[Vitamin D in relation to frailty and locomotive syndrome]

Frailty is an extremely common and serious health problem in the elderly. Frailty has been described as "a biologic syndrome of decreased reserve and resistance to stressors, resulting from cumulative declines across multiple physiologic systems and causing vulnerability to adverse health outcomes" by Fried and colleagues. Frailty is associated with incident falls, functional limitation, disability, and mortality. There are many reports that vitamin D deficiency may play roles in diabetes mellitus, cancers, multiple sclerosis, and other autoimmune diseases, and was associated with poorer physical performance, falls and fractures, and a greater risk of nursing home admission. Recently, researches suggest that vitamin D may provide treatment and prevention from these diseases lead to frailty. Vitamin D is expected to be a treatment for frailty in an aging society.