The benefits of vitamin D
supplementation for postmenopausal women have been widely debated. But a new
study from Sao Paulo, Brazil, now documents that vitamin D supplementation can
significantly increase muscle strength and reduce the loss of body muscle mass
in women as late as 12+ years after menopause. The study results will be
presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of The North American Menopause Society
(NAMS), which begins September 30 in Las Vegas.
Vitamin D deficiency is a common
problem in postmenopausal women worldwide, creating muscle weakness and a
greater tendency for falling. The double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was
conducted over a nine-month period. Muscle mass was estimated by total-body DXA
(dual energy X-ray absorptiometry), as well as by handgrip strength and through
a chair-rising test.
At the end of the trial, the women
receiving the supplements demonstrated a significant increase (+25.3%) in
muscle strength, while those receiving the placebo actually lost an average of
6.8% of muscle mass. Women not receiving Vitamin D supplements were also nearly
two times as likely to fall.
"We concluded that the
supplementation of Vitamin D alone provided significant protection against the
occurrence of sarcopenia, which is a degenerative loss of skeletal muscle, says
Dr. L.M. Cangussu, one of the lead authors of the study from the Botucatu
Medical School at Sao Paulo State University.
"While this study is unlikely to
decide the debate over Vitamin D, it provides further evidence to support the
use of vitamin D supplements by postmenopausal women in an effort to reduce
frailty and an increased risk of falling," says NAMS Executive Director
Wulf H. Utian, MD, PhD, DSc(Med).
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