In school we’re taught an “A” is always better than a “D,” but a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows Vitamin D could be exactly what your bones need. The study, which reanalyzed 11 clinical trials involving more than 30,000 people over the age of 64, reveals Vitamin D can help lower the risk of bone fracture. When participants took 800 units or more of Vitamin D per day, their risk of hip fracture lowered by nearly 30 percent. Their risk for all other fractures lowered by nearly 14 percent.

To put this in perspective, the typical American diet provides 300 mg of Vitamin D daily, which is less than half the amount ingested in the study mentioned above. Vitamin D is found in very few foods and is most commonly ingested as a supplement or produced as the result of sun rays.

Still, hip fractures affect an estimated 850 people per day. That’s a staggering number and with the population living longer, the number of cases will continue to rise. That’s why Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville is dedicated to prevention.

Here are some common characteristics that put people at risk for a broken hip, compliments of our friends at the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons:

• Age. The rate increases for people 65 and older.
• Gender. Women have two to three times as many hip fractures as men.
• Heredity. A family history of fractures in later life, particularly in Caucasians and Asians and a small-boned, slender body.
• Nutrition. A low calcium dietary intake or reduced ability to absorb calcium.
• Personal habits. Smoking or excessive alcohol use.
• Physical impairments. Physical frailty, arthritis, poor balance and coordination and poor eyesight.
• Mental impairments. Senility, dementia (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease).
• Medications. Weakness or dizziness due to adverse side effects of medication.

If you are 65 years or older, we urge you to take care of what you can control. Stop smoking and cut back on alcohol consumption. Also, eat a healthy and balanced diet rich in calcium and Vitamin D. Hopefully, you can avoid becoming one of the many victims of this debilitating injury.

Tags: Bone and Joint Health, Bone health, Broken Hip, fracture, fractured hip, Hip Fracture, Hip replacement, OAZ, Orthopaedic Associates of Zanesville, Physical Therapy Columbus Ohio, Zanesville Ohio Orthopaedic Surgeon