Low Vitamin B12 Levels Raise Bone Risks

While most commonly associated with postmenopausal women, bone fractures can occur in older men.  Catharina Lewerin, from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden), and colleagues assessed vitamin B12 levels in 1000 Swedish men, average age 75 years. The team observed that those subjects with low B12 levels were more likely than those with normal levels to suffer a bone fracture. Specifically, men with the very lowest B12 levels were 70% more likely to incur a bone fracture, with a propensity for the fracture of the lumbar spine, where there was up to 120% greater chance of fracture.  The study authors cite their “novel data showing that low levels of [vitamin B12] in predicting incident fracture in elderly men.”