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Vitamin D deficiency can cause a plethora of problems altogether on your health. What many of us fail to realize is the fact that this essential vitamin is quite important to have in our diet. The lack of vitamin D does impose quite a lot of critical symptoms that we are not even aware of.
It is important to closely monitor the side effects of Vitamin D deficiency because the lack of it often tends to end up being a problem for your overall health. Whatever the condition be, it is important to ensure that you do know the in and outs of the condition, to be able to handle the situation better.
By the end of this article, you will have a clear idea about the condition of Vitamin D deficiency and everything there is to know about the same.
Is Vitamin D Deficiency Serious?
Vitamin D deficiency is a serious condition that can impact the overall quality of life, without you even knowing or understanding the same.
While there could be a number of reasons causing the Vitamin D deficiency, it is important that you do stick to a diet that not just supplements well with the Vitamin D requirements but also does help prevent the deficiency altogether.
The lack of proper levels of Vitamin D in the body can end up inflicting a number of health diseases diabetes, rickets, tuberculosis and so many more.
Signs And Symptoms Of Vitamin D Deficiency
When it does come down to the plethora of signs and symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency, it is often hard to pass them up as common and regular health issues.
It is very important to be cautious of the situation altogether to be able to prevent it before it does get worse.
It has been found that the lack of Vitamin D symptoms does differentiate when it comes to children and adults. In order to make it easier for you to understand, we are going to be separating them into columns.
The symptoms include:
| Children | Adults |
| Muscle spasms | Tiredness and fatigue |
| Difficulty in breathing | A vague sense of pain |
| Soft skull or leg bones | Cognitive impairment |
| Lack of proper growth and development | A hairline fracture in bones (rare cases) |
| Irritability with no reason | Lower back pain |
| Delayed teething | Pain in thighs, hips and pelvic region |
| A weakness of heart muscle |
What Causes Vitamin D Deficiency?
Vitamin D is not just about sunlight exposure. The list of causes behind the effects of low Vitamin D runs deeper than that. It is very important to ensure that you do have healthy levels of Vitamin D in your body and the same can be deterred by a number of varying factors that you possibly have no idea about.
Some of the common causes behind Vitamin D deficiency include:
1. Limited Exposure to Sunlight
Sunlight is possibly the best source of Vitamin D and if you have been diagnosed with the deficiency, chances are that your body isn’t getting the optimal amount of sunlight that it should.
Our body is the one synthesizing Vitamin D naturally using the UVB rays that we get directly from the sunlight. The lack of it is what ends up causing the body to lack the optimal levels of Vitamin D.
It is important to take in short bursts of sunlight instead of indulging in prolonged exposure which can end up harming one’s overall well being.
Often times, the lack of it is what ends up being a problem altogether, especially when it comes down to having inadequate sunlight exposure throughout the day.
2. Dark Skin Tone
It is not a matter of what and how but it has been found that people with darker skin tone are at a higher risk of developing Vitamin D deficiency altogether.
Melanin is the compound in our body that does impart the skin tone that we have. It goes without saying that people with a darker skin tone have a hard time absorbing the UV radiation from the sun. This is what does end up being a problem for producing Vitamin D in response to the sunlight.
It is said that people with a darker skin tone automatically have natural protection from the sun but the same is compensated with the lack of Vitamin D production in the body.
3. Inadequate Dietary Supplements
Vegetables are good for you, right? But, it has been found that people consuming a completely vegan or vegetarian diet is at a loss of proper levels of Vitamin D.
The main reason behind the same is because of the fact that the majority of the natural sources of Vitamin D are animal derived, be it from the meat or even from the milk they produce.
4. Age
Studies and researches have shown that age does play a very crucial role when it comes down to the synthesis of Vitamin D in our body. Age does make it harder for the body to synthesize Vitamin D from direct exposure to the sun. This is the primary reason why older people often tend to be at heightened risks of suffering from this deficiency altogether.
5. Lack of Absorption
There are certain people who do suffer from the condition of malabsorption syndrome. What this entails is the fact that the body fails to absorb the subsequent amount of Vitamin D from the digestive tract.
While there could be a number of health complications affecting this condition, the primary reason why this affects is because of the suggested medication that one administers because of multiple diseases like Crohn’s disease, cystic fibrosis etc.
6. Pregnancy
The lack of Vitamin D is often much heightened in pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. This condition is also very prominent in women who have experienced childbirth multiple times in a matter of a few years or so.
It is thus very important for the pregnant women to focus on either aligning the diet to enhance the intake of Vitamin D or work along to ensure that you supplement it according to for the best of results altogether.
What Are The Diseases Caused Because Of Vitamin D Deficiency?
Vitamin D is often times a much underrated dietary requirement that not many people are aware of. That being said, Vitamin D might not necessarily be that important for one’s overall health but the lack of this compound can most definitely end up causing havoc in your body, especially inflicting the risks of a number of diseases.
1. Diabetes
You might not realize this but Vitamin D deficiency does impose the risk of developing type-2 diabetes (R) in individuals.
In a conducted study, it was found that people who had an average amount of 25 ng/ml of Vitamin D in their body did have a reduced risk of developing diabetes by 43% in comparison to the ones who did have 14 ng/ml.
2. Rickets
When it comes to the effects of Low Vitamin D in the body, the condition of Rickets is often the very first thing that crosses everyone’s mind.
Rickets is one of the most common diseases caused because of Vitamin D deficiency. It is predominantly seen in kids and is a very common problem which affects the bones in the body, making them fragile and bent inwards.
It causes the bones to become weak and soft, causing deformity altogether. Additionally, the condition has also been found to cause muscle cramps, seizures and even a number of problems associated with one’s respiratory system.
3. Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is quite a rare disease now but given the severity of the condition that it brings about, it is not at all surprising that this disease is actually one of the risk factors because of the effects of Low Vitamin D in the body.
While the reason behind this problem is still a matter of question, it is important to understand that there has been a number of conducted studies which have found that the levels of Vitamin D is always low in patients diagnosed with tuberculosis.
4. Cardiovascular Diseases
Yet another one of the diseases that affects the majority of the people around because of the lack of sufficient levels of Vitamin D in the body is the wide range of cardiovascular diseases.
Even conducted research by a team of scientists from Harvard University found that the women who had lesser levels of Vitamin D in their body have increased risks of hypertension by 67%. Hypertension is often times, one of the most common problems causing issues with one’s heart health.
5. Cancer
Yet another one of the common problems in the Vitamin D deficiency diseases list is Cancer. Researchers do suggest that people having altered levels of Vitamin D in their body do tend to have a higher risk of breast cancer.
Additionally, it has been found that the lowered levels of Vitamin D in the body have also been found to impose increased risks in association to a few types of other cancers as well.
6. Psoriasis
Psoriasis is yet another one of the common diseases that can be prevalent in people who have a reduced level of Vitamin D in their bodies.
Even a few researches (R) (R) (R) have found that the lowered levels of Vitamin D are associated with heightened risks of psoriasis.
Vitamin D Deficiency Treatment
When it does come down to discussing Vitamin D deficiency treatment, the prospects of possibility is quite extensive. There are a number of ways in which one can handle the condition and get rid of it for good.
Some of the beneficial treatment options to combat the symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency include:
1. Expose yourself to more sunlight
You might not realize this but exposing yourself to more sunlight throughout the day can be very effective in fighting off the signs and symptoms associated with the condition of the deficiency.
It is always best suggested to ensure that you do get the adequate amount of sunlight throughout the day to be able to let the body produce the essential amount of Vitamin D for the overall betterment of the body.
2. Enrich your diet with Vitamin D
Next in line to ensure that you get the optimal amount of Vitamin D into your body with the help of the diet that you are consuming.
Vitamin D is not often found in abundance in the body which is why it is very important to stick to the foods that are enriched with the optimal levels of Vitamin D in it.
Some of the best dietary sources of Vitamin D include oily fishes, fortified foods and even a number of dairy products.
3. Supplements
When it comes to the supplements, there are quite some that are available that one can opt for. These can be taken daily, weekly or even monthly, depending on what the doctor does suggest.
The main impact and importance of this is the fact that they help combat the deficiency quite efficiently and without much of an effort altogether. It is thus one of the best vitamin D deficiency treatment options, especially that in the growing children.
But, it is also very important to ensure that you do consult a doctor before starting these supplements because the high dosage supplements need to be taking on time and without any kind of skips whatsoever.
4. Maintenance therapy
Just as the name suggests, maintenance therapy is the condition which one does need to adhere to when it comes to the proper maintenance of the levels of Vitamin D in the body even after the normal levels have been achieved. It is very important to maintain a steady level of Vitamin D in the body for overall better health altogether.
Even after you have replenished the levels of Vitamin D in the body, it is actually very important to ensure that you do handle the levels and maintain a steady stream of the same instead of letting it fluctuate frequently.
5. Injection
The last but not the least on the list of the amazing treatment options for vitamin D deficiency is the usage of injections.
The Vitamin D injections which are predominantly used for the treatment process do last up till 6 months which helps provide with the best of the results altogether.
Vitamin D deficiency can impact one’s quality of life for the worse. It is very important to ensure that you don’t take the symptoms for granted and seek medical help if the same does end up getting worse. It is very important to opt for the treatment and see what is causing the issue in the first place. Here, we have mentioned all the possibilities when it comes down to the prospects and effects of Low Vitamin D in the body.