From Our 2007 Archives Vitamin D May Cut Elders' Falls Latest
Senior Health News Fewer Falls Seen in Elderly Taking High Dose
of Vitamin D Feb. 23, 2007 -- Vitamin D , taken in a high dose,
may help prevent falls in the elderly. That finding comes from a
study of 124 residents of a Boston nursing home. The study shows
that residents who took a daily dose of 800 international units
(IU) of vitamin D for five months were less likely to fall than
those who took either lower doses or no vitamin D. "Ensuring
that nursing home residents are receiving adequate daily
supplemental vitamin D may reduce the number of falls in elderly
nursing home residents and could potentially reduce the risk of
fracture in this high-risk group," write the researchers. They
included Kerry Broe, MPH, of the Institute for Aging Research at
Hebrew SeniorLife in Massachusetts. Hebrew SeniorLife operates
senior health care, housing, research, and education in the
Boston area. The study appears in the Journal of the American
Geriatrics Socie