Also known as the “sunshine vitamin”, vitamin D helps in the regulation of different minerals in the body and strengthening of the bones. Enlighten your mind as Dr. Chandra Shekhar puts some sunshine on this topic.
What is vitamin D?
It is a group of substances or steroids present in our body. Its most commonly found form is vitamin D2 and vitamin D3.
What is the significance of vitamin D?
It helps in the absorption of many important minerals like calcium, phosphorous, iron, magnesium, etc. As we all know, calcium and phosphorous are very components of our bony structure. Bone formation is not a one time, but regular process. So, we need to be very careful about the proper intake of vitamin D.
What is vitamin D deficiency?
The most common implication in the human body is ‘osteomalacia’. The effects of osteomalacia are as follows:
- Softening of bones
- Bending of spine
- Bowing of legs
- Increased muscle weakness
- Fragile bones
- Increased tendency of fracture
In children of particular age group, if there is inadequate intake of vitamin D, medically ill results like curved legs are found. Deficiency of vitamin D also enhances the chances of acquiring infectious diseases such as HIV. In pregnant mothers, adequate presence of vitamin D is very important; otherwise, it may lead to seizure and convolution during the last stage of pregnancy. It may also result into low weight birth baby. So, take note that the implications could be that serious.
How can we prevent the deficiency of vitamin D?
- Exposure to sunlight
- Adhering to dietary vitamin D rich food habits: fatty fish, tuna, salmon, egg yolk, and cheese
- Food supplements containing different forms of vitamin D
- Directly available medicines (or tablets) as supplements for vitamin D2 and vitamin D3
How to recognize vitamin D deficiency?
Vitamin D deficiency can be recognized through signs and symptoms like muscle weakness and bone pain. Following which, we could go for a simple blood test that measures the level of different forms of vitamin D in our body. There are two main tests conducted in this regard viz., one that measures the level of vitamin D2 and other that measures the level of vitamin D3. Test result for vitamin D2 is considered normal if it is >20 ng/ml while that for vitamin D3 if it is 20-50 picogm/ml.
