Vitamin D and Frailty in Older Adults: A Review

Elderly population is growing rapidly in all parts of the world; therefore, the health related outcomes of aging are important to be studied. Frailty is a major health condition associated with aging that increases the risk of adverse outcomes including falls, disability, and mortality. Nutritional inadequacies such as vitamin D deficiency have been implicated as important factor in increasing the risk of this chronic condition. Deficient vitamin D status has been reported to be common in frail older adults, and it was suggested to be one of the risk factors that might cause muscle weakness, decline in functional capabilities and leads to strength loss. Effects of vitamin D deficiency on frailty might happen through multiple dysregulated pathways including DNA synthesis, protein biosynthesis, mitochondrial function, and cell regulation processes. Results of studies on the effects of vitamin D supplementation on frailty are still inconclusive, and there are not sufficient evidences on vitamin D supplementation in frail patients. So this study has investigated vitamin D and frailty in aging adults.

Keywords:

frailty , Vitamin D deficiency , Adults , Aging , Vitamin D