Long-term dietary supplementation with vitamin D and calcium significantly reduces the risk of falling among older women, according to the results of a new study.
Dr Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari, at the University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland, and colleagues assigned 199 men and 246 women to take either vitamin D and calcium daily or placebo.
The subjects were at least 65 years of age (average, about 71 years) and lived at home.
During follow-up over 3 years, 49 percent of the men and 55 percent of the women experienced falls, according to results published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Of the 231 total falls, 107 occurred in the vitamin D-calcium group and 124 occurred in the placebo group.