Aging Successfully

From AlaskaClinic

Vitamin D May Cut Elders' Falls

Fewer Falls Seen in Elderly Taking High Vitamin D Dose

By Miranda Hitti

WebMD Medical News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Feb. 23, 2007 -- Vitamin D, taken in a high dose, may help prevent falls in the elderly.

That finding comes from a study of 124 residents of a Boston nursing home.

The study shows that residents who took a daily dose of 800 international units (IU) of vitamin D for five months were less likely to fall than those who took either lower doses or no vitamin D.

"Ensuring that nursing home residents are receiving adequate daily supplemental vitamin D may reduce the number of falls in elderly nursing home residents and could potentially reduce the risk of fracture in this high-risk group," write the researchers.

They included Kerry Broe, MPH, of the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife in Massachusetts. Hebrew SeniorLife operates senior health care, housing, research, and education in the Boston area.

The study appears in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.