In Brief: Vitamin D may prevent falls

Vitamin D pills may help you stay on your feet, but it seems to take some fairly high doses for the vitamin to have a stabilizing effect, according to an analysis by Swiss researchers.

Previous findings had already seeded hope that vitamin D might prevent falls by apparently improving people's strength and balance. Swiss researchers got a bird's eye view of the situation by amassing the data from eight controlled trials that included a total of almost 2,500 people, most of whom were women (81%) and on the older side (an average age of 80).