Critters Key to Aging and Cancer?

Vitamin D Deficiency Could Make You Fat!

(American Health Newswire) - Not getting enough of the "sun vitamin?" It could be causing you to gain weight! A new study states older women with insufficient levels of vitamin D gained more weight than those with sufficient levels of the vitamin.

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon did a study to test this phenomenon. The study of more than 4,600 women ages 65 and older, found that over nearly five years, those with insufficient levels of vitamin D in their blood gained about two pounds more than those with adequate levels of the vitamin.

"This is one of the first studies to show that women with low levels of vitamin D gain more weight, and although it was only two pounds, over time that can add up," Erin Leblanc, MD, an endocrinologist at the center was quoted saying.

"Our study only shows an association between insufficient levels of vitamin D and weight gain, we would need to do more studies before recommending the supplements to keep people from gaining weight," LeBlanc said added.

 This study was conducted among older women who, for the most part, were not trying to lose weight, though some of them did so as a natural result of aging. About 60-percent of the 4,659 women in the study remained at a stable weight over the 4.5-year study period, 27-percent lost more than 5-percent of their body weight, and 12-percent gained more than 5-percent of their body weight.

78-percent of women in the study had less than 30 nanograms per millimeter of vitamin D in their blood, the level defined as sufficient by The Endocrine Society panel of experts who set clinical guidelines on vitamin D deficiency. These women had higher baseline weight to begin with: 148.6 pounds, compared with 141.6 pounds for women whose Vitamin D levels were 30 ng/ml or above. Insufficient levels had no association with weight changes in the entire group of women, or in the group that lost weight. But in the group of 571 women who gained weight, those with insufficient vitamin D levels gained more, 18.5 pounds over five years, than women who had sufficient vitamin D. The latter group gained 16.4 pounds over the same period.

Source: Journal of Women's Health, June 2012

Vitamin D With Calcium Could Add Years to Your Life

(American Health Newswire) -- In 2008, 39 million people in the U.S. were 65 or older. How much longer will they live? A new study could help them tack on a few more years!

It suggests that a specific combination of supplements can reduce the rate of mortality in seniors, therefore providing a possible means of increasing life expectancy. The study assessed mortality among patients randomized to either vitamin D alone or vitamin D with calcium.

In this study, researchers used pooled data from eight randomized controlled trials with more than 1,000 participants each. The patient data set was comprised of nearly 90 percent women, with a median age of 70 years. During the three-year study, death was reduced by 9 percent in those treated with vitamin D and calcium.

"Our research showed reduced mortality in elderly patients using vitamin D supplements in combination with calcium, but these results were not found in patients on vitamin D alone." Lars Rejnmark, PhD, of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark was quoted saying.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism

Senior Achievement Program Detail 2012