VITAMIN D MAY NOT LOWER SENIOR'S FALL RISK
Taking vitamin D supplements does little to
reduce seniors’ risk of falls, a new review finds.
Researchers analyzed 20 studies that
included nearly 30,000 people and tested how vitamin D supplements affected
fall risk.
The results showed that the
supplements did not reduce falls by 15 percent or more, which means they had
little effect, according to Mark Bolland of the University of Auckland in New
Zealand, and colleagues.
They concluded that there is
insufficient evidence to support recommending vitamin D to seniors to lower
their risk of falls, and also said that current ongoing studies investigating
this theory are unlikely to change the conclusion.
The study was published in the April
23 issue of The Lancet
Diabetes and Endocrinology journal.
The researchers noted that current
evidence does not show whether taking vitamin D supplements might reduce falls
in particularly vulnerable older people, such as those who fall often. This is
because most studies examine only the total number of falls among all
participants, rather than the number of falls per person.
Until now, some evidence that
vitamin D supplements might prevent falls has led certain health organizations
to recommend the use of the supplements, the review authors noted.
“Whether a large trial is feasible
in this vulnerable population remains to be established. Until then, we are
left with uncertainty about the benefits of vitamin D supplementation for
reduction in fall risk, particularly among vulnerable older people,” Clifford
Rosen, of the Maine Medical Research Institute, and Christine Taylor, of the
U.S. National Institutes of Health, wrote in an accompanying commentary.
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