Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - Vitamin D is called the “sunshine vitamin” because it’s manufactured in our bodies naturally with exposure to sunlight.
The vitamin is often linked to the health of elderly people’s bones.
Now, new research looks at the possible benefits of Vitamin D supplements taken by mouth. It studied more than 31,000 subjects, all 65 or older. 91 percent of the subjects were women.
Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the authors found that high doses of Vitamin D supplements, 800 or more international units a day, were useful against fractures.
They report a 30 percent reduction in hip fractures and a 14 percent reduction in non-vertebral fractures.
And they say their findings support a recommendation that people 65 and older get 800 international units of Vitamin D each day.
