Exercise, not vitamins, urged to prevent falls in seniors

Global leaders seek to reignite fight against deadly malaria

TAMPA, April 18, (Agencies): Falling is the leading cause of injury-related death among people over age 65, and seniors who want to avoid falls should exercise, not rely on supplements like vitamin D, US guidelines said Tuesday.

The new recommendations from the US Preventive Services Task Force update those last issued in 2012, when the independent medical advisory group was favorable to taking supplements containing vitamin D as a way of preventing fall-related injury.

But unless a person has vitamin D deficiency or a frail bone condition known as osteoporosis, the task force’s latest review of clinical trials on the topic found no benefit for average seniors, and even an increased risk of kidney stones for those who take vitamin D and calcium supplements.

“The USPSTF found adequate evidence that vitamin D supplementation has no benefit in preventing falls in older adults,” said the guidelines published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Instead, the USPSTF “recommends exercise interventions to prevent falls” in those 65 years or older who are at increased risk of falling.

Such exercise may include “supervised individual and group classes and physical therapy,” said the guidelines.

The update was based on a review of 11 randomized, clinical trials involving more than 51,000 people.

“Vitamin D supplementation alone or with calcium was not associated with reduced fracture incidence” among adults without vitamin D deficiency, osteoporosis, or prior fracture, said the report.

According to the most recent data from 2014, nearly 29 percent of US adults 65 years or older reported falling.

Nearly 38 percent “needed medical treatment or restricted activity for a day or longer,” said the JAMA report.

Some 33,000 people died due to falls in 2015.

An accompanying editorial in JAMA said the new recommendation, with its “increased emphasis on exercise, warrants adoption and should prove helpful, especially because exercise interventions reduce injurious falls.”

Getting more exercise can also improve health by lowering the risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, dementia and cancer, it said.

LONDON:

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Renewed action and boosted funding to fight malaria could prevent 350 million cases of the disease in the next five years and save 650,000 lives across Commonwealth countries, health experts said on Wednesday.

Seeking to reignite efforts to wipe out the deadly mosquito-borne disease, philanthropists, business leaders and ministers from donor and malariaaffected countries pledged £2.7 billion ($3.8 billion) to drive research and innovation and improve access to malaria prevention and treatments.

Spearheaded by the Microsoft cofounder and philanthropist Bill Gates, the leaders warned against complacency in fighting malaria — a disease which kills around half a million people, mainly babies and young children, each year.

While enormous progress has been made over the past 20 years in reducing malaria cases and deaths, in 2016, for the first time in a decade, the number of malaria cases was on the rise and in some areas there was a resurgence, according to the World Health Organization.

COPENHAGEN:

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk and aid agency Red Cross have teamed up to try to improve the treatment of chronic diseases among the millions affected by conflicts and humanitarian crises in countries such as Syria and Yemen.

Non-communicable diseases (NCD) such as diabetes and hypertension, also known as chronic diseases, kill 40 million people per year, equivalent to 70 percent of all deaths globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Non-communicable diseases are a silent killer and often overlooked during times of armed conflict,” said Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“If you look at Yemen, Syria, Iraq and beyond, thousands will remain with life-threatening illnesses if they are not able to receive essential medical supplies such as insulin to treat diabetes,” he said.