Elderly On High-Dose of Vitamin D Supplementation More Prone to Falls

Vitamin D is a common treatment for weak bones, especially in the elderly as it can help improve their bone and muscle strength.

Elderly people are prescribed with high-dose of vitamin D supplementation to improve lower-extremity function. But instead of improving that, it increases the risk for falls among these adults, revealed a new study.

A study published in the Journal JAMA Internal Medicine showed that higher doses of vitamin D does not benefit elderly when it comes to lower extremity functioning and muscle strength and only pose risks of fall.

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Vitamin D doses that are much higher than the currently recommended level may actually increase falls and fractures among the elderly.

They conducted the study on 200 men and women aged 70 or older who had suffered a previous fall. They were divided into three groups of varying levels of vitamin D dosages. The first group was given 24, 000 IU units, while second with 60,000 IU units and third with 24,000 IU units along with calcifediol. About 58% of the people in the study were deficient in vitamin D.

The team after examining them for a period of six months found that the fall rates were more in the second (67%) and third group (66%) compared to that of the first group (48%).

"Seniors on the higher-dose vitamin D experienced no improvement in lower extremity function, had the highest percentages of fallers and demonstrated the most falls. This detrimental effect was seen during the first six months of the trial and was maintained during the last six months," said lead author Dr Heike Bischoff-Ferrari of the University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland.

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Source-Medindia

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