Vitamin

D intake was not a significant predictor in either sex. Intakes of this vitamin are considerably below the reference or recommended intakes for the majority of this age group, 10 μg/day being the recommendation for people aged 65 years and over in the UK [33–35] and 15 μg/day for people aged 70 years and over in the USA [36, 37]; yet, <5% of these British community-living survey participants had (estimated) vitamin D intakes of 10 μg/day or above [5]. Use of over-the-counter dietary supplements appeared not to be click here a major driver of the association between the nutrients studied (by status or intake) and mortality prediction, except possibly in the case of 25(OH)D. One possible reason why the observed ranges of intakes and status indices were very wide may be that only a subset of the survey respondents was regularly buy EPZ-6438 using dietary (nutrient) supplements [5]. A wide range of parathyroid hormone concentrations may imply the existence of secondary hyperparathyroidism in some of the subjects

[11]. There was some evidence that the (modest) predictive power of 25(OH)D could be attenuated by deletion of those subjects who died within 2 years of the baseline survey, suggesting that it may be disproportionately driven by subjects with a preexisting morbidity. There were too few respondents who were taking prescribed drugs for treatment of musculoskeletal conditions at baseline, and too little information available about chronic medical conditions at baseline, for it to be possible to include these potential factors meaningfully in the prediction models used in the present study. Anthropometry With regard to the anthropometric indices that were included in the present study, it is noteworthy that in both sexes, both body weight and mid-upper arm circumference were robust predictors of mortality, Y-27632 2HCl higher values of both predicting lower risk. Body weight

was the stronger predictor in men, whereas arm circumference was a stronger predictor in women. Body mass index, in both sexes, provided little prediction and waist circumference (as an index of fatness) offered essentially none. However, reduced body weight did predict shorter survival in both sexes rather than the opposite prediction, as is generally observed in younger adults. The fact that none of the selected nutrient status indices or nutrient intake estimates survived into multivariable models seems consistent with the view that these nutrient predictors of mortality may reflect physiological or pathological processes, such as renal function or acute phase status. Conclusion A number of baseline (survey) indices having known associations with bone health significantly predicted subsequent all-cause mortality (i.e. survival duration) in older British adults.