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Dr. Heaney explains if a vitamin D deficiency puts a woman at a higher risk for falls and bone fractures.
Dr. Heaney:
Vitamin D deficient women are much more likely to fall and break a bone. A marvelous randomized trial conducted by Heike Bischoff about five, six years ago showed that elderly south German women randomized to receive either calcium alone or calcium plus vitamin D at a 50% reduction in fall risk in the vitamin D treated arm relative to just the calcium treated arm, which is not to suggest that calcium isn’t important, but it’s not important for falls, whereas vitamin D is.
We don’t know for sure how vitamin D is working there, but the effect is very evident and that may well be one of the most important reasons why it reduces fracture risk. If you don’t fall, you’re less likely to break something.
About Dr. Heaney, M.D., F.A.C.P, F.A.C.N.:
Dr. Robert Heaney is an internationally recognized expert in the field of bone biology and calcium nutrition. He has worked for over 45 years in the study of osteoporosis and calcium physiology, and has published more than 300 original papers, chapters, monographs, and reviews in scientific and educational fields. He is a frequently invited editorial writer for the major medical journals, including JAMA, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Annals of Internal Medicine, Clinical Chemistry, Metabolism, and the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. He serves on numerous nutrition industry scientific advisory panels.
Visit Dr. Heaney at the Osteoporosis Research Center:
http://osteoporosis.creighton.edu/bio_faculty/dr_heaney.htm