The role of vitamin D on the rate of falls and the postural balance in postmenopausal women

• Grant number: 11/14447-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2012
• End date: June 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Maternal and Child Health
• Principal Investigator: Eliana Aguiar Petri Nahás
• Grantee: Eliana Aguiar Petri Nahás
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FMB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Jorge Nahas Neto

Abstract

In postmenopausal women, the prevalence of complaints related to postural balance manifests as balance, gait deviations, instability, especially falls. These are responsible for 90% of the growing number of hip fractures and they are the sixth leading cause of death among women over 65 years. Reduce your risk is a way to minimize the cost of health care for postmenopausal women, and becomes possible as determinants of the falls are identified and proposed interventions. The important role played by vitamin D related to the postural balance and characteristics of muscle is under investigation, and his research will allow the early identification of postmenopausal women predisposed to sarcopenia and fall risk, enabling early intervention. However, the literature has few studies directed to postmenopausal women, in order to prevent or at least delay the changes in postural balance in this population. If there is a relationship between serum levels of vitamin D and postural balance, our hypothesis is that vitamin D supplementation in postmenopausal women with a history of falls could provide significant reduction in rates of falls and consequently of osteoporotic fractures. It is expected that the project evaluating the effects of vitamin D supplementation on postural balance in postmenopausal women able to identify the patients at risk for falls thus proposing preventive measures - such as replacement of vitamin D to reduce the occurrence of falls, important cause of fracture in this population, affecting considerably the quality of life of patients followed at the Climacteric and Menopause Clinic of the Botucatu Medical School, UNESP. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CANGUSSU, LUCIANA MENDES; NAHAS-NETO, JORGE; ORSATTI, CLAUDIO LERA; POLONI, PRISCILA FERREIRA; SCHMITT, ENEIDA BOTEON; ALMEIDA-FILHO, BENEDITO; PETRI NAHAS, ELIANA AGUIAR. Effect of isolated vitamin D supplementation on the rate of falls and postural balance in postmenopausal women fallers: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. MENOPAUSE-THE JOURNAL OF THE NORTH AMERICAN MENOPAUSE SOCIETY, v. 23, n. 3, p. 267-274, MAR 2016. (11/14447-1)

CANGUSSU, L. M.; NAHAS-NETO, J.; ORSATTI, C. L.; BUELONI-DIAS, F. N.; NAHAS, E. A. P.. Effect of vitamin D supplementation alone on muscle function in postmenopausal women: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. OSTEOPOROSIS INTERNATIONAL, v. 26, n. 10, p. 2413-2421, OCT 2015. (11/14447-1)