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By
Older women with low
levels of vitamin B-12 are more likely to experience rapid bone loss,
according to new research published this month in The Journal of Clinical
Endocrinology & Metabolism. The new findings help to establish the
importance of vitamin B-12 in the bone health of women as they age. Vitamin B-12, which is
found in animal products, such as meat, shellfish, milk, cheese and eggs,
is needed to produce red blood cells and maintain a healthy nervous
system. Still, little is known about the vitamin's affects on skeletal
health, specifically among aging women. Researchers at the Through a random, cohort
study of 83 women over the age of 64 who participated in the Study of
Osteoporotic Fractures, researchers archived baseline serum samples and
measured hip bone mineral density in study subjects during two and six
year follow-up examinations. Test results demonstrated that after
adjusting for age, weight and clinic site, women with the lowest levels of
B-12 (below 280 pg/ml) experienced significantly more rapid hip bone loss
than women with higher levels of B-12 (above 280 pg/ml). "While deficiencies
in vitamin B-12 are uncommon among younger women, many older women suffer
from vitamin B-12 deficiency," explains Dr. Stone. "Our research
shows that the women with the lowest levels of vitamin B-12 are at an
increased risk for bone loss in their hips, which could lead to fractures.
We knew that vitamin B-12 benefited the nervous system, but our findings
suggest that it may also benefit bone health." The authors note that
these results indicate that for some elderly women, simple dietary
supplements of vitamin B-12 or multivitamins or dietary modification may
slow the rates of bone loss. "A larger, randomized trial would be needed to determine whether treatment with supplemental vitamin B-12 could reduce rates of bone loss in elderly women," notes Dr. Steve Cummings, one of the investigators on the study. Copyright © 2004
Global Action on Aging |
