Health and Age, www.healthandage.com. The Web site stresses the importance of avoiding osteoporosis. This avoidance can help reduce the risk of a fractured bone after a fall. In the past, it was believed that vitamin D in addition to adequate calcium intake would help prevent osteoporosis. However, more recently, doctors and researchers have discovered that vitamin D may also directly improve muscle strength, helping to prevent falls altogether.

Experts have conducted many clinical studies concerning the effects of vitamin D as it relates to falls. The findings support vitamin D's ability to not only strengthen bones, but also preventing the falls that cause the bones to break, according to the Health and Age Web site.

"Vitamin D supplements reduced the risk of falls in older people by more than 20 percent. This shows that the benefits of vitamin D in osteoporosis patients are not confined to helping improve bone mineral density; they help prevent the falls that, in osteoporotic people, lead to fractures.

The explanation for this effect of vitamin D is that a breakdown product of the vitamin, 1,25-hydroxyvitamin D, combines with a specific part of the nucleus of muscle cells and improves that cell's ability to contract," the Web site said.

It is expected that there will be further studies on the different types of vitamin D supplements. These studies will also investigate proper vitamin D dosage as well as whether the addition of calcium is important. However, elderly people should not wait until these are completed to begin getting enough vitamin D. Vitamin D can be obtained in food, with appropriate exposure to sunlight, or as a supplement. The Web site also warns older Americans to make sure their homes are arranged in a way that discourages falls.

In addition to vitamin D and vitamin D2, Science Daily, www.sciencedaily.com, encourages the use of vitamin K to prevent bone fractures during a fall.

"Research has shown poor vitamin K intake may be associated with conditions such as bone fractures, bone loss, hardening of the arteries and osteoarthritis," Sarah Booth, Lab director of the Vitamin K Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University said.