Vitamin D Supplementation Reduces Respiratory Infection in Older Adults

Highlights

Older adults who live in long-term care facilities are at high risk for respiratory infections because their immune response tends to be weaker.
Monthly high dose of //vitamin D reduced the number of respiratory infections in older adults.

Acute respiratory infections such as the common cold, influenza, or pneumonia can lead to potentially life-threatening complications in people over the age of 65.

Older adults who live in long-term care facilities are at especially high risk for these respiratory infections because their immune response tends to be weaker than those living in other settings. Strengthening older adults' immunity could be one way to reduce their chances of contracting respiratory infections.

Sunlight: An Important Source of Vitamin D
Vitamin D is an essential vitamin necessary for the development of bones. Sunlight helps the body to produce vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency results in rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.

‘Monthly high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation reduced the incidence of acute respiratory infection in older adults but was associated with a higher rate of falls without an increase in fractures.’

Tweet it Now

Researchers decided to find out whether high monthly doses of vitamin D could lessen the number of respiratory infections experienced by older adults living in long-term care facilities because vitamin D plays an important role in immunity.

Participants in the study included 107 adults, aged 60 and older, who lived in long-term care facilities in Colorado. Half the group members (also known as the "high-dose group") who were already taking zero to 1,000 International Units (or IUs, a measurement for vitamins) per day of vitamin D and got an additional dose of 100,000 IU of vitamin D once a month.

The other half of the group (also known as the low-dose group) received a placebo (a pill that has no effect and includes no active medication) once a month depending on how much vitamin D they took daily or monthly.

Calcium and Vitamin Supplements
Calcium and vitamin supplements are taken to provide the body with the ''required'' nutrients. Calcium is a mineral found in many foods. Vitamins are very important nutrients for the body.

Researchers counted the number of acute respiratory infections needing medical attention (common colds, sinusitis, middle ear infections, acute bronchitis, influenza, and pneumonia) that participants experienced during the study's 12-month follow-up period. The researchers also counted falls, fractures, kidney stones, hospitalizations, and deaths during the study period.

The researchers reported that people in the high-dose vitamin D group had 40 percent fewer respiratory infections during the 12-month follow-up period compared to people in the low-dose group. However, the people in the high-dose group had more than twice the number of falls compared to people in the low-dose group.

Medical Management of Vitamin Deficiencies
Vitamins are essential for our body to grow and develop normally. Vitamin deficiencies are widespread. Understand the role of dietary sources in vitamin deficiency prevention.

The researchers concluded that a monthly high dose of vitamin D reduced the number of respiratory infections in older adults but increased the number of falls they experienced.There was no link to increases in bone fractures in the study group.

More study is needed to see whether daily (rather than monthly) dosing with high levels of vitamin D could help protect older adults from respiratory infections and minimize the risk of falls, said the researchers.

Vitamin D Deficiency - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Vitamin D the sunshine vitamin is essential for strong bones. Vitamin D deficiency is reportedly increasing worldwide and cause bone pain and muscle weakness.

Reference

Adit A. Ginde et al., High-Dose Monthly Vitamin D for Prevention of Acute Respiratory Infection in Older Long-Term Care Residents: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Journal of the American Geriatric Society (2016) 10.1111/jgs.14679.

Source-Medindia