Low vitamin D status often may be overlooked by doctors, leading to inadequate vitamin D supplementation in patients with osteoporosis, say researchers. A study of 1,554 postmenopausal women showed that 52% of these women had suboptimal vitamin D concentrations. Most...
seniors
B-12: Food for the bones
New research on diet and osteoporosis has revealed that vitamin B-12 deficiency may be an important modifiable risk factor for osteoporosis. After gauging bone quality and B-12 levels in more than 2,500 men and women, researchers found that people with low B-12 levels...
Ginkgo gives seniors energy boost
At the University of Surrey in England, researchers found that a Ginkgo biloba extract could improve mood and activity levels of independent seniors. Participants first underwent a four-month treatment with either ginkgo extract or a placebo capsule. Then in a second...
Bone Protection: RDA for vitamin D may need to be raised, say researchers
With an aging population, and with people living longer, experts say bone fractures will become a bigger and more costly problem unless more is done to prevent them. While vitamin D has been shown to reduce the risk of fracture in the elderly, a study recently...
B12: Are You Short? Seniors and vegetarians are most at risk for problems
Vitamin B12 deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the developing world and possibly in North America as well, reports the August issue of the Harvard Health Letter. Sometimes the only symptoms of a B12 deficiency are subtle cognitive and neurological...
Up Your Immunity: Multivitamin protects elderly from flu
As influenza continues to take its toll, a study by University of Florida researchers shows that nutrition can help seniors better weather the flu season. They set out to determine whether an experimental nutritional supplement would reduce in older people the number...
Studies show key picks for elderly
Hoping for good mental and physical health in your senior years? It may be as simple as A-B-C—or rather, C, D and E! These three vitamins are the focus of two recent studies on how we can head off common health issues associated with aging. At Harvard Medical School,...
Fainting spells in elderly: try B-12
If you feel faint when you stand up from a chair or bed, you may be low in vitamin B-12, according to new research. “Orthostatic hypotension” (OH) is a loss of blood pressure when standing up from a sitting or laying down position. Experienced by many older people,...
D Good for Gums: Vitamin found to improve oral health
Getting enough vitamin D could be important for oral health, based on findings of a recent study. The analytical study looked at a possible connection between vitamin D levels in the blood and periodontal disease, a widespread chronic inflammatory condition marked by...
Curb Cancer Risk: Nine guidelines to help older women avoid disease
Post-menopausal women who follow recommended dietary and lifestyle guidelines may reduce their risk of developing and dying from cancer, say researchers. Conversely, those women who followed one or none of nine recommended guidelines for diet and lifestyle had a 35%...