D Does It
When you head out to the store, if you don’t have fish or another good source of vitamin D on your shopping list, you’ll be picking up some D anyway because exposure to sunlight prompts your body to create vitamin D naturally.
But as I’ve told you in previous e-Alerts, sunlight alone can’t provide you with all the vitamin D you need for optimal health. And this is especially true for older people who often don’t (or can’t) get outdoors enough.
Now a new study from Australia demonstrates just how critical it is for us to get plenty of vitamin D as we age.
Falling down under
University of Melbourne researchers designed a trial with two goals: to reveal the degree of vitamin D deficiency in older people living in residential care, and to determine if there might be a statistical association between vitamin D levels and incidence of falls. (Previous studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency may contribute to muscle weakness as well as poor bone metabolism, increasing the risk of falls and fractures.)
The researchers recruited 952 women in high-level care facilities, and 667 women in low-level care. The average age of the subjects was about 84 years. Serum vitamin D levels were determined with blood tests, while falls were recorded in diaries by residential care staff over a period of about five months (and for slightly longer with the high-level care group).
The data showed that almost a quarter of the low-level care group were vitamin D deficient, while 45 percent of the high-level subjects were deficient. And according to the diaries, vitamin D deficiency was shown to be a reliable predictor of falls. After adjusting for weight, cognitive function, walking ability and other factors, a statistical analysis determined that doubling the vitamin D level in those who were deficient might reduce the risk of falling by as much as 20 percent.
For many elderly people the vitamin D deficiency problem is compounded by the fact that as we age our skin becomes less effective in producing vitamin D. That, coupled with generally less sun exposure, sets the stage for a variety of health problems associated with low levels of vitamin D.
What the heart wants
In the e-Alert “Does Your Heart Good” (3/11/03), I told you about research that demonstrated how low levels of vitamin D may play a role in heart failure.
Researchers at the Department of Nutrition Science, University of Bonn, Germany, collected fasting blood samples from 54 congestive heart failure (CHF) patients over a period of five months. Their samples were compared to similar samples taken from a group of 34 healthy subjects that did not have CHF.
An analysis of the samples revealed that the CHF patients had vitamin D levels significantly lower than the healthy group. In fact some in the CHF group had D levels that were only half of the average level found in the other group. Furthermore, those with the lowest vitamin D levels tended to have the most severe symptoms of CHF.
And in the e-Alert “D’s Day” (4/30/02), I told you about a University of California, San Francisco, study that showed how sufficient levels of vitamin D may cut the risk of heart disease in older women by as much as one-third, primarily due to the ability of vitamin D to prevent the buildup of calcium deposits in the arteries.
Most mainstream authorities, including the American Heart Association, still insist that you don’t need to supplement with vitamin D. But studies like these continue to confirm the benefits that nutritionally oriented physicians have known about for years.
In a cod’s liver
Just last month, in the e-Alert “Sunny Side of the Street” (12/22/03), I told you about Dr. Jonathan Wright’s recommendations for vitamin D intake: Between 1600 and 2000 IUs daily, and as much as 4000 IUs for those over 40. According to Dr. Wright, it’s impossible for most people to get enough vitamin D from the sun alone, and he discourages the use of dairy products because of the many other health concerns they raise. Instead, he suggests other food sources like salmon and sardines, or cod liver oil, which provides more than 1300 IUs of vitamin D per tablespoon.
In the February 2002 issue of Nutrition and Healing newsletter, Dr. Wright says, “It’s very likely that if you’re over 40 and supplement your diet with a generous amount of vitamin D, you can lower your risk of prostate, breast, and bowel cancer, along with your risk of ‘essential’ hypertension, osteoporosis, and tuberculosis.”
And when you add to that list the reduced risks of congestive heart failure and of taking a fall in advanced years, it’s clear that a little extra vitamin D may go a long way in keeping healthy for the long run.
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute
Sources:
“Serum Vitamin D and Falls in Older Women in Residential Care in Australia” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, v. 51, no. 11, November 2003, Blackwell-synergy.com
“Vitamin D supplements Recommended for Elderly Women” D. Dye, Life Extension Foundation, 12/5/03, lef.org
“Vitamin D May Cut Women’s Heart Disease Death Risk” Reuters Health, 4/24/02
” Vitamin D Treats Congestive Heart Failure” Dr. Joseph Mercola, 3/5/03, mercola.com
“Low Vitamin D Status: A Contributing Factor in the Pathogenesis of Congestive Heart Failure?” Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2003 Jan 1;41(1):105-12
