More muscle response when have adequate vitamin D

An excellent study showed why vitamin D helps muscle response.

The image below was photographed from a Vitamin D encyclopedia edited by Feldman and published in 2005.
The original information, as you can see on the image, was published in 2000
Summary: The muscle force increased by 50% when the person had adequate level of vitamin D

The same electrical pulse was given to a leg muscle before, during, and after the addition of vitamin D to their diet
People with low level of vitamin D initially had the least reaction to the pulse: N = 50 approx
The strength of the reaction to the pulse increased over months of adding vitamin D ( does not mention how much vitamin D)
until the strength of the reaction (the kick) was measured to be N = 75 approx.

This implies that elderly will fall less if they have enough vitamin D
The muscles will put out 50% more force when given a brain signal to react fall type situation.

This increased force is probably due to the vitamin D improving the Calcium metabolism, which is essential for muscle activity.

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See also VitaminDWiki

• all items in the Sports and D category 287 items
• Vitamin D supplementation increases strength of lower muscles – Meta-analysis April 2019
• Muscles improved in women with 50,000 IU vitamin D weekly (8 weeks) plus daily Magnesium – RCT Sept 2020

Falls and Fractures category in VitaminDWiki contains the following

• 261 items in FALLS and FRACTURES
• Vitamin D and Calcium cost-effectively reduce falls and fractures – April 2019
• see also Overview Seniors and Vitamin D
  • Overview Fractures and Falls and Vitamin D
  • Overview Fractures and vitamin D
  • Muscles and Vitamin D - many studies

Falls

• Fall prevention - Vitamin D is one of the ways - umbrella review Jan 2024
• Deaths due to falls doubled in just a decade (age-adjusted, perhaps decreased vitamin D) – June 2019
• Preventing Falls in Older Adults – Vitamin D combination is the best - JAMA Meta-analysis Nov 2017
• Falls cut in half by 100,000 IU vitamin D monthly - RCT 2016
• Falls reduced by a third if achieved 40 ng level vitamin D– RCT Sept 2018
  • Note: It took 6 months to get to that level. Most trials last only 3 months
• Vitamin D prevents falls – majority of meta-analyses conclude – meta-meta analysis Feb 2015
• Falls reduced by Vitamin D: 13 percent reduction if more than 700 IU – review of 38 trials – Aug 2022

Left hand column section as of Nov 2024

Fracture

• Hip fractures are predicted by 10 factors – low Vitamin D was the biggest risk – Aug 2023
• Vitamin D and fractures – 24 meta-analyses and counting – Dec 2014
• Low trauma bone fractures in seniors – considering Vitamin D loading dose for all, without testing – Nov 2019
• Vitamin K (any amount and any kind) reduced bone fractures by 24 percent – meta-analysis – May 2019
• 77+ Hip fracture items in VitaminDWiki title   Click here for details examples:
  • Risk of Hip fracture cut in half if Vitamin D was prescribed - Aug 2023
  • Call to action: Vitamin D to prevent of treat hip fracture (50,000 weekly for 8 weeks, then bi-weekly) – Holick July 2020