Low Vitamin D Levels May Raise Death Risk in Older Adults
Older adults with low vitamin D levels — especially those who are frail — have an increased risk of death.
That’s the finding of Oregon State University researchers who analyzed data from a survey of more than 4,300 U.S. adults older than 60.
Those with low vitamin D levels had a 30 percent greater risk of death during the study period than those with higher levels. Frail people had more than double the risk of death than those who were not frail. And those who were both frail and had low vitamin D levels were three times more likely to die than those who were not frail and had higher vitamin D levels.
The study was published online recently in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
“What this really means is that it is important to assess vitamin D levels in older adults, and especially among people who are frail,” lead author and nutritional epidemiologist Ellen Smit said in a university news release. “Older adults need to be screened for vitamin D.”
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.