The importance of Vitamin D and Calcium in preventing fractures in the elderly

Abstract

Today there is a clear fact that demographically the population is increasing and the longevity of the elderly has become determent almost in all regions of the world. In order to keep a good quality of life of these elderly besides the increase in number of years it is important to distinguish the elderly at risk of certain disease that will increase their morbidity and mortality in the last years of their life. Anyone passes through physical changes as they age and mainly these changes are related to loss of muscle mass, organ tissues, skeletal mass. There are organs and tissues that can replenish themselves up to a limited extend, but there are organs that do not replenish themselves and this is because its responsive cells do not regenerate, in this group we can include the brain which is vulnerable to irreversible damaged cells. The skeletal system is the one most affected with ageing. To maintain a healthy skeletal system it takes a lifetime care of and prevention of any consequences in the late years of life is very much bound to the careful anticipation. The fragility of bone due to a lack of calcium and vitamin D is very common and this leads to osteoporosis with an impact to fracture. Due to these physical changes of the skeletal system fractures are common in elderly. Due to this 1/3 of women over the age 65 will have vertebral fractures, 1/3 of women and 1/6 of men of extreme old age will have hip fractures and 20% of these will be fatal (Allan D. Marks MD). Osteoporosis is the most crippling disease and is the cause of 1,5 million fractures in the USA with the annual cost of $10 billion by the year 1992 and it is estimated that this will reach up to $ 62 billion by the year 2020. In the United Kingdom osteoporosis is the cause of 200,000 fractures per year with an annual cost to the National Health Service over £940 million. [...]