Vitamin D is essential for normal calcium utilization, strong bones, and normal muscle strength. Recent studies have found that weak muscles from a lack of vitamin D increase the risk of falls and fractures.
People can make vitamin D when their skin is exposed to sunlight, but in northern latitudes the sun is too low during the winter to provide any benefit. Heavy clothing and more time spent indoors further reduces sunlight exposure. As a result, physicians and researchers are increasingly recommending supplemental vitamin D.
A recent study led by Stephen J Gallacher, of Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, studied 548 elderly patients who had been hospitalized for hip fracture. Nearly all of the patients -98%- were found to be deficient in vitamin D. Incredibly, a quarter of the patients were so deficient that their vitamin D levels were undetectable.
The ability to make vitamin D in the skin decreases with age, as does the ability to absorb it in the gut. 'Vitamin D inadequacy is therefore to be expected in the elderly, especially where lifestyle leads to minimal sun exposure, adding further to age-related reduced bone mineralization,' Gallacher wrote.
