With an aging population, and with people living longer, experts say bone fractures will become a bigger and more costly problem unless more is done to prevent them.
Osteoporosis (reduced bone mineral density) is most common in older adults, particularly women. It is a major risk factor for bone fractures, which can cause significant suffering while carrying high economic costs. While vitamin D has been shown to reduce the risk of fracture in the elderly, a study recently published in the JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association raises the question of how much vitamin D is enough.
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin D for older adults is between 400 and 600 International Units (IU) per day. In their review of the existing literature, a team of scientists including senior author Bess Dawson-Hughes, MD, director of the Bone Metabolism Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition and Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, found that this dose was not effective in reducing nonvertebral fracture rates among study participants. The researchers concluded, though, that higher daily doses, in the range of 700 to 800 IU, may reduce the risk of fracture by approximately 25 percent.