HHS HealthBeat (May 29, 2007)

Older folks, vitamin D and active living

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Vitamin D may help people stay active as they age. A researcher says people over 65 who didn’t have enough vitamin D did worse when they had to get up from a chair, balance, or walk.

Denise Houston of Wake Forest University School of Medicine did the study, which was supported by the National Institutes of Health. Her findings were in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.

Houston says low vitamin D is worth doing something about:

"It’s been estimated that the differences we saw would be clinically meaningful, in other studies. So we do think it would make a difference in their quality of life and their ability to do activities of daily living." (10 seconds)

She also says that, if sunshine and milk don’t provide enough, supplements can help – provided you don’t overdo them.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

Last revised: May, 29 2007