Loss of muscle strength –sarcopenia – one of the suspects is vitamin D

Sarcopenia: Pharmacology today and tomorrow

Journal of Pharocology and Experimental Theraputics August 28, 2012

Marco P Brotto brottom@umkc.edu, and Eduardo L Abreu

University of Missouri-Kansas City

Sarcopenia remains largely undiagnosed and undertreated, because of the lack of a universally accepted definition, effective ways to measure it, and identification of the outcomes that should guide treatment efficacy. An ever growing number of clinicians and researchers along with funding and regulatory agencies have gradually recognized that sarcopenia is a human condition that requires both prevention and treatment. In this "Pharmacology in Perspective: article, we briefly reviewed sarcopenia; its common and less known pharmacological treatments, and attempted to define sarcopenia in its broader context, and presented some new ideas for potential future treatment for this devastating condition. ?

Figure 1:Interventions

The following is clipped from the PDF which is at the bottom of this page

d) Vitamin D:

It is now very well established that low levels of blood vitamin D levels are associated with decreased muscle strength and statin-induced myopathy, but vitamin D supplementation results are still under investigation. Given the beneficial results of calcium + vitamin D supplementation on bone function (Recker et al., 2006), it is expected that correcting vitamin D levels will also be beneficial for muscle function. Furthermore, results might also be dependent on the form of Vitamin D used and whether vitamin D intake is combined or not with calcium. We believe that it will be important to follow individuals longitudinally and test their muscle function as a function of age and levels of calcium plus vitamin D. In addition, vitamin D supplementation might be beneficial for overall health, since Lappe and colleagues have recently reported a 63% reduction in all types of cancers in subjects receiving vitamin D3 (figure 2C) supplementation (Lappe et al., 2007).

Loss of muscle strength seems to happens when away from sunlight:

• Age – especially if in a senior center, no longer in parks, no longer gardening, etc.

• Long time in bed (hospital, etc)

• Long time in space

See also VitaminDWiki

• Added 1 lb of muscle to sarcopenia adults in 13 weeks with just 800 IU vitamin D and protein – RCT Jan 2017

• NASA thinks spacestation personnel only need 800 IU of vitamin D – Sept 2012 Loss of muscle strength while in space

• Sarcopenia (muscle loss) fought by Vitamin D, exercise and protein - many studies many studies

• Osteosarcopenic obesity (obese with low bone and muscle mass) twice as likely if low vitamin D – Oct 2016

• Vitamin D and bicarbonate perhaps synergistically reduce muscle loss – June 2013

• Extraskeletal effects of vitamin D – May 2011 includes muscle loss

• Vitamin D improves muscle strength if deficient – meta-analysis - Oct 2010

• Overview Seniors and Vitamin D

17+ VitaminDWiki pages containing SARCOPENIA in title

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