High doses of Vit B tied to hip fractures

Large doses of vitamin B supplements are linked to an increased risk for hip fracture in older women, researchers report. The observational study, in JAMA Network Open, included 75,864 women over 30 years. Researchers found that the more of either supplement consumed, the higher the risk for fracture. The recommended dietary allowance for healthy women older than 50 — 2.4 micrograms of B12 and 1.5 milligrams of B6 — would be fulfilled by eating 6 ounces of cooked tuna. One tablet of Centrum Silver, however, contains 50 micrograms of B12 and 5 milligrams of B6.

Being a dog person may be in your genes

If you like dogs, it may be in your genes. Swedish researchers reported in Scientific Reports that if one identical female twin owned a dog, there was a 40% likelihood that her twin would compared with a 25% likelihood with fraternal females. When an identical male twin owned a dog, there was a 29% likelihood that his twin did, compared with 18% for fraternal males. Identical twins share 100% of their genes while fraternal twins share 50%.

Fatal falls in seniors rising in recent years

New research in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows fatal falls have nearly tripled in older Americans in recent years, rising to more than 25,000 deaths yearly. Weight-bearing exercise such as walking; balance exercises; and resistance exercises can also reduce risks for falls, Dr. Marco Pahor wrote an accompanying editorial.

News services