This isn’t an easy topic to write about nor is it an easy topic to find information about since it’s quite complex.
Definitions
Common manifestations of vitamin D deficiency are symmetric low back pain, proximal muscle weakness, muscle aches, and throbbing bone pain elicited with pressure over the sternum or tibia. The goal of treatment is to normalize vitamin D levels to relieve symptoms and decrease the risk of fractures, falls, and other adverse health outcomes. To prevent vitamin D deficiency, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants and children receive at least 400 IU per day from diet and supplements.
After vitamin D levels normalize, experts recommend maintenance dosages of cholecalciferol (vitamin D 3 ) at 800 to 1,000 IU per day from dietary and supplemental sources. In the 19th century, vitamin D deficiency was identified as the cause of the rickets epidemic in children living in industrialized cities. Vitamin D plays an important role in skeletal development, bone health maintenance, and neuromuscular functioning.
Symptoms And Health Risks Of Vitamin D Deficiency
Symptoms of bone pain and muscle weakness can mean you have a vitamin D deficiency. However, for many people, the symptoms are subtle. Low blood levels of the vitamin have been associated with the following: Increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease
Cognitive impairment in older adults
Severe asthma in children
Cancer Research suggests that vitamin D could play a role in the prevention and treatment of a number of different conditions, including type1 and type 2 diabetes, hypertension, glucose intolerance, and multiple sclerosi.
Contents
D helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. 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. Information: There have been some reports about vitamin D reducing the risk of coronavirus (COVID-19). But there is currently not enough evidence to support taking vitamin D solely to prevent or treat COVID-19.
What Is Vitamin D?
When vitamin D enters the body, it is not in an active form. To use it, the body needs to convert it to an active form called 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] or calcidiol.
How Much Is A Deficiency?
The results of a serum vitamin D blood test may show the following: Too high and possibly harmful : 125 nmol/l or more
: 125 nmol/l or more Sufficient : 50–125 nmol/l
: 50–125 nmol/l At risk of inadequacy : 30–49 nmol/l
: 30–49 nmol/l At risk of deficiency: 30 nmol/l or less Functions of vitamin D Vitamin D has many important functions, including : supporting bone health by enabling the absorption of calcium
promoting muscle health
modulating the immune system
aiding cell growth
reducing inflammation, which helps prevent diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis
regulating blood pressure and supporting cardiovascular health Low vitamin D and diabetes Some experts have suggested that vitamin D may help prevent type 2 diabetes. However, in a 2019 study , 2,423 people at risk of type 2 diabetes took either a vitamin D supplement of 4,000 international units (IU) a day or a placebo. Vitamin D levels increased in those who took the supplement.
However, taking the supplement did not appear to reduce the risk of diabetes developing.