A common vitamin shortage that affects your bones and muscles is vitamin D insufficiency. People over the age of 65 and those with darker skin are those who are most frequently affected. It is both curable and avoidable. Lack of vitamin D in your body is referred to as vitamin D deficiency. Your bones and muscles are the main organs affected.
Your body requires vitamin D in order to maintain and build your bones normally. Your neurological system, musculoskeletal system, and immunological system are all impacted by vitamin D. There are several ways to receive vitamin D, including:
– Sun exposure on your skin (however, people with darker skin and older people may not get enough vitamin D through sunlight.
– Through the food you eat.
– Through nutritional supplements.
Despite all of these ways to obtain vitamin D, vitamin D insufficiency is a widespread issue throughout the world.
One of the numerous vitamins your body requires to keep healthy is vitamin D. It is essential for preserving the equilibrium of calcium in your blood and bones as well as for the formation and upkeep of bones. You need vitamin D especially so that your body can utilise calcium and phosphorus to promote healthy tissues and create bones.
Hypocalcemia (low calcium levels in the blood) is brought on by a drop in calcium and phosphorus absorption by your intestines when you have a chronic and/or severe vitamin D deficiency. As a result, the parathyroid glands become hyperactive in an effort to maintain normal blood calcium levels. If they are both severe enough, hypocalcemia and hyperparathyroidism can both produce symptoms including weariness, sadness, and muscular cramps.
Your body removes calcium from your bones to try to balance the amount of calcium in your blood (through secondary hyperparathyroidism), which causes rapid bone demineralization (when a bone breaks down more quickly than it can heal). Additionally, this may lead to rickets in youngsters and osteomalacia (soft bones) in adults. You are more likely to sustain a bone fracture if you have osteomalacia or osteoporosis. Similar to osteomalacia, rickets exclusively affects youngsters. Demineralization results in bowed or bent bones since a child’s bones are still developing.
How is vitamin D deficiency diagnosed?
Normal regular tests of vitamin D levels are uncommon, but if you have specific medical disorders, risk factors for vitamin D insufficiency, or symptoms of it, your healthcare practitioner may recommend a check of your levels. Your blood can be tested by Dr. Barbara Karin Vela to determine your vitamin D levels. They could request one of two different tests, but the 25(OH)D, or hydroxyvitamin D, test is the most typical.
How is vitamin D deficiency treated?
Reaching and then maintaining a sufficient amount of vitamin D in your body are the objectives of both therapy and prevention for vitamin D insufficiency. Your doctor would probably advise taking vitamin D pills even if you could think about increasing your intake of foods rich in vitamin D and receiving more sunlight.
There are two types of vitamin D: D2 and D3. Plants provide ergocalciferol, or vitamin D2. Animals provide cholecalciferol, or vitamin D3. To purchase D2, you need a prescription. However, D3 may be purchased over the counter. D3 is easier for your body to absorb than D2.
Consult Dr. Barbara Karin Vela to find out if you need a vitamin supplement and how much to take, if needed.