Symptoms And Health Risks Of Vitamin D Deficiency
What Is Vitamin D?
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that the body produces when the skin gets exposed to sunlight. It is present in a small number of foods, including fortified products. 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. 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. Learn more about the health benefits of vitamin D.
Definitions
Eficiency affects persons of all ages. 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. A 25-hydroxyvitamin D level should be obtained in patients with suspected vitamin D deficiency.
Deficiency is defined as a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of less than 20 ng per mL (50 nmol per L), and insufficiency is defined as a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level of 20 to 30 ng per mL (50 to 75 nmol per L). 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. Evidence shows that vitamin D supplementation of at least 700 to 800 IU per day reduces fracture and fall rates in adults.
In persons with vitamin D deficiency, treatment may include oral ergocalciferol (vitamin D 2 ) at 50,000 IU per week for eight weeks. In the 19th century, vitamin D deficiency was identified as the cause of the rickets epidemic in children living in industrialized cities. This discovery led to the fortification of various foods, and the resolution of a major health problem associated with vitamin D deficiency.
However, recent studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency are associated with other pathologic conditions in persons of all ages. Because the signs and symptoms of vitamin D deficiency are insidious or nonspecific, it often goes unrecognized and untreate.
Diseases & Conditions
He “sunshine” vitamin is a hot topic.
You may have recently found out that you are deficient or know someone who is. It’s shocking for most people when they have never had a problem before and believe nothing has changed to make it a problem now. Vitamin D was discovered to be essential when it was found to be needed for the treatment of rickets.
Vitamin D is one of the four fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K). Vitamin D2, also known as ergocalciferol, comes from fortified foods, plant foods, and over-the-counter supplements. Vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol, comes from fortified foods, animal foods (fatty fish, cod liver oil, eggs, and liver), supplements, and can be made internally when your skin is exposed ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
Many believe that vitamin D should be classified as a hormone, with some calling it the forgotten neurosteroid. We have also had a shift in spending less time outdoors because of increased work hours and more sedentary lives. Researchers have been focusing on the consequences of vitamin D deficiency and have found an alarming number of health issues outside of its role with rickets.
Correcting vitamin D deficiency is not as simple as taking a pill or getting more sun.