Vitamin D Deficiency

Sources of Information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D#Dietary_intake,
https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/benefits-vitamin-d, https://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/vitamin-d-deficiency

What is Vitamin D?

  • Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids.
  • It is a family of vitamins that includes D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5.
  • The most important one is D3, which chemically is cholecalciferol, and made in the skin from 7-dehydrocholesterol, when exposed to UVB light of wavelengths between 270 and 300 nm.

Sources of Vitamin D

  1. Human body produces vitamin D3 naturally when it is directly exposed to sunlight.
  2. Certain foods rich in vitamin D3.
  3. Food supplements for vitamin D3.

Functions of Vitamin D in Human Body

  1. The most vital function of Vitamin D is increasing the intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium and phosphate.
  2. Strengthening the normal immune system.
  3. Getting a sufficient amount of vitamin D is important for normal growth and development of bones and teeth.
  4. Vitamin D reduces depression and anxiety.
  5. Research suggests that vitamin D may also play a role in improving resistance against certain diseases, namely, reducing the risk of multiple sclerosis (2006, Journal of the American Medical Association), reducing the chances of developing heart disease ( 2008, Circulation), and reducing likelihood of developing flu (2010, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)

Vitamin-D Requirement of Body

The recommendation of Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, USA on requirement of vitamin D of the human body in terms of International Units (IUs) per day is given below. The requirement in terms of µg/day (or mcg/day) is also shown based on the conversion formula “1 µg or 1 mcg = 40 IU”.

  1. Children and teens: 600 IU/day     [15 µg/day or mcg/day]
  2. Adults up to the age of 70 years: 600 IU/day     [15 µg/day or mcg/day]
  3. Adults over the age of 70 years: 800 IU/day     [20 µg/day or mcg/day]
  4. Pregnant or breastfeeding women: 600 IU/day     [15 µg/day or mcg/day]

What is Vitamin-D Deficiency?

Most people get enough vitamin D to meet the requirement of their body through food and by exposure to sunlight. So, vitamin-D deficiency is not a concern to them.

A level of 20 to 50 nanograms/milliliter (ng/ml) of vitamin D in the blood is considered adequate for healthy people. A level less than 12 ng/ml indicates vitamin-D deficiency. However, people with vitamin-D may not have any symptoms and, therefore, blood test in a pathological laboratory is required to detect or confirm vitamin-D deficiency. Also called as hypo-vitaminosis D, the vitamin-D deficiency is common these days.

Reasons of Vitamin-D Deficiency

Many factors that can be responsible for not getting sufficient amounts of vitamin D through the sun alone, include:

  1. Living or working in an area with high pollution
  2. Use of sunscreen
  3. Spending more time indoors
  4. Living in big cities where tall buildings block sunlight
  5. Having darker skin (the higher the levels of melanin, the less vitamin D the skin can absorb)
  6. Exposure to sun-light through windows (because glass almost completely blocks UVB light).

Symptoms of Vitamin-D Deficiency

Some of the symptoms that may appear due to vitamin-D deficiency are:

  1. Tiredness, aches and pains, and a general sense of not feeling well
  2. Severe bone or muscle pain or weakness that may cause difficulty in climbing stairs or getting up from the floor or a low chair, or may need walking with a waddling gait*
  3. Stress fractures, especially in legs, pelvis and hips.

Food Sources of Vitamin D

Only a few foods contain vitamin D naturally. Because of this, some foods sold in the market are fortified, which means that vitamin D has been added to the natural food. Foods that contain vitamin D naturally or have been fortified with vitamin D include:

  • Salmon
  • Sardines
  • Egg yolk
  • Shrimp
  • Milk (fortified)
  • Cereal (fortified)
  • Yogurt (fortified)
  • Orange juice (fortified)

Necessity of Vitamin-D Supplements

If you don’t get enough vitamin D each day through sun exposure and food, taking vitamin-D supplements under medical advice would be necessary.

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*Waddling Gait is a type of gait abnormality, in which the affected patient walks like a duck. It means that when walking the part of the pelvis of the leg moving forward moves outward and the part of the leg which is normally placed moves inward. The reason for waddling gait abnormality is weakness of the proximal muscles of the pelvic girdle which causes weakness of the gluteus muscles. In order to overcome this weakness, the patient moves the upper body forwards and drags the lower leg forward. (Source of Information: https://www.epainassist.com/brain/what-is-waddling-gait).