Vitamin D Update

IOM to release updated recommendations for vitamin D.
The Boston Globe (5/31, Lazar) reported that "a growing body of evidence suggests that substantially boosting a person's intake of vitamin D...may offer protection against heart attacks, high blood pressure, various cancers, falls and fractures in elders, and even depression." However, a study published May 12 in the Journal of the American Medical Association "found that a large, single annual dose of vitamin D, given in roughly 1 1/2 times the amount an adult would typically take during an entire year, actually increased the number of falls and fractures among older women, especially in the first three months after the dosing." Later this year, the Institute of Medicine "is expected to release updated recommendations" for minimal daily requirements of vitamin D.