हिंदी
Vitamin D is quite well known for its importance and the ‘sunshine vitamin’ has a lot of talk around it. It is a fat- soluble prohormone. The two major biologically precursors of vitamin D and vitamin D3 (chlocalciferol) and vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol). Vitamin D3 is formed when skin is exposed to the suns UV rays. In that process, vitamin D3 gets converted into vitamin D. Vitamin D2 is derived frm plants and enters the body through diet.
Sources of Vitamin D
Humans generally obtain vitamin D through their diet. Very few foods contain this such as oily fish, salmon, mackerel and sardines. Egg yolks have good quantities of vitamin D. Small number of foods are fortified with vitamin D such as milk, orange juice and bread and cereals.
Why is Vitamin D so important?
Vitamin D is important for the smooth functioning of a lot of things in our body:
- Keeps bones strong: Low vitamin D causes various bone related diseases. Osteomalacia, osteoporosis, rickets are all examples of this. Vitamin D is needed for absorption of calcium and phosphorus. Adults tend to have soft bones due to lack of calcium. Weak bones lead to osteoporosis, the loss of bone density can also lead to fractures. Vitamin D can be consumed through supplements or from sunshine exposure.
- Working of parathyroid gland: this gland helps to keep the balance of the calcium level in the blood by communicating with kidneys, gut and skeleton. If the intake becomes low, the parathyroid glands will ‘borrow’ calcium from the skeleton in order to keep it at the normal range.
The health effects:
Vitamin D plays a vital role in maintaining overall health and protects the body from the following conditions:
– Bone diseases such as osteoporosis or rickets
– Heart disease and high blood pressure
– Diabetes
– Infections and immune system disorders
– Falls in older people
– Some types of cancer, such as colon, prostate and breast cancers
– Multiple sclerosis
Signs of vitamin D deficiency
Studies show that severe lack of vitamin D in children can lead to irregular growth patterns, delayed mental development and deformities in joints and bones. The symptoms in adults might include:
– Fatigue.
– Bone pain.
– Muscle weakness, muscle aches, or muscle cramps.
– Mood changes, like depression.
Pregnancy and Neonates
Vitamin D helps in promoting insulin action and secretion, immune modulation and lung development. It therefore has the potential to influence many factors in the developing fetus. It is recommended that the requirement for vitamin D in expecting and lactating women is up to 6000 iu/day.
Maternal & fetal complications due to low vitamin D levels in body include:
– Pre-eclampsia
– Low Birth weight
– Impaired glucose intolerance in pregnancy
– Neonatal hypocalcaemic seizure
– Impaired skeletal growth & development for neonates
– Fetus lung development & childhood immune disorder
Treatment of vitamin D deficient women and vitamin D supplementation is safe and is recommended for all women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Low vitamin D concentrations have been associated with a wide range of adverse maternal and offspring health outcomes.
