|
E-mail this page to a friend!
Vitamin D Should be Increased for Senior Citizens to
Prevent More Factures
 Aug.
9, 2005 - While vitamin D has been shown to reduce the risk of fracture
in the elderly, a study recently published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association (JAMA) says the daily recommendation for
vitamin D may should be increased substantially.
With an aging population, and with people living
longer, experts say bone fractures will become a bigger and more costly
problem unless more is done to prevent them.
Osteoporosis (reduced bone mineral density) is most
common in older adults, particularly women. It is a major risk factor
for bone fractures, which can cause significant suffering while carrying
high economic costs.
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin
D for older adults is between 400 and 600 International Units (IU) per
day.
In their review of the existing literature, a team
of scientists including senior author Bess Dawson-Hughes, MD, director
of the Bone Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition
and Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, found that this dose
was not effective in reducing nonvertebral fracture rates among study
participants.
The researchers concluded, though, that higher
daily doses, in the range of 700 to 800 IU, may reduce the risk of
fracture by approximately 25 percent.
| |
About Vitamin
D |
|
| |
Vitamin D is actually a hormone and not a nutrient. There are
very few dietary "natural" sources for this vitamin such as
fatty fish, fish oils, and liver. So, fortified foods become the
major dietary sources of vitamin D.
Prior to
the fortification of milk products in the 1930s, rickets (a bone
disease seen in children) was a major public health problem in
the United States. One cup of vitamin D fortified milk supplies
about one-fourth of the estimated daily need for this vitamin
for adults.
Although
milk is fortified with vitamin D, dairy products made from milk
such as cheese, yogurt, and ice cream are generally not
fortified with vitamin D so be sure to read the label.
As we
age, the ability of our skin to convert vitamin D to its active
form decreases, so older Americans (greater than age 50) are
thought to have a higher risk of developing vitamin D
deficiency. |
|
Dawson-Hughes and her colleagues analyzed the
results of seven experimental trials that all compared fracture rates
among senior citizens 60 years of age and older given vitamin D
supplements (with or without calcium supplements) to those among similar
subjects given only calcium or placebo. Each study lasted between one
and five years, and looked specifically at hip fractures or other
fractures that did not involve the spine. The researchers found that
only subjects receiving higher doses of vitamin D supplementation had
significantly fewer fractures than did subjects in the comparison
groups.
"In the future, we may need to reconsider the
current recommended daily values of vitamin D for older adults," says
Dawson-Hughes. She adds, "We also need to look more closely at the
possible role that calcium supplementation may have in mediating the
effects of vitamin D. Fractures in the elderly can lead to severe health
consequences, including death. One promising prevention strategy may be
dietary supplementation with both calcium and vitamin D."
Another meta-analysis on vitamin D published in
JAMA last year found that older adults can reduce their risk related to
falls by more than 20 percent by ensuring they get enough vitamin D.
Dawson-Hughes, an author on that paper, noted that "vitamin D may also
improve muscle strength, thereby reducing fracture risk through fall
prevention."
Source:
Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Willett WC, Wong JB,
Giovannucci E, Dietrich T, Dawson-Hughes B. Fracture prevention with
vitamin D supplementation: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled
trials. JAMA. 2005;293(18): 2257-2264.
Click to More Senior News on the
Front Page
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
