understanding vitamin D
25 Apr, 2018
Unravelling the mystery of vitamin D
Vitamin D has grabbed attention in recent years, however vitamin d deficiency is very common and mostly remains unrecognized, undiagnosed and thus untreated. The human body is capable of synthesising vitamin D once exposed to the sun but VDD(vitamin D Deficiency) is a major cause of concern even in a sunny country like ours.
Some terms:
vitamin D2 also called ergocalciferol,
vitamin D 3 also called as cholecalciferol,
vitamin D2 called as calcidiol and
calcitriol 1,25(OH) calcitriol. Calcitriol is the active form of vitamin D and is the final product in a chain involving steps in skin, liver and kidneys.
Vitamin D has multiple actions in the body.
1 In small intestine-it helps in absorption of dietary calcium
2 In bones- helps in mineralization (along with parathyroid hormone)
3 kidneys- facilitates reabsorption of urinary calcium (with parathyroid hormone)
Other effects
1 Regulation of PTH levels
2 modulation of immunity
3 blood pressure and blood sugar regulation
Normal levels
Children should have blood levels of at least 20ng/ml
Older adults should have a blood level of 30-40 ng/ml
Severe deficiency
Vitamin d levels of less than 10ng/ml is considered as severe deficiency, it is common in middle east and south east Asian countries. Dark skin tone, female sex are other risk factors which make patient prone for vitamin D deficiency.
Why Indians are prone for deficiency
A large proportion of Indians are vegetarian, fortification of food and drink is still uncommon
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