Vitamin D deficiency can increase the risk of falls and fractures and is common in elderly patients attending fall clinics.

This study builds on earlier research in rats that found that mushrooms treated with UVB were a rich source of vitamin D.

A case study of a 30-year-old Indian male, deficient in vitamin D, who was living in south-east England found that eating UVB-treated mushrooms on a daily basis for three months increased serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels by 129 per cent.

But the researchers, from Crosby House Surgery in Slough, Berkshire, conclude that further studies including randomised controlled trials are required in order to test this hypothesis.

sanjay.tanday@haymarket.com

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