Could Vitamin D be the answer to preventing falls

Researchers have reported that a daily dose of vitamin D cuts your risk of falling substantially.  But not just any dose will do. “It takes 700 to 1000 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day and nothing less will work,” Dr. Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari, who directs the Center on Aging and Mobility at the University of Zurich, Switzerland.  Those recommendations – which are higher than those by the U.S. Institute of Medicine — are based on the results of eight studies that looked at vitamin D supplements for fall prevention among more than 2,400 adults aged 65 and older. Falls were not notably reduced with daily doses of vitamin D lower than 700 IU.  An analysis of all eight studies, posted online in the British Medical Journal, add weight to several others which have shown that vitamin D improves strength and balance, and bone health in the elderly.

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