Elderly need sunshine

Tues May 12th, 2009

Elderly people should spend time in the sunshine - to cut their risk of heart disease, British researchers have reported.

Regular doses of sunlight can boost vitamin D levels in the elderly, according to a study from Warwick University.

The study, reported in the journal Diabetes Care, says low levels of vitamin D are link to metabolic syndrome, a precursor of diabetes and heart disease.

The researchers studied more than 3,000 people aged between 50 and 70 in Beijing and Shanghai, China.

Some 92 per cent of people had vitamin D deficiency and 42 per cent of these had metabolic syndrome.

Researcher Dr Oscar Franco said: "Vitamin D deficiency is becoming a condition that is causing a large burden of disease across the globe with particular deleterious impact among the elderly.

"Our results are consistent with those found in British and American populations. We found that low vitamin D levels were associated with an increased risk of having metabolic syndrome, and was also significantly associated with increased insulin resistance."

He added: "As we get older our skin is less efficient at forming vitamin D and our diet may also become less varied, with a lower natural vitamin D content. Most importantly, however, the dermal production of vitamin D following a standard exposure to UVB light decreases with age because of atrophic skin changes.

"When we are older we may need to spend more time outdoors to stimulate the same levels of vitamin D we had when we were younger."

Tags: UK News | Elderly Health | Heart Health | Nutrition & Healthy Eating | Diabetes | Asia