A two-year randomised trial, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, has found that vitamin D supplements and exercise training do not reduce the risk of falls among older women. However, strength and balance training cut the number of injurious falls by more than half, the Finnish study suggests.1
The study consisted of 409 women aged between 70 and 80 who were randomised into four groups. The groups were categorised as: vitamin D (800 IU/day) without exercise, placebo without exercise, placebo with exercise and vitamin D with exercise. Before the study was conducted, none of the women were taking vitamin D supplements and they had all experienced at least one fall during the previous year.
Neither vitamin D nor exercise showed any reduction in overall fall rate, although exercise did have an impact on injurious fall rate. Women, who exercised, with or without vitamin D, had the rate of injurious falls reduced by more than half.
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Reference:
1: Uusi-Rasi K, Patil R, Karinkanta S, et al. Exercise and vitamin D in fall prevention among older women: a randomized clinical trial.
JAMA Intern Med March 2015; doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.0225 [Online] (Accessed on 06/04/2015)
Univadis (2015) [Online] Available on: http://www.univadis.co.uk/medical-news/287/No-fewer-falls-with-vitamin-D-or-exercise?u=g7Nnk16ewgseZG%204W1juJf3WJnKOvJRYPVKIwTKQ6aF/ksnnjS8/UlEbZgV/lV48 (Accessed on 06/04/2015)
Image courtesy of “stockimages” @freedigitalphoto.com.net available on: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net (Accessed on 06/04/2015)
