FUNCTION AMONG POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS
EXCLI Journal 2019;18:591-603 http://dx.doi.org/10.17179/excli2019-1386
Reza Tabrizi1, 2, Jamal Hallajzadeh3, Naghmeh Mirhosseini4, Kamran B Lankarani5, Najmeh Maharlouei5, Maryam Akbari1, Zatollah Asemi*6
Items in both categories Seniors and Sports are listed here:
- Protein, muscles, bones and Vitamin D - many studies
- More muscle strength 80 years after being born in warm season (no surprise) – Nov 2022
- Resistance training can be aided by Vitamin D, 50,000 IU monthly is not often enough – RCT Dec 2021
- Exercise training by seniors may benefit from as little as 800 IU of vitamin D – Sept 2021
- Low muscle strength predicts low vitamin D level in elderly – March 2021
- Omega-3 improves elderly muscles – 2 meta-analyses
- Adding just a little vitamin D does not help (muscle mass in this case) – meta-analysis Jan 2021
- Sarcopenia (muscle loss) is 1.6X more likely if poor Vitamin D receptor – July 2020
- Less muscle loss associated with eating more fish (Omega-3, Vitamin D, Magnesium, etc) – Jan 2020
- My balance significantly improved at age 73 (perhaps Vitamin D, B12, or Omega-3) – Jan 2020
- Reduced muscle function in mice lacking Vitamin D Receptors in muscles – June 2019
- Muscles of senior women not helped by just vitamin D (also need exercise) – Aug 2019
- Muscle loss (sarcopenia) may be both prevented and treated by Omega-3 – Feb 2019
- Exercise plus vitamin D increases elderly muscles (Nordic walking in this case) – RCT Sept 2018
- Dietary Protein, Muscle and Physical Function in the Very Old – July 2018
- Postmenopausal women need Vitamin D, protein and exercise to prevent loss of muscle and bone – Aug 2018
- Sarcopenia reduction: Protein, Leucine, Omega-3, Vitamin D, and exercise - hypothesis Aug 2018
- Disability was 1.9 X more likely if weak muscles and low vitamin D two years before – Aug 2018
- Muscle problems are both treated and avoided by Vitamin D – April 2018
- Sarcopenia does not officially exist in Australia, but 1 in 3 of their seniors have it - July 2018
- Nordic Walking and 4,000 IU of vitamin D lowered cholesterol, fat, weight, and lipids (senior women) – RCT Feb 2018
- Overweight senior women with low vitamin D were 12X more likely to be weak – Feb 2018
- Seniors gained 0.3 kg of muscle in 6 weeks with 800 IU and Leucine protein – Aug 2017
- Resistance exercise combined with Vitamin D is great for seniors – meta-analysis July 2017
- Fast twitch muscles increased by Vitamin D in athletes and seniors (reduce falling) – Oct 2016
- Sarcopenia: Nutrition and physical activity – systematic review – Jan 2017
- More fast twitch muscles (IIA) are associated with higher levels of Vitamin D – Feb 2017
- Muscle strength of senior women increased 25 percent with vitamin D, decreased 6 percent with placebo – Oct 2016
- Senior muscles increased somewhat with Omega-3 – RCT July 2015
- Improved muscle function in postmenopausal women with just 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily – RCT May 2015
- Vitamin D supplementation help muscles of seniors who are vitamin D deficient – meta-analysis July 2014
- Elderly lower limb muscle strength improved with Vitamin D supplementation - Meta-analysis Oct 2013
- Low Vitamin D breaks down muscle by interferring with protein - Editorial Nov 2013
- Physical performance of seniors increases with vitamin D up to 30 ng – Jan 2013
- Activity and being outdoors helps seniors – GPS and Vitamin D Dec 2012
- Type 2 muscles, not all muscles, get benefit from Vitamin D - Dec 2012
- Sarcopenia (muscle loss) fought by Vitamin D, exercise and protein - many studies
- Senior women more physically able if vitamin D higher than 30 ng – Sept 2011
- Seniors with more than 20 ng of vitamin D were 14 percent stronger – May 2011
- Vitamin D2 intervention increased elderly muscle strength – Nov 2010
- Vitamin D improves muscle strength if deficient – meta-analysis - Oct 2010
 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
The loss of muscle mass and its strength is one of the most critical changes in aging which is associated with an increased risk of falls, osteoporotic fractures and mobility disability. Vitamin D, with its extra-skeletal benefits, might improve muscle function in elderly. The current systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to summarize available relevant data and determine the effect of vitamin D supplementation on muscle function among postmenopausal women. We reached databases including; Cochrane library, Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science database until the end of May 2018 to identify relevant published RCTs. Heterogeneity among included studies was assessed using Q-test and I2 statistics. Random-effect model was applied to pool data and weighted mean difference (WMD) was calculated representing summary effect size. Outcomes of interest included the effects of vitamin D supplementation on hand grip strength (HGS), back muscle strength (BMS), and Timed Up and Go (TUG). Twelve RCTs out of 1739 potential reports were included in our meta-analysis. The pooled findings showed that vitamin D supplementation had no significant effect on HGS (WMD -0.03 kilogram (Kg); 95 % CI, -0.26, 0.20; P=0.78), BMS (WMD 7.21 newton (N); 95 % CI, -5.98, 20.40; P=0.28), and TUG (WMD 0.01 second (S); 95 % CI, -0.17, 0.18; P=0.93) in postmenopausal women. Overall, the current meta-analysis showed that taking vitamin D supplementation by postmenopausal women did not affect markers of muscle function. Further studies are required to confirm the effect of vitamin D supplementation on markers of muscle function.