RxPG News Feed for RxPG News

Medical Research Health Special Topics World
  Home
 
   Health
 Aging
 Asian Health
 Events
 Fitness
 Food & Nutrition
 Happiness
 Men's Health
 Mental Health
 Occupational Health
 Parenting
 Public Health
 Sleep Hygiene
 Women's Health
 
   Healthcare
 Africa
 Australia
 Canada Healthcare
 China Healthcare
 India Healthcare
 New Zealand
 South Africa
 UK
 USA
 World Healthcare
 
   Latest Research
 Aging
 Alternative Medicine
 Anaethesia
 Biochemistry
 Biotechnology
 Cancer
 Cardiology
 Clinical Trials
 Cytology
 Dental
 Dermatology
 Embryology
 Endocrinology
 ENT
 Environment
 Epidemiology
 Gastroenterology
 Genetics
 Gynaecology
 Haematology
 Immunology
 Infectious Diseases
 Medicine
 Metabolism
  Hemochromatosis
  Hyperlipidemia
  Metabolic Syndrome
  Obesity
 Microbiology
 Musculoskeletal
 Nephrology
 Neurosciences
 Obstetrics
 Ophthalmology
 Orthopedics
 Paediatrics
 Pathology
 Pharmacology
 Physiology
 Physiotherapy
 Psychiatry
 Radiology
 Rheumatology
 Sports Medicine
 Surgery
 Toxicology
 Urology
 
   Medical News
 Awards & Prizes
 Epidemics
 Launch
 Opinion
 Professionals
 
   Special Topics
 Ethics
 Euthanasia
 Evolution
 Feature
 Odd Medical News
 Climate

Last Updated: Oct 11, 2012 - 10:22:56 PM
Metabolism Channel

subscribe to Metabolism newsletter
Latest Research : Metabolism

   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Taking a break from fractures: A closer look at vitamin D

Aug 10, 2005 - 12:51:00 PM

 
[RxPG] With an aging population, and with people living longer, experts say bone fractures will become a bigger and more costly problem unless more is done to prevent them. Osteoporosis (reduced bone mineral density) is most common in older adults, particularly women. It is a major risk factor for bone fractures, which can cause significant suffering while carrying high economic costs. While vitamin D has been shown to reduce the risk of fracture in the elderly, a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) raises the question of how much vitamin D is enough.
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin D for older adults is between 400 and 600 International Units (IU) per day. In their review of the existing literature, a team of scientists including senior author Bess Dawson-Hughes, MD, director of the Bone Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition and Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, found that this dose was not effective in reducing nonvertebral fracture rates among study participants. The researchers concluded, though, that higher daily doses, in the range of 700 to 800 IU, may reduce the risk of fracture by approximately 25 percent.

Dawson-Hughes and her colleagues analyzed the results of seven experimental trials that all compared fracture rates among subjects 60 years of age and older given vitamin D supplements (with or without calcium supplements) to those among similar subjects given only calcium or placebo. Each study lasted between one and five years, and looked specifically at hip fractures or other fractures that did not involve the spine. The researchers found that only subjects receiving higher doses of vitamin D supplementation had significantly fewer fractures than did subjects in the comparison groups.

"In the future, we may need to reconsider the current recommended daily values of vitamin D for older adults," says Dawson-Hughes. She adds, "We also need to look more closely at the possible role that calcium supplementation may have in mediating the effects of vitamin D. Fractures in the elderly can lead to severe health consequences, including death. One promising prevention strategy may be dietary supplementation with both calcium and vitamin D."

Another meta-analysis on vitamin D published in JAMA last year found that older adults can reduce their risk related to falls by more than 20 percent by ensuring they get enough vitamin D. Dawson-Hughes, an author on that paper, noted that "vitamin D may also improve muscle strength, thereby reducing fracture risk through fall prevention."




Publication: Tufts University

Advertise in this space for $10 per month. Contact us today.


Related Metabolism News
Overweight people will stay that way for ever
Your shampoo could be making you fat
This asthma drug can burn your fat
Eating less may help you live longer
Oral bisphosphonate related jaw necrosis
Burning fat can lead to a longer life in worms
New obesity drug, Tesofensine, seems promising
Can slowing down 'fat burning' genes reduce obesity?
Single mechanism to explain metabolic syndrome
Weight loss better than insulin therapy in type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Subscribe to Metabolism Newsletter

Enter your email address:


 Additional information about the news article
Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Willett WC, Wong JB, Giovannucci E, Dietrich T, Dawson-Hughes B. Fracture prevention with vitamin D supplementation: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. JAMA. 2005;293(18): 2257-2264
 Feedback
For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 
Contact us

RxPG Online

Nerve

 

    Full Text RSS

© All rights reserved by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited (India)