The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

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    Vitamin D reduces the risk of falls in older adults

    elderly fallResearchers from the University Hospital Zurich, in Switzerland reviewed the evidence.

    First, the details.

    • Data from 8 well-designed studies of older people receiving a defined oral dose of supplemental vitamin D were combined for a meta-analysis.
      • Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) or vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol)
      • Or, an active form of vitamin D (1{alpha}-hydroxyvitamin D3 (1{alpha}-hydroxycalciferol) or 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol)

    And, the results.

    • High doses of vitamin D (700-1000 IU a day) reduced fall risk by 19%.
    • Those people with blood levels of 25(OH)D concentrations of 60 nmol/L or higher had a 23% fall reduction.
    • Falls were not reduced by low doses (less than 700 IU/day supplemental vitamin D or by blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations of less than 60 nmol/day.
    • Active forms of vitamin D reduced fall risk by 22%.

    The bottom line?
    The authors tell us that these findings support earlier study results.

    Active forms of vitamin D do not appear to be more effective for fall prevention than 700-1000 IU of supplemental vitamin D.

    10/9/09 22:07 JR

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