Vitamin D protects against fractures?

“People taking 800 to 2000 units of vitamin D per day showed a significant decrease the risk of fractures, taking into account the hip, wrist and forearm in both women and men aged 65 and over, ”said study author Dawson-Hughes.  “It is important that we found that taking the doses below 800 units of vitamin D it offers no benefit in terms of preventing fractures and the risk of fractures, ”added the specialist. The current recommended by the Institute of Medicine daily intake of vitamin D is at least 600 units per day for people between 51 and 70 years of age, while for the elderly it is 800 units.  “Vitamin D supplementation is an efficient intervention against the costs incurred by thousands of elderly people each year. Usually the recovery process is long, painful and has a huge impact on quality of life. After the injury, older patients regain only a partial ability to move, and it works loss of independence, which is personally demoralizing and puts additional stress on family members and caregivers, ”Dawson-Hughes believes.  On the financial side, the daily cost of vitamin D supplementation is 1 cent, while the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons calculated that in 2007 the cost of treating a broken hip was $ 26,912. Dawson-Hughes adds that the elderly, unless they are exposed to sunlight all year round, need vitamin D supplementation to get the dose they need.  Typically, adults consume about 150 units of salmon, tuna or processed milk with food during the day.  On average multivitamins contain about 400 units of vitamin D., but also come in the form of 400, 800, or 1000 units of vitamin D alone.  Although vitamin D overdose is rare, the Institute of Medicine recommends not exceeding 4000 vitamin D units per day.  The current results should be reinforced by more interventional studies on the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the risk of fractures. The authors expect further research on the effect of combined calcium supplementation with increased doses of vitamin D, as the obtained data are inconclusive. source: ScienceNews.pl

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