A new study carried out by researchers from Switzerland revealed how vitamin D can be dangerous for senior citizens.
Based on their findings, taking too much vitamin D can increase the risk of falling among older adults.
For years, medical experts have been telling the public to take vitamin D to improve their overall health condition. For seniors, this vitamin plays an important role in their wellbeing because its properties have been known to strengthen bones and teeth.
But, according to new study, which was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, this can actually do more harm than good.
The researchers from Switzerland's University Hospital Zurich came up with this findings after carrying out a year-long study on 200 seniors aged 70 years old and above. These participants were divided into three groups and over the course of the study, they were given varying doses of vitamin D.
The first group received 24,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D3 for each month, which is actually recommended dose set by the Institute of Medicine. The second group, on the other hand, was given a monthly dose of 60,000 IU of vitamin D3.
Lastly, the third group received a combination of calcifediol, which is a broken-down form of vitamin D, and a dose of 24,000 IU, according to CBS News.
After 12 months, the researchers performed a series of tests on the elderly participants and discovered that more than 60 percent of those in the second and third groups, who were given high-doses of vitamin, were more prone to falling down than those in the first group.
According to lead researcher Dr. Heike Bischoff-Ferrari, the findings actually surprised them because they assumed that a higher dose would result to greater benefits.
"We expected that we would see more benefit by going to the higher doses of vitamin D," he told Time. "Contrary to expectations, we found that actually the lowest dose was the most advantageous for any of the outcomes we looked at."
Dr. Bischoff-Ferrari also noted that those in the first group also displayed improved muscle strength in the lower part of the body. This would probably explain why they have a lesser risk of falling down than those from the second and third groups.
Despite their findings, the researchers noted that the study has a few limitations. For one, for actual effects of vitamin D may vary depending on various factors such as the age of a person and his or her current health condition.
