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Vitamin D in older people

Part of: Bespoke shallow archive Weizmann

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2008

Ian C Logan  and
Miles D Witham
Ian C Logan
Affiliation:
Section of Ageing and Health, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Scotland
Miles D Witham*
Affiliation:
Section of Ageing and Health, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Scotland
*
Address for correspondence: Miles Witham, Section of Ageing and Health, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee DD1 9SY, UK. Email: [email protected]
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Extract

Vitamin D has been known to play a key role in calcium homeostasis and bone health for almost a century. Its main current clinical use is as an agent to prevent osteomalacia and reduce fragility fractures in older people. Vitamin D may however play a wider physiological role, with effects on cancer prevention, cardiovascular health and immune function. This review article will outline the physiological role of vitamin D, the disease processes that have been associated with insufficiency and examine whether vitamin D supplementation can ameliorate these disease processes in older people.

Type
Clinical gerontology
Information
Reviews in Clinical Gerontology , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , November 2008 , pp. 287 - 298
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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