Vitamin D Depletion and Femoral Bone Loss

Funding Activity

Does something not look right? The information on this page has been harvested from data sources that may not be up to date. We continue to work with information providers to improve coverage and quality. To report an issue, use the .

Funded Activity Summary

Hip fracture remains the most devastating of the osteoporotic fractures particularly in women, in whom the incidence increases to about 3% per annum by the ninth decade. This incidence is bound to increase as the population ages with increasing longevity. Supplementation of diets of elderly female nursing home residents with vitamin D and calcium has been shown to reduce the risk of hip fracture by 30% in two years. However we do not know how much vitamin D is necessary to maintain optimal bone strength. This project will determine the level of vitamin Drequired to maintain optimal bone strength in adult and senescent rats using a simple blood test which could then be used to screen the elderly and identify those at risk a hip fracture from low vitamin D levels. The project will also investigate the effects of vitamin D on bone cells which is necessary to maintain optimal skeletal architecture. This information is essential for comparison with the current knowledge of other biochemical bone markers in blood and vitamin D status in the elderly, in order to develop nutritional recommendations to reduce the incidence of hip fracture.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2004

End Date: 01-01-2006

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $399,750.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Orthopaedics

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Ageing | Bone architecture | Hip fracture | Nutrition | Osteomalacia | Osteoporosis | Vitamin D