Scientists from Central South University and elsewhere found that some vitamin nutrient supplements may increase fall risk in people with diabetes.
Falls are a threat to the health of older adults and can reduce their ability to remain independent.
Every second of every day, an older adult (age 65+) suffers a fall in the U.S.—making falls the leading cause of injury and injury death in this age group.
Each year at least 300,000 older people are hospitalized for hip fractures. More than 95% of hip fractures are caused by falling—usually by falling sideways. Women fall more often than men and account for three-quarters of all hip fractures.
In the current study, researchers aimed to assess the associations of vitamin and/or nutritional supplements with falls in people with diabetes.
They used data from 9,141 and 21,489 middle-aged adults with diabetes from the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial and UK Biobank.
The team examined the use of VNS at the beginning of the study, and fall events were recorded using annual questionnaires and electric records in UK Biobank during follow-up.
The team found about 46% of patients in ACCORD and 11% of patients in UK Biobank experienced falls during the follow-up, respectively.
In ACCORD, VNS use was linked to an increased risk of falls.
In UK Biobank, despite no strong association between VNS overall and in-patient fall, vitamin B, calcium, and iron use increased the risk of falls strongly.
Based on the study, the team concludes that the use of specific VNS increased the risk of falls among people with diabetes. The use of nutritional supplements for people with diabetes might be inadvisable.
The research was published in Frontiers in Nutrition and conducted by Lingfang He et al.
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