In developed countries the frequency of hip fractures has been increasing by 1-3% per year (Cummings and Melton, 2002).Vitamin D plays a central role in bone metabolism and maintaining bone health, and is important for muscle functioning (Kung and Lee, 2006).
Vitamin D shares with the other vitamins the feature that it is a trace substance and must be produced or ingested in a certain quantity if various health outcomes are to
Also, as with the other vitamins, it was early recognized that a frank deficiency results in a specific disease syndrome. Intake recommendations for vitamin D have classically been tied to the prevention of this bone disease. Despite this, there is a worldwide problem of vitamin D inadequacy and deficiency that is largely being unheeded and under-treated (Kung and Lee, 2006). Vitamin D inadequacy and deficiency may pose a bigger threat in subtropical countries as the assessment of vitamin D status and vitamin D education are largely overlooked, perhaps on the assumption that vitamin D insufficiency is unlikely to occur in regions with plentiful sunshine. The main sources of vitamin D are UV-B radiation from the sun, dietary intake, and foods that are naturally rich in vitamin D these include oily fish, cod-liver oil and egg yolks.Supplementation with vitamin D pills is another option for getting vitamin D for your body
Moreover, the growing awareness of vitamin sufficiency for requiring optimal health as role of vitamin D in calcium absorption and metabolism for bone health is well known. Again various researches during past two decades have illustrated the importance of vitamin D in reducing the risk of cancer, multiple of sclerosis and type 1 diabetes mellitus.
However, a number of reviews on the roles vitamin D in the prevention of disease and maintenance of optimal health have appeared in past years. This review seeks to bring to perspective the benefit of the giving of vitamin D supplement to the elderly. The elderly have a particularly strong need to maintain vitamin D sufficiency. Not only are they likely to produce less vitamin D from solar UVB irradiation because they generally spend less time in sunlight than do young people (Holick 1995; 1998), but their efficiency of photo production is less (Holick 1995;1996).In addition diseases such as cancer and osteoporotic fractures are mostly likely among the elderly. A study in turkey has also identified risk of vitamin d insufficiency in elderly subjects simply b asking about the clothing habits and exposure to sunlight. (Andersin et al., 2000).In a recent meta-analysis by Heike, et al.,( 2009) the efficacy of oral supplemental vitamin D in preventing non-vertebral and hip fractures among older individuals and the efficacy of oral supplemental vitamin D in preventing falls among older individuals strong evidence for causality is available for fracture and fall endpoints (Bischoff-Ferrari, et al.,;2009),while promising epidemiologic and mechanistic studies suggest a key role of vitamin D in the preservation of cardiovascular health (Dobnig, et al:2008), and the prevention of cancer (Giovannucci , et al ;2006)and other common chronic diseases ( Bouillon et al;2008)
In nursing homes in France, vitamin D supplementation clearly reduced fracture incidence, Chapuy, et al (1999) but the mechanism for this effect is undetermined. Falling may be a consequence of impaired neuromuscular function (Stein et al., 1999, Gloth et al., 1995) associated with vitamin D deficiency. Studies of healthy rural and urban Australians across a wide age range have found a low prevalence of conventionally defined vitamin D deficiency. (Kipen et al., 1995; Vasikaran et al., 2000).Australia has generally sunny climate, and fortification of the food supply with vitamin D has not been considered necessary vitamin D supplementation that has demonstrated a significant reduction in threat of falls. Although all fractures may cause pain and disability (Cree, et al., 2000), hip fractures are the most serious, leading to institutionalization in 10-20% of patients (Adachi, et al.,2002)).Vitamin D are among a range of available therapies for preventing and treating osteoporosis.
Vitamin D supplementation, if effective, might provide a feasible and relatively cost-effective primary preventive measure against fracture among older men and women.
Supplementation with vitamin D has lowered the risk of hip fracture (Adachi, et al., 2002). However, the adherence of elderly hip fracture patients with daily vitamin D supplements is low (Cummings, et al., 2002).
Vitamin D deficiency is thought to contribute to bone loss in women (Lips, et al., 2001; Adams et al., 1999). In several studies, vitamin D has been given to postmenopausal women on the assumption that increases in concentrations of serum PTH and suppressed and the rate of Bone Mineral Density (BMD) loss slowed (Villareal, et al., 1991; Dawson-Hughes, et al., 1991).
Furthermore, vitamin D also helps the elderly to maintain its levels of calcium and phosphorus in the blood as the body needed, which reduce mortality among elderly (Rejnmark, 2012) and substantially decrease bone loss during aging (Dickinson,200).
In sum, Vitamins D represent a medium which elderly can guide his or her self against various diseases due the deficiency.Again,vitamin D supplement if the medium for this revelation. It is imperative that issues guiding Vitamin D are treated with urgency major stakeholders and policy makers in providing needed and accessible nutritional needs through the supplement.
