Low vitamin D link to risk of falls in nursing homes, hostels
[ UniNews Vol. 13, No. 8
17 - 31 May 2004 ]
Vitamin D deficiency is linked to falls and injuries in elderly women living in residential care in Australia, according to a Melbourne University study.
Chief investigator Professor John Wark (Medicine) says the research is the first major study to show that vitamin D levels predict the risk of falls among such women.
The solution to vitamin D deficiency may simply be supplying safe and readily available vitamin D supplements, he says.
The study found that 22 per cent of hostel residents and a staggering 45 per cent of residents in nursing homes suffer from vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is synthesised in the skin during sun exposure. It helps to absorb dietary calcium and is vital in forming and maintaining strong bones.
The study was published in the November 2003 issue of the prestigious Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Most of us are able to get our daily requirement for vitamin D from sun exposure plus a small amount from our diets.
For elderly people in residential care, this is more problematic as most have impaired mobility, therefore more difficulty getting outdoors, says Professor Wark.
In addition, the skin of elderly people is less effective at producing vitamin D, further compounding the problem. In Australia, there are few dietary sources for vitamin D, so it is very difficult to make up for the lack of vitamin D production in the skin of people with very restricted sunlight exposure, he says.
Vitamin D supplements should generally prevent this problem and should be used more widely, he says.
Professor Wark says the study, along with other recent research, indicates that muscle strength and avoidance of falls also require adequate vitamin D stores in the body.
As vitamin D levels decrease the chance that you will fall increases. In fact, vitamin D deficiency is doubly risky, because it increases the risk of falling and it reduces the strength of bone to withstand breaking due to falls, he says.
Health care costs of falls in the elderly in the mid-1990s are estimated at $406 million per year, a figure which has increased over the past few years and is expected to continue to rise if the situation continues unchecked.
The Australian Government has listed musculoskeletal conditions, such as osteoporosis, as a national priority health area.
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