High-dose of Vitamin D supplementation ups elderly fall risk: Study

High-dose vitamin D supplementation does not improve lower-extremity function and increases the risk for falls among elderly adults aged 70 or up, as per a new study.

Lower extremity function that is impaired is a major risk factor for falls, injuries and loss of autonomy. Vitamin D supplementation has been proposed as a possible preventive strategy to delay functional decline. However, definitive data is lacking.

Co-author Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari randomised clinical trial of the study which included 200 men and women, 70 or older, who had experienced at least one low-trauma fall in the prior year.

According to Dr. Bischoff-Ferrari, the editorial conclusion about not giving vitamin D at all is overstated. It is likely that many community-dwelling seniors have 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels close to the ideal range of 21 to 30 ng/mL and do not need further supplementation.

However, about 50 percent of the world population is expected to be below this range and likely benefit from supplementation.

The study was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.