By David Liu, Ph.D.

Friday July 29, 2011 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study of data from 26 studies suggests that maintaining sufficient plasma levels of vitamin D can help prevent falls in elderly people.

Mohammad Hassan Murad of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and colleagues searched electronic databases which carry research articles from inception through Aug. 2010 and identified 26 trials of moderate quality on the effect of vitamin D and incidence of falls.

The study of data from 45,782 participants with the majority female and elderly shows that use of vitamin D was associated with 14 percent reduced risk of falls. 

The protective effect was particularly significant in those who were vitamin D deficient at baseline or used vitamin D together with calcium.

But the quality of the data was not high, the authors acknowledged.

The study was published online on July 27, 2011 on the website of The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Vitamin D is not just good for bone health.  Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with more than 100 health conditions including heart disease, cancer and diabetes.