What you should know about vitamin d deficiency?

Posted By Suborna Fermi Posted on Oct 27, 2023

We all know that vitamin D is extremely essential for our healthy muscle and bone health, and they also have a wide group of body functions. Our body generally synthesizes vitamin D in return for your skin being exposed to the sun. Besides, there are also several foods that contain this vitamin as well.

What are the functions of vitamin d in our body?

Vitamin D has many crucial functions in our body, such as:

• Aids in strengthening our bones and muscle healthy
• Keeps our teeths strong
• Helps in preventing bone fractures
• Reduces your chances of developing osteoporosis
• Helps in regulating insulin level in the body
• Decreases high blood pressure
• Reduces your risk of getting heart disease and heart attack
• Promotes healthy lung and cardiovascular function
• Improves your immune, brain and nervous system
• Minimizes the chance of getting breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer
• Helps in losing weight
• Improves our moods

What is Vitamin D deficiency?

Vitamin D deficiency is a condition, occurs when your body is not getting enough vitamin D, or cannot be able to generate enough of this vitamin.

What are the hazardous health effects of vitamin D deficiency?

Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to certain serious health diseases, such are:

• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Multiple sclerosis
• Colon cancer
• Breast cancer
• Prostate cancer

What are the signs and symptoms of vitamin d deficiency?

The general signs and symptoms includes:

• Fatigue
• Muscle cramps
• Muscle weakness
• Muscle ache
• Bone pain
• Severe mood swings
• Asthma issues in children

What are the causes of vitamin d deficiency?

You are at a high risk of developing vitamin D deficiency if:

• You are not exposed to the sunlight enough
• Your diet does not contain enough vitamin D
• Your liver and kidney is incapable to convert vitamin D
• Your body cannot able to absorb vitamin D from the food
• You are on certain medication including steroids, laxatives, cholesterol controlling medicines etc

What is the Ideal vitamin D level in the body?

• Infants (0-12 months): 400 IU
• Children (1-15 years): 600 IU
• Teengers (15-18 years): 600 IU
• Adults (19-70 years): 600 IU
• Adults over the age of 71: 800 IU
• Pregnant and breastfeeding women: 800 IU

Diagnosing of vitamin D deficiency:

To diagnose a vitamin D deficiency, your doctor may suggest you take a vitamin d test. You can opt for thyrocare. Thyrocare test packages are very reasonable.

Treatment of the vitamin D test:

Your doctor might give you supplements of vitamin D supplements such as ergocalciferol and cholecalciferol. Besides, several doctors also recommend taking calcium supplements, the doses will depend on the acuteness of your deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency is absolutely curable. However, most importantly to treat vitamin D deficiency you need to have enough exposure to the sunlight and a good vitamin d rich diet.