Vitamin D Deficiency: Symptoms To Watch Out For
Essential for strong bones, vitamin D is an essential element that impacts the health of nerves, muscles, bones and the immune system. Vitamin D is also known as the sunshine vitamin, as the body makes this vitamin from cholesterol when exposed to sunlight. This vitamin also helps the body use the calcium from the food.
A vitamin D deficiency occurs when the body has inadequate levels of vitamin D and can cause rickets. Rickets is a disease in which the bones don’t mineralise, causing skeletal deformities and soft bones. In addition to this, a deficiency can also cause a host of other health issues.
Read ahead to know more about the deficiency and to check who is at the most risk.
Sources of vitamin D
There are various ways to get the required daily dosage of vitamin D. Some of these are:
- Sun: As it is called the sunshine vitamin, adequate exposure to sunlight can provide the body with the required levels of vitamin D.
- Food items: Animal-based products like fish and fish oil, fortified milk, beef and egg yolks are rich in vitamin D.
- Nutritional supplements.
Who is at risk of a vitamin D deficiency?
There is no single cause for a vitamin D deficiency and the reason might be a combination of lifestyle choices, underlying conditions and food preferences. Some of the factors that cause a vitamin D deficiency are:
- People who have darker skin are at a greater risk of suffering from a vitamin D deficiency as their body doesn’t absorb adequate sunlight.
- Older and ageing people due to changes in the skin and metabolism.
- People who are obese or overweight.
- People who follow a strict vegetarian or vegan diet don’t get the required vitamin D from the food.
- People who live away from the Equator and get little sunlight.
- Those who suffer from chronic kidney or liver disease or have hyperparathyroidism.
- Those who work overnight shifts have reduced exposure to sunlight.
- People who have a pre-existing health condition that affects the absorption of nutrients like celiac disease or Crohn’s disease.
- People who use medication that affects the metabolism of vitamin D.
Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency
Sometimes, vitamin D deficiency symptoms might not present themselves at all. However, it is advisable to be aware of the symptoms of the deficiency.
- Frequent illness
- Fatigue and tiredness
- Hair fall
- Bone and backache
- Mood swings, feeling sad and dull
- Slow healing of wounds
- Muscle pain
- Weight gain
- Anxiety
Treatment
A vitamin D deficiency is treated with additional vitamin D supplements, but consult the doctor for the correct dosage. The supplements are available as a variety of oral preparations and people with severe deficiency and poor response to oral vitamin D supplements may further require Vitamin D injections.
Another simple way to increase vitamin D levels is to spend some time in the early morning sun and increase consumption of vitamin D-rich food items. Foods that are rich in vitamin D are:
- Egg yolks
- Fatty fish and fish oil
- Yoghurt
- Fortified juices
Key takeaways
Vitamin D deficiency is quite common, but as the symptoms are nonspecific, it could be hard to know if you have this deficiency or not.
If you are already at risk of the deficiency, it is best to contact your healthcare professional and get a blood test done.
Maintaining the correct vitamin D levels has a lot of benefits in the long run and will keep you healthy, happy and fit.
Disclaimer: The information included on this site is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment by a healthcare professional. Because of unique individual needs, the reader should consult their physician to determine the appropriateness of the information for the reader’s situation.
