What Is Vitamin D?
There are two forms of vitamin D in the diet and supplements: Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol): found in some mushrooms. Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol): found in oily fish, fish liver oil, and egg yolks. D3 is the more powerful of the two types and raises vitamin D levels almost twice as much as D2
Contents
A lack of vitamin D can lead to bone deformities such as rickets in children, and bone pain caused by a condition called osteomalacia in adults. Government advice is that everyone should consider taking a daily vitamin D supplement during the autumn and winter. People at high risk of not getting enough vitamin D, all children aged 1 to 4, and all babies (unless they’re having more than 500ml of infant formula a day) should take a daily supplement throughout the year.
But there is currently not enough evidence to support taking vitamin D solely to prevent or treat COVID-19.
Recent Blog Articles
No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinicia.
Save Citation To File
Ne produced in the skin in amounts estimated up to 25,000 international units (IUs) a day by the action of UVB radiation on 7-dehydrocholesterol.
All patients in our hospital have been routinely screened on admission for vitamin D deficiency since July 2011, and offered supplementation to either correct or prevent deficiency. Due to disease concerns, a few agreed to larger amounts, ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 IUs/day. There have been no cases of vitamin D3 induced hypercalcemia or any adverse events attributable to vitamin D3 supplementation in any patient.
Three patients with psoriasis showed marked clinical improvement in their skin using 20,000 to 50,000 IUs/day. In summary, long-term supplementation with vitamin D3 in doses ranging from 5000 to 50,000 IUs/day appears to be saf.