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Posted on May 10, 2010, 6 a.m.
Seniors with higher circulating levels of Vitamin D enjoy stronger physical functioning, particularly of the lower extremities.
In that Vitamin D insufficiency is common among older adults and may play a role in physical function, Denise K. Houston, from Wake Forest University (North Carolina, USA), and colleagues examined the link between circulating Vitamin D levels (measured as 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D)) and lower extremity function in a group of 2,788 seniors enrolled in the Health ABC Study. Over a four-year long study period, the team found that those subjects with the levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D demonstrated the greatest physical performance scores, as measured by tests of gait speed and knee strength. Conversely, those with lower Vitamin D levels had poorer physical function. The researchers conclude that: “Vitamin D insufficiency is associated with lower extremity function but not with greater declines in lower extremity function over 4 years of follow-up.”
Denise K Houston, Janet Tooze, Rebecca Neiberg, Kyla Shea, Dorothy Hausman, Mary Ann Johnson, Jane Cauley, Doug Bauer, Frances Tylavsky, Marjolein Visser, Eleanor Simonsick, Tamara Harris, Stephen B Kritchevsky. “Vitamin D status and lower extremity function: the Health ABC Study.” Presented at Experimental Biology 2010 meeting; FASEB J. 2010; 24:93.5.
