High-dose of Vitamin D supplementation ups elderly fall risk: Study

Washington: High-dose vitamin D supplementation does not improve lower-extremity function and increases the risk for falls among elderly adults aged 70 or up, as per a new study.

Lower extremity function that is impaired is a major risk factor for falls, injuries and loss of autonomy. Vitamin D supplementation has been proposed as a possible preventive strategy to delay functional decline. However, definitive data is lacking.

Co-author Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari randomised clinical trial of the study which included 200 men and women, 70 or older, who had experienced at least one low-trauma fall in the prior year.

According to Dr. Bischoff-Ferrari, the editorial conclusion about not giving vitamin D at all is overstated. It is likely that many community-dwelling seniors have 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels close to the ideal range of 21 to 30 ng/mL and do not need further supplementation.

However, about 50 percent of the world population is expected to be below this range and likely benefit from supplementation.