- MONDAY, Aug. 18 (HealthDay News) — Low levels of vitamin D can boost
older women's risk for hip fracture by more than 70 percent, University of
Pittsburgh researchers report.

The finding adds weight to the recommendation that people maintain
adequate intake of vitamin D, which is primarily made by the skin when it
is exposed to sunlight.

The fracture-vitamin D link “has been observed for 15 years,” noted Dr.
Michael F. Holick, director of the Vitamin D Skin and Bone Research
Laboratory at Boston University. “The good news is it's consistent, the
higher your vitamin D status, the lower the risk of your developing a hip
fracture.”

The new report appears in the Aug. 19 issue of the Annals of
Internal Medicine.

Hip fractures can be devastating for older individuals. In fact, 50
percent of older people who suffer a hip fracture will end up in a nursing
home and 20 percent will die within the first year due to complications
such as a pulmonary embolism resulting from the fracture, Holick said.

For this study, a research team led by Jane A. Cauley from the
University of Pittsburgh collected data on 800 women aged 50 to 79.
Researchers followed the women for up to nine years to determine their
risk for hip fractures.

They found that the risk of hip fracture rose 33 percent with every 25
nanomoles per liter drop in vitamin D levels. Women with the lowest levels
of vitamin D had a 71 percent increase risk for hip fractures compared
with women with the highest levels of vitamin D, the researchers
report.

“We conclude that low serum vitamin D concentrations are associated
with an increased risk for hip fracture in community-dwelling women. The
mechanism of association is unclear,” the authors wrote.

Holick notes that vitamin D is essential for the body's absorption of
calcium, a key component of bone health. “If you don't have adequate
vitamin D, you cannot efficiently absorb calcium,” he said. “Vitamin D
also helps maintain bone health by keeping bone cells active.”

According to the U.S. Institute of Medicine, people should get between
200 and 400 international units of vitamin D a day. The best way to get
vitamin D, naturally, is by being out in the sun.

As little as 10 to 15 minutes of sun a day can give you all a vitamin D
you need. Vitamin D is also available in small quantities in foods such as
fish and milk.

Preventing hip fracture is another good reason to keep your vitamin D
levels up, Holick said. “To get vitamin D levels to where they need to be
to reduce the risk of hip fracture, you need to be taking at least 1,000
international units of vitamin D a day from a supplement,” he advised.

Dr. John Jacob Cannell, executive director of the nonprofit Vitamin D
Council, agreed that most people are not getting enough of the
nutrient.

“Women need to know their vitamin D status,” Cannell said. “They need
to ask their doctor for the right test,” known as the 25 hydroxy D test.
“Women should strive to keep your vitamin D levels above 125 nanomoles per
liter, year round. To do that, they are going to require supplements.”

Cannell recommends that before they get a blood test for vitamin D,
women take 2,000 international units of vitamin D a day for three
months.

More information

For more about vitamin D, visit the U.S.
National Institutes of Health.