Tips For A Healthy Lifestyle: 'Vitamin D + Exercise = Fewer Falls"

Tips For A Healthy Lifestyle: 'Vitamin D + Exercise = Fewer Falls"

Dr. Weil's Daily Tip, January 6, 2011

Vitamin D intake and regular exercise have  been identified as main factors in the prevention of falls in seniors.  Falls for seniors are often the beginning of a series of health complication, loss of independence, and have been related to premature deaths.  For more, read the article by Dr. Weil below.

That's the conclusion from a review of 54 studies that included data from more than 26,000 seniors. Investigators from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force analyzed the studies in an effort to determine the best recommendations primary care physicians could make to patients age 65 and older in order to prevent falls. The injuries from these accidents are the greatest cause of death, disability and loss of independence among seniors. The incidence of falls has been rising in recent years, due in part to the increasing number of older adults in the population. The review found that taking vitamin D, with or without calcium, cut the risk of falling by an average of 17 percent. In half of the studies reviewed, the daily doses of vitamin D were greater than 800 international units. The researchers also found that exercise reduced the risk of falls by 13 percent. This benefit was seen whether the activity involved was designed to improve balance, strength and flexibility or was weight training or aerobic exercise such as walking. The review was published in the Dec. 21, 2010 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

My take? As you may know, I recommend that everyone take 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily, not only because it helps strengthen bones, which may prevent or slow the progression of osteoporosis, but also because it helps boost the immune system and protects against a number of serious diseases. Exercise is also key to maintaining optimum health in general, and to preventing falls in particular. In addition to aerobic activity, resistance training and exercises to increase flexibility and balance, I also highly recommend tai chi, a gentle form of movement training that has been shown to reduce risk of injury from falls among seniors.

Food & Nutrition: 'Obesity Linked to Lower Vitamin D Levels'

Food & Nutrition: 'Obesity Linked to Lower Vitamin D Levels'

By Salynn Boyles

WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

December 17, 2010

While artificially supplementing vitamin D has not proven to be beneficial for overweight people looking to increase the level of vitamin D in their blood, excessive synthetic supplementation has been shown to have negative effects.  Therefore, the overweight population should seek other ways to remedy their vitamin D deficiency including of course losing weight.  The proven health benefits of vitamin D are many and we should all seek to keep adequate levels of this important vitamin which plays a role in calcium absorption and helps prevent bone-related diseases.  For more, read below.

Researchers Suggest Obese People May Need More Vitamin D in Their Diet

Dec. 17, 2010 -- 'New research adds to the evidence linking obesity with lower levels of vitamin D, and the finding could help explain why carrying extra pounds raises the risk for a wide range of diseases', researchers say.

The study suggests that people who are obese may be less able to convert vitamin D into its hormonally active form.

Researchers measured levels of vitamin D and its hormonally active form 1,25(OH)2D in almost 1,800 people being treated at a weight loss clinic in Norway.

Most of the people were overweight and 11% were considered morbidly obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher.

'The more the study participants weighed, the lower their vitamin D levels tended to be', study researcher Zoya Lagunova, MD, of the Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet Medical Center in Oslo, Norway, tells WebMD.

She says it makes sense that obesity is associated with lower vitamin D levels since vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin.

The study appears in the latest issue of the Journal of Nutrition.

“Much of the vitamin D produced in the skin or ingested is distributed in fat tissue,” she says. “So obese people may take inas much vitamin D from the sun, food, or supplements as people who are not obese, but their [blood] levels will tend to be lower.”

Amazing Vitamin D, Nutrition's Newest Star

'Vitamin D and Obesity'

Along with calcium, vitamin D has long been recognized as important for bone health. But in recent years studies have suggested that the vitamin plays a part in a host of diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers.

'Perhaps not coincidentally, obesity is a known risk factor for many of these diseases', Lagunova says.

The researchers concluded that 1,25(OH)2D levels might be a better measure of vitamin D in obese people than circulating levels of the vitamin.

But Clifford J. Rosen, MD, of the Maine Medical Center Research Institute, is unconvinced.

Rosen tells WebMD that 1,25(OH)2D is more difficult and costly to measure and is not a very good indicator of vitamin D

status.

He adds that 'while people who are obese do tend to have lower vitamin D levels, the clinical relevance of this is unclear'.

Lagunova and colleagues conclude that people who are obese may need more vitamin D in their diets or greater exposure to the sun than thinner people.

“Obese people may need more vitamin D to end up with the same levels as a person whose weight is normal,” Lagunova says.

Vitamin D: Too Much of a Good Thing?

'But it is far from clear if taking large doses of vitamin D in supplement form is beneficial or even safe, regardless of a person’s body weight', says Rosen.

An osteoporosis researcher, Rosen served on an expert panel that reviewed the vitamin D research and concluded that most people get enough of the vitamin without taking supplements.

The panel, convened by the independent health policy advisory group Institute of Medicine (IOM), published its findings late last month.

The IOM committee found the evidence suggesting a role for vitamin D supplementation in the prevention of non-bone related diseases to be inconclusive. It also warned that intake of vitamin D over 4,000 IU (international units) per day increases the risk for harm to the body.

Rosen says 'there was no suggestion that obese people needed extra vitamin D to maintain adequate levels'.

Rutgers University professor of nutritional sciences Sue A. Shapses, PhD, also served on the IOM panel. She calls the research suggesting a protective role for vitamin D against non-bone-related disease “compelling” but far from conclusive.

“We know that vitamin D deficiency is not good, but most people are not deficient,” she says. “And there are just too many unanswered questions to recommend that people take high doses of vitamin D in supplement form.”

SOURCES:

Lagunova, Z. Journal of Nutrition, online edition, December 2010.

Zoya Lagunova, MD, department of radiation biology, Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet Medical

Center, Oslo, Norway.

Clifford J. Rosen, MD, senior scientist, Maine Medical Center Research.

Sue A. Shapses, PhD, professor, department of nutritional sciences, Rutgers University.

Tips For A Healthy Lifestyle: 'Vitamin D in Winter Time'

Tips For A Healthy Lifestyle: 'Vitamin D in Winter Time'

Dr. Weil's Daily Tip, January 6, 2011

Getting an adequate supply of Vitamin D is essential to maintain good health and high spirits and is also key in the prevention of high-risk conditions. Daily sun exposure can help you with that.  To find out more, read below.

Vitamin D is an essential micronutrient with a central role in maintaining health. I recommend prudent daily sun exposure to support the natural production of vitamin D in our skin as one of the best ways to get enough of this vitamin. But with decreased daylight hours in the winter, you may be at risk for vitamin D deficiency. Decreased or insufficient levels of vitamin D have been linked to:

• Suppressed immunity - Our innate systems of defense may not function efficiently without adequate vitamin D, allowing increased susceptibility to infectious agents.
• Increased risk of chronic disease - Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with a higher than normal risk of heart disease and several kinds of cancer.
• Heightened inflammation - Vitamin D is a key cofactor in regulating inflammation throughout the body.

Speak with your doctor about checking vitamin D levels and if supplementing may help, and learn more about vitamin D.