Nursing home residents who take a high dose of Vitamin D were less
likely to fall and had a lower rate of repeat falls than those taking a
placebo or lower Vitamin D doses, reported the Journal of the American
Geriatrics Society. The study, A Higher Dose of Vitamin D Reduces the
Risk of Falls in Nursing Home Residents, was conducted over five months
and found that subjects taking 800 International Units (IU) of Vitamin D
had a 72% decrease in falls compared with those taking a placebo.
However, fall rates for those taking Vitamin D doses ranging from 200
IUs to 600 IUs were no different from the rates for residents taking
placebos. Past studies have shown that Vitamin D supplements can help
prevent falls in seniors, but until now, the effective dosage was
unknown, according to the journal.
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