Vitamin D deficiency is associated with poor bone and muscle health and is thought to increase the risk of falls and fractures. This is why health guidelines recommend daily doses of vitamin D and calcium of 400-800 IU and 800-1200 mg, respectively, for patients with low bone mineral density (BMD) and high risk of fractures. That’s why I’m here.
However, a new draft recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says vitamin D does not reduce the risk of falls or fractures in generally healthy older adults.
The task force advises older people, including men, not to rely solely on vitamin D and calcium supplements to prevent falls and fracture risk. However, while older adults are encouraged to take these supplements for their overall health, we recommend taking additional steps to prevent the risk of falls.
This is not the first time a special committee has made similar recommendations. In 2018, an expert panel recommended that postmenopausal women take no more than 400 units of vitamin D and no more than 1,000 milligrams of calcium daily in supplements for the primary prevention of bone fractures. However, at that time there was not enough evidence to recommend primary prevention of fractures in men.
The task force has proposed new recommendations recommending that men over the age of 60 not take supplements. It also removes advice about specific doses. The recommendations are not yet final, but will be open for public comment on the task force’s website until January 21. A draft evidence review will also be published.
Dr. Gowtham Rao, dean of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and chief clinician experience officer at University Hospitals Health System in Cleveland, Ohio, said initial recommendations in 2018 did not include enough male participants in studies. He said there was no. And now there are enough people to reach the current conclusion.
“The other thing is there was some question about whether higher doses were beneficial for vitamin D and calcium,” Rao says. “But what we found is that in our latest recommendations, there was no dose associated with any benefit.”
Experts said vitamin D is an important nutrient that helps the body absorb calcium, benefiting the immune system, brain, muscle performance and other functions.
“One of the important messages we need to get out into the world is that no one is suggesting that you don’t take vitamin D and calcium. Because we have specific recommendations on how much calcium you should take on a daily basis, and that’s very important. bone healthfor brain health, for all kinds of things,” he said. “The only area where we saw no benefit was in terms of fractures and falls.
The task force also found that supplementing with vitamin D with or without calcium can increase vitamin D intake. kidney stone risk Calcium is present in small amounts, as it is the main component of most kidney stones.
Research results on vitamin D supplements
The most likely method to reduce the risk of fractures and falls was a daily vitamin D dose of 800 to 1,000 IU. Further studies designed using different regimens and target vitamin D levels are needed to elucidate the benefits of vitamin D. vitamin d supplementssays a study published in the journal Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Vitamin D3 supplementation According to the New England Journal of Medicine website, the study did not show a significantly lower risk of fractures than a placebo in generally healthy middle-aged and older adults who were not selected for vitamin D deficiency, low bone mass, or osteoporosis. He said he was unable to do so.
a study A paper published in JAMA Network showed no significant association with risk of bone fractures or hip fractures. In contrast, daily supplementation with both vitamin D and calcium (6 randomized clinical trials with 49,282 participants) reduced the risk of hip fracture by 16%.
