Extra vitamin D reduces falls by elderly

Getting plenty of vitamin D can help prevent falls among people living in nursing homes, a new study confirms.

Among 124 nursing home residents, those who were taking 800 units of vitamin D daily were 72 percent less likely to fall over a five-month period than those on an inactive 'placebo' supplement, Kerry E. Broe and colleagues report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

On the other hand, the men and women on lower vitamin D doses had the same risk of falling as those on placebo. "It's not just vitamin D, but it's adequate D," Broe told Reuters Health.

Vitamin D deficiency is common among nursing home residents, and several studies have found supplementation with the vitamin -- which can strengthen muscle as well as promote bone strength by helping the body use calcium -- can reduce falling risk. However, other studies have found no link between taking vitamin D and the risk of falls or fractures.

Moreover, the appropriate level of supplementation, as well as the optimum blood level of vitamin D, remains a matter of debate.

To investigate, Broe, at the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston, and her team re-analyzed the results of a previous study in which nursing home residents were given several different doses of vitamin D or placebo to check the effect on their blood levels of the vitamin.

The rate of falling during the five-month long study was the same, statistically, among those on placebo and those on 200, 400 or 600 IU of vitamin D daily, ranging from 44 to 60 percent, the researchers found. However, among participants taking 800 IU a day, the incidence of falls was lower at 20 percent.

Many of the patients were also taking a multi-vitamin, Broe pointed out, so those in the highest intake group were actually getting 800 to 1,200 IU of vitamin D daily. Among those taking just 400 IU of vitamin D, the researchers found, half were deficient in the nutrient.

"There are many reasons why people fall," Broe noted. "Adequate vitamin D intake is one of many things that may prevent falling."

SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, February 2007