New Study Demonstrates Long-Term Impact of Vitamin D Deficiency

Consistent vitamin D intake has been attributed to a wide range of health benefits, including preventing chronic disease and maintaining bone health. Now, researchers at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at SUNY Buffalo are adding to vitamin D’s arsenal of superpowers with their discovery of the vitamin’s ability to improve physical performance as we age.

Over the span of a year, researchers “induced” vitamin D insufficiency in mice who were six months old, which is the equivalent of a 20 to 25-year-old person aging an additional 20 to 25 years. They were evaluated alongside a control group, who were administered healthy levels of vitamin D. The researchers observed a “rapid decline” in the serum levels of the vitamin D-deficient mice and, as a result, had a worse grip endurance, slower sprint speed, and shorter stride length, which could be an indicator of gait speed, a critical clinical criterion in geriatric medicine. After eight months, the mice with low vitamin D levels also had less lean body mass; however, after a year, the body mass levels between the two groups evened out.

“The take-home message of this study is that while having low serum vitamin D for a month or even a year or two may not matter for a person, but over several decades it may have clinical ramifications,” said the study’s lead author Kennth L. Seldeen, PhD, and research assistant professor of medicine.