Vitamin D plays an important role in regulating the body’s absorption of calcium and phosphorus, as well as keeping the brain and immune system functioning. And now researchers from the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) and University College London (United Kingdom) have shown that the substance also reduces the risk of muscle weakness by 78% – a condition that in medical jargon is called dynapenia.
This weakness can be partially explained by muscle atrophy and is considered an important risk factor for physical disability in aging. People with dynapenia have a higher incidence of falls, hospitalization, early institutionalization and premature death.
In the study, published in the journal Calcified Tissue International and Musculoskeletal Research, researchers analyzed 3,205 Britons aged over 50 followed for four years as part of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA) project. The work was supported by FAPESP.
proof
“It is known that vitamin D participates in several functions in the body. It is actually a hormone and among its various actions is muscle repair and also the release of calcium to contract the muscle. [cinética da contração muscular]