Some researchers from University College London, in the United Kingdom, and from the Federal University of São Carlos, the UFSCar carried out recent research that demonstrates that, in addition to maintaining the functioning of the immune system and the brain and absorbing phosphorus and calcium in the body, the vitamin D reduces the danger of muscle weakness by 78%.
Such weakness is called dynapenia in medicine and is seen as a very relevant factor for falls in old age, which can lead to early institutionalization, hospitalization and even premature death.
The study was carried out with 3,205 Britons over 50 years of age, who were followed for four years in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) project. It was published in Calcified Tissue International and Musculoskeletal Research and is supported by FAPESP.
The professor of the Department of Gerontology at UFSCar, who was the research advisor, Tiago da Silva Alexandre informed that muscle and bone tissues are interconnected, in addition to physically and mechanically, also in a biochemical way. he said to Estadão that, “for this reason, endocrine disorders, such as vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency, favor the loss of bone mineral density, as well as the decrease in muscle mass, strength and function”.
The survey chose people over 50 years old with neuromuscular strength equal to or greater than 26 kilograms for men and equal to or greater than 16 kilograms for women. And, over the four years, those who had vitamin D deficiency at the beginning of the research had a 70% greater chance of developing muscle weakness compared to those who had the vitamin at normal levels.
The importance of vitamin D
In addition to the already mentioned importance in the absorption of phosphorus and calcium, vitamin D is also traditionally recognized by medicine as one of the fundamental substances in bone strengthening and in the prevention of diseases such as osteoporosis and rickets in childhood.
However, the importance of this vitamin goes much further, and several recent studies point to a relationship between the absence of vitamin D and the occurrence of some chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, multiple sclerosis, depression and some types of cancer, which may have influence even on infectious diseases, such as viruses and tuberculosis.
How to prevent vitamin D deficiency
Finally, according to Professor Alexandre, for our body to synthesize vitamin D, we need to sunbathe with our body exposed. He reiterates saying that “you need to explain to people that insufficiency and deficiency of vitamin D increase the risk of developing loss of muscle strength. Therefore, it is necessary to say that these people need to be more exposed to the sun, follow a diet with foods rich in vitamin D or take supplements and practice resistance exercise to maintain strength”.